A well-researched, diligently prepared look at the life and career of George Lucas. Lucas was painted as controlling, a hater of the studios, skilled at merchandising, terrible at interacting/directing actors, a workaholic and a terrible writer. He also seems to have stumbled into filmmaking. What he did have was determination, endurance, confidence in what was “good” and a commitment to craftsmanship. This book revealed just how difficult it was for Lucas to create and perpetuate the Star Wars franchise — from problems with financing to lack of technology to difficulty in nailing down a script. I was exhausted just reading about these endeavors. I wasn’t really aware of American Graffiti and how that film ultimately made Star Wars possible. It was also interesting to read how his life continually intersected with Spielberg (Indiana Jones) and Francis Ford Coppola. I have a new appreciation for Lucas as a movie producer, although his writing and character development remain notoriously bad as so many others in the book confirmed. He also clearly had no long-term vision for the Star Wars franchise and made it up as he went with help from many others. Most of the material was pulled from other sources or the author’s own interviews, however those personal interviews weren’t with the big stars or with Lucas himself (unauthorized biography). I imagine if he had that access more colorful stories from the actors’ standpoints would have heightened the entertainment factor of the book. Regardless, the author did a good job including a vast amount of detail and insider knowledge.