The Billy Bob Tapes: A Cave Full of Ghosts - Softcover

Billy Bob Thornton was raised in Arkansas amid a rich storytelling tradition. See, the South is just different than other places. . . . You can feel the ghosts. These stories didn't have to be made up. The characters were already there. Thus was borne his OscarŽ-winning masterpiece Sling Blade and now The Billy Bob Tapes—based on late-night conversations with friends who gathered 'round to hear Billy mine a cave full of ghosts.

Billy grew up shooting squirrels, playing drums, and dreaming of rock 'n' roll and baseball. At sixteen he met the drama teacher who first encouraged his talent. Billy recalls struggling and nearly starving in Hollywood—but also encountering compassion and wisdom from people like legendary director Billy Wilder, who advised: "Write about your interesting life."

The Billy Bob Tapes tells of collaboration, friendship, and loss, while reflecting on fame, culture, filmmaking, and entertainment itself. With passion, unvarnished honesty, wry humor, and a little help from friends Angelina Jolie, Robert Duvall, Dwight Yoakam, Tom Epperson, and Daniel Lanois, Billy Bob finally talks.

Billy Bob Thornton is an actor, screenwriter, director, and musician. In the early 1990s, he wrote, directed, and starred in the independent film Sling Blade, for which he won an Academy AwardŽ for best adapted screenplay and was nominated for best actor. Thornton is a three-time Academy AwardŽ nominee and his body of work includes A Simple Plan, Monster's Ball, The Alamo, Friday Night Lights, The Man Who Wasn't There, Bandits, and Bad Santa. Thornton began a career as a singer-songwriter in his early teens and has released seven albums. He is currently a drummer vocalist in the Boxmasters. He resides in Los Angeles.

Kinky Friedman is an author, musician, defender of strays, cigar smoker, and the Governor of the Heart of Texas.