He followed Midnight Express by writing the adaptation to Born in the Fourth of July for Al Pacino in 1978 with intent on a release in 1979.

Stone won the Oscar for screenplay adaptation, and overnight was the most sought-after Screen writer in the business. Midnight Express was a thundering success at Cannes, then hit big at Toronto’s emerging Festival of Festivals (later renamed TIFF) before being nominated for six Academy Awards and winning Best Picture at the Golden Globes. Stone painted a horrifically accurate portrait of the prisons in Turkey, drawing sharp criticisms from some critics, high praise from others. The film was based on the experiences of Billy Hayes, a young American busted at the Turkish border with hashish and sentenced to life for his crime.

He talks in an entertaining, very compelling voice about his rise in the seventies, virtually overnight to becoming both an Academy Award and Golden Globe winning screen writer for Midnight Express (1978). Stone tells his story of his journey through surviving the jungles of Viet Nam, his conflict with his father, and his up and down and soaring ride through the very different jungles of Hollywood. “Chasing the Light” is an astonishing book, so why would I be sad when I finished? I wanted more, much more. Putting it down was just never an option, and one day after opening the book, sadly, I was finished. The moment I opened the package containing my copy of Oliver Stone’s new book “Chasing the Light”, a memoir, I devoured it.

Oliver stone chasing the light review