BLOW: How A Small-Town Boy Made $100 Million With The Medellin Cocaine Cartel And Lost It All (2001) - Plot & Excerpts
Who hasn't seen the blockbuster movie of a true story of George Jung, the man who, if you snorted blow in the late 1970's to early 1980's, there was an 85% chance it came from him and his partner? But how many of the fans know Jung's real story. While the movie is sexier and more Hollywood for viewers, the book delivers an unflinching true account of Jung's wild life. And while the movie makes him look like a good person with the occasional lapse in judgement- sometimes moral, sometimes strategical- Bruce Porter's version of events which inspired the book is much more real and, in my opinion, wildly entertaining. And, yes, there are some MAJOR differences in the stories. In real life, one of the funniest variations of the facts was Derek Foreal. I know the real guy must be extremely irate about how he was depicted in the movie and I still can't really figure out how he came out this way in the script. In reality he was a hard core marine with an extensive knowledge of combat and military tactics but was depicted as a flamboyant homosexual drug lord. While he did inherit a chain of male hair salons, he was anything but feminine in nature. Few things like this were changed around throughout the silverscreen telling of the story but that was the biggest slip I can remember. In general, the book is more entertaining, albeit much longer but you learn that George Jung, while a clever businessman and most times a decent friend and family man, most times, wasn't all that good of a person. But the reader can't help but fly through the so-called "sleigh ride to hell" glued to the book. Loved it.
I read a lot of true crime just for it being in that genre. This one, specifically, I thought to read while doing a re-watch of the Depp movie. Of course, more goes on in the book and more than could have been in the movie. The extremity of Jung's drug use and the kinkiness of sex life could have been more underscored, both for drama and humor. Interestingly, Barile of the Tonsorial Parlor does not come across as colorful as the Reubens portrayal so I wonder how much there was to that, maybe just script and/or improv. (Reubens did need to show what he could do as an actor at that time.) This is fast-paced and a good read, really amazing to what heights Jung went to as the American rep for the Medellín Cartel generally and Pablo Escobar specifically.Something this book does not answer, and maybe cannot be answered, is why while accumulating millions of dollars and years of incarceration did not Jung stop on his own, sooner?The excess and success of Carlos Lehder is as intertwined with the rise and downfall of Jung here as in the movie and it would seem a movie or book length treatment of that mad criminal's own arc is worth doing.
What do You think about BLOW: How A Small-Town Boy Made $100 Million With The Medellin Cocaine Cartel And Lost It All (2001)?
After watching the film of the same name in which Johnny Depp depicts drug smuggler George Jung, I found myself wondering if I too should put together a high-scale cocaine smuggling operation. After all, it seemed like fun. All those parties, traveling to exotic locations, marrying Penelope Cruz. What is there not to like about it?! Okay, there is the small case of incarceration in one of America’s most notorious prisons, so before I jump at setting myself up with some unsavory Colombian friends, maybe I should explore this little venture in a bit more detail.And that has how I found myself reading Bruce Porter’s account of How a Small-Town Boy Made $100 Million with the Medellin Cocaine Cartel and Lost It All and here is a quick spoiler – I won’t be following up on any of those dreams of starting up my own magic Charlie (minus the chocolate) Factory.To read the rest of this review please click here:http://stevenscaffardi.blogspot.co.uk...
—Steven Scaffardi
Just returned from an 8 day trip to Medellin with my church on a mission trip and am now fascinated having seen where the Medellin cocaine cartel originated to discover the back story. Only on Chapter 4 but a little slow. I know George Jung is the main character but it needs to pick up a little bit. Didn't really pick up but I was fascinated by the amount of money that was made on a daily basis. And well George let's be real. You put your money in a Panamanian bank expect they're going to steal it from you.
—De
