Rear View is a lifetime within the four corners of a book, a must-listen. From rags to riches, hotels, to the streets. Real stories you will hear nowhere else, like taxicab confessionals with stars in a limousine! Phil Spector, Rod Stewart, Richard Pryor, Arianna Huffington, Shaun Cassidy, Susan Carpenter McMillan, Lawrence O’Donnell, Kurupt, Foxy Brown, Alice Cooper, and many more! No one is safe.
Rear View is the real story of the struggles and adventures of author Anthony Gizzo.
This wonderfully written story takes us from the Vietnam war to the streets of Hollywood and beyond. Born into a modest Jehovah’s Witness family, Tony is a rogue misfit that is left to his imagination and creativity for both his survival and livelihood. Rock stars, porn stars, unruly girlfriends, movie stars, and mobsters – there is no end to the crazy, hilarious, and heart-breaking situations he gets into.
Always one step in front of jail and two drinks from throwing up, Tony is always up to something. This compelling listen is sure to entertain and delight. Many writings claim they are based on a true story. In this case, it is a true story, and everything written here can be verified. Fasten your seat belt; it’s going to be one hell of a ride!
We’re here with Anthony Gizzo, author of Rear View. First off I love the book and I understand it’s all true stories, derived from your life and what a life you’ve had.
There are a lot of personalities, celebrities and what not in the book, what has the reaction been thus far?
The reaction has been surprising. The one thing that is a constant and what people tell me is; it’s a page-turner, I couldn’t put it down, it read like a freight train and I didn’t want it to end…
Can you tell us about your book?
Yes I can. It is a turnaround book it Chronicles my life and everything that went into becoming the person that I am today. I had real issues with the things I was being taught during my childhood years being raised in a Jehovah’s Witness family. I just didn’t see things the way everybody around me did. I know it’s a cliché but from since I can remember I always saw the glass as half full. in my case I had to learn the hard lessons in order to develop character and integrity.
Who is your favorite character in this book?
I have to say Magoo. I can’t believe, with all the shit I threw at him he kept coming back for more… A true masochist but a dear soul.
How long did it take you to write this book?
Only about a month. As I said before I put years into thinking about it to the point when I sat down to write it just flowed.
What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your book?
Writing the book was cathartic. As I spurred my memory I came to more understanding of the life situations and the proper way to deal with things.
If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?
Oh Lord, that is such a loaded question. I had to learn through the “school of hard knocks “whose colors are black and blue. If I were to go back in time to give my younger self guidance there would be penalty flags everywhere.
When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
As I tell you in my book late 20s and early 30s. I whacked out a couple of screenplays but at that time I realized I just didn’t have enough life experience to captivate an audience of a wide range.
Do you have any kind of message that you are trying to convey through your book?
Oh, you are sneaky… I did that through the entire book. You will see it time and time again reading between the lines. I did this on purpose, let me tell you why; having grown up smack dab in the middle of religion if you ask me I will tell you I don’t go to any church that is more than two people. In other words, I am not looking to proselytize or say Jesus over and over again really it’s not about that but if you just take common sense and good reasoning you’ll come to the right conclusions. What I try to do is try to help you develop the thinking process that will actually set you free.
Explain a little bit about yourself- where you are from?
Probably the best explanation is; a spirit making a stop on planet earth who is from somewhere in another universe.
That concludes our interview with Anthony, his book Rear View, audio book and his website can be found on links below.