Horns and Halos

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Horns and Halos

In October 1999, an article appeared in the New York Times indicating that publisher St. Martins Press had recalled FORTUNATE SON, the first published biography of George W. Bush, when it was revealed that the author, J.H. Hatfield, served five years in prison for solicitation of capital murder. At the time of its recall, the book was a bestseller, no doubt due to the books allegations that Bush had been arrested for cocaine possession in 1972.

Several weeks later, small underground imprint Soft Skull Press, led by the self-styled "punk of publishing" Sander Hicks, announced that it would re-publish the book. They began operating out of a makeshift office in the basement of the building where he divides his time as the super.

Set against the backdrop of the fierce 2000 presidential campaign, Horns and Halos follows Hatfield and Hicks as they battle lawyers, media and mounting debt to get FORTUNATE SON back on shelves. After facing a lawsuit, a thrashing on 60 Minutes and bankruptcy, Soft Skull attempts to make one last splash at the Book Expo of America. Hatfield reluctantly reveals his sources for the book's cocaine allegations, and the fallout is explosive.

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Michael Galinksy, Director

"The 'horns' and 'halos' not only of Bush but of the book, of Sander and Hatfield. Our culture right now is so invested in being completely one-sided and the truth is always so much more complicated."

Michael Galinksy, Director

"A couple of weeks later I got a press release at work (I worked at a small alt culture web site) announcing that a small publisher that we worked with would be re-releasing the book. "Fortunate Son" had been the first campaign bio of Bush. It turned out that the book had been pulled because the author had been outed as a convicted felon (he hired someone to kill his boss). This news emerged because an afterword to the book speculated that GW had been arrested for cocaine possesion in the 60's but that his father had gotten him off. ..." More from the Horns and Halos Blog

Suki Hawley, Director

"It was definitely a struggle. How much, how little, how to get the information across."

Michael Atkinson, Village Voice

"A near perfect manifestation of radical, DIY media intervention, the video doc 'Horns and Halos' could not be more timely just as we hunker down for untold years of wartime sacrifice and imperialist self-rationalization, here is a David fable told by the barbarians at the Bush dynasty gate." More

David Kehr, New York Times

"Here is a rich tale of our times, very well told with an appropriate minimum of means." More

David Ansen, Newsweek

"Dark surprises...emotionally complex..."

TV Guide

"Thoroughly engrossing and ultimately tragic." More

John Anderson, Newsday

"Powerful and revelatory" More

Matthew Tempest, The Guardian

"This documentary is a rolling masterclass on the disturbing complicity of media, money and mendacity." More

Michael O'Sullivan, The Washington Post

"Fascinating thoughtful and deeply affecting portrait of a screwed-up man who dared to mess with some powerful people." More

Ben Kaplan, New York Magazine

"funny, maddening and ultimately shocking" More

David Sterritt, The Christian Science Monitor

"Reaches out to anyone interested in politics, publishing, or the uneasy marriage between big money and mass communication." More

Tim LaTorre, indieWIRE

"The filmmakers uncover how the tough journalistic and business decisions of people under stress -- at times influenced by ego, greed and the genuine passion to expose the 'truth' -- can have a very human, tragic toll." More

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