For nearly ninety years, Hollywood's brightest stars have favoured the Chateau Marmont as a home away from home. Filled with deep secrets but hidden in plain sight, its evolution parallels the growth of Hollywood itself.

Perched above the Sunset Strip like a fairy-tale castle, the Chateau seems to come from another world entirely. An apartment-house-turned-hotel, it has been the backdrop for generations of gossip and folklore: 1930s bombshell Jean Harlow took lovers during her third honeymoon there; director Nicholas Ray slept with his sixteen-year-old Rebel Without a Cause star Natalie Wood; Anthony Perkins and Tab Hunter met poolside and began a secret affair; Jim Morrison swung from the balconies, once nearly falling to his death; John Belushi suffered a fatal overdose in a private bungalow; 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 prowess, Shawn Levy recounts the wild parties and scandalous liaisons, creative breakthroughs and marital breakdowns, births and untimely deaths that the Chateau Marmont has given rise to. Vivid, salacious and richly informed, the book is a glittering tribute to Hollywood as seen from the suites and bungalows of its most hallowed hotel.

About the Author
Shawn Levy is a former film critic for The Oregonian newspaper and the bestselling author of RAT PACK CONFIDENTIAL, PAUL NEWMAN: A LIFE, DOLCE VITA CONFIDENTIAL and THE CASTLE ON SUNSET. His work has appeared in major publications including the NEW YORK TIMES, the LOS ANGELES TIMES, the GUARDIAN, the INDEPENDENT and SIGHT AND SOUND. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

Reviews
Fascinating, dishy, and glimmering with insight, THE CASTLE ON SUNSET is a must-read for anyone interested in the rich and racy history of Tinseltown. Shawn Levy's entertaining and deeply researched biography of a building chronicles experiences both glamorous and sordid, historical and contemporary. This is the definitive book about Hollywood's most storied hotel -- Cheryl Strayed, author of WILD: A JOURNEY FROM LOST TO FOUND
Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood is unquestionably one of the most dauntingly glamorous hotels in the world [and this book is] an exuberant record of its life and times . . . Levy's pages teem with extraordinary and extreme personalities -- Simon Callow * THE SUNDAY TIMES *
I felt like I was sneaking around the hallways of the Chateau after midnight and peering through keyholes in history . . . Lovingly researched and wonderfully dishy -- Joe Hagan, author of STICKY FINGERS: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF JANN WENNER AND ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE
I want to live inside this book! -- Taylor Jenkins Reid, author of DAISY JONES & THE SIX
As elegant and naughty as the hotel's guests . . . tells a secret history of American film, fame and decadence. It's a spellbinding read -- Peter Ames Carlin, author of HOMEWARD BOUND: THE LIFE OF PAUL SIMON
A fabulously fizzy account * VANITY FAIR *
A fascinating expose of wild nights and celebrity scandals at Hollywood's iconic hotel * GRAZIA *
An irresistible, deliciously dishy deep-dive . . . told in prose so witty and alive, you feel you're sitting at the bar with Dominick Dunne. This is a book worthy of its glamorous, alluring subject -- Wednesday Martin, author of PRIMATES OF PARK AVENUE: A MEMOIR
Hollywood and Beverly Hills were separated by two miles of unpaved road when the Chateau Marmont - modelled on a Loire Valley castle by its owner Fred Horowitz - was completed in 1929. Levy's witty, intimate account describes how the flowering of hotspots on the Sunset Strip beginning in the 1930s made the Marmont a show-business magnet -- Jane Ciabattari, BBC Culture



Book Information
ISBN 9781474611848
Author Shawn Levy
Format Paperback
Page Count 384
Imprint Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Publisher Orion Publishing Co
Weight(grams) 279g
Dimensions(mm) 196mm * 126mm * 32mm