The Castle on Sunset

By Shawn Levy

Categories: Biographies & Memoirs

The definitive--and salacious--history of the iconic hotel that Hollywood stars have called a home away from home for almost a century. Since 1929, Hollywood's brightest stars have flocked to the Chateau Marmont as if it were a second home. Perched above the Sunset Strip like a fairytale castle, the Chateau seems to come from another world entirely. An apartment building-turned-hotel, it has been the backdrop for generations of gossip and folklore: director Nicholas Ray slept with his sixteen-year-old Rebel Without a Cause star Natalie Wood; Jim Morrison swung from the balconies; John Belushi suffered a fatal overdose; and Lindsay Lohan got the boot after racking up nearly $50,000 in charges in less than two months. Much of what's happened inside the Chateau's walls has eluded the public eye--until now. With wit and insight, Shawn Levy recounts the wild revelries and scandalous liaisons, the creative breakthroughs and marital breakdowns, the births and deaths to which the hotel has been a party.

Recommended by 1 person

• Edgar Wright: “Also these two absolute gems by @shawnlevy: Dolce Vita Confidential (about the post war cultural explosion in Italy, including the creation of the paparazzi) and The Castle On Sunset about love, sex and death at the Chateau Marmont.”