January 15, 2008

"There Will Be Blood"

I have a review coming out over the weekend in The American Conservative of "There Will Be Blood." Daniel Day-Lewis won the Best Actor Golden Globe for his portrayal of an early 20th Century oilman based on Edward L. Doheny. This tycoon is almost forgotten, but he had far-reaching influence on Southern California and thus on American life, which I outline in my review.

One thing that I left out is that Doheny is the maternal grandfather of science-fiction writer Larry Niven, who co-wrote with Jerry Pournelle the ultimate example of the "LA Apocalypse" genre, Lucifer's Hammer.

My published articles are archived at iSteve.com -- Steve Sailer

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The forgotten 70s singer-songwriter Ned Doheny, who recorded at least one nifty song ("Postcards from Hollywood") is a descendent of the oil magnate.