Runaway Train by Eric Roberts

I don’t read much autobiographies or biographies but this one really caught my attention.

The first time seeing this

Two things out of this cover that immediately got my attention when passing through the shelves in the non-fiction section of Bridge Street Books in Georgetown, Washington D.C.

First was the black and white portrait of Eric Roberts taken by Walter Chin. I’m not much of a portrait fan but this one stopped me in my tracks. I love how he’s holding the cigarette while using his thumb and middle finger to pinch his bottom lip. There’s no catchlight in his eyes but dark sockets that something William Faulkner would write about in his novels.

The second thought that came to mind was “Isn’t that the Maroney, the head of the mob in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight. He didn’t have a huge part in that film but his character always stuck with me when that film first came out.

On an interview with Steve Lowe, he made a joke but I think serious of the title he wanted to give the book. He wanted to give the book two titles. On the front it was going to be called I’m Julia Roberts’ Brother and on the back cover the title was going to be I’m the Father of Emma Roberts. That made so much sense cause he knew people didn’t know who he was nor would we be able to make the connection that he was related to Julia and Emma.