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Bob Woodward, Wired: The Short Life and Fast Times of John Belushi (Simon & Schuster, 1984) Reissued in paperback by Pocket Books in 1989 At 33 years old, John Belushi died of a heroin and cocaine overdose in 1982. Starting with this famous conclusion, investigative reporter Bob Woodward diverged from his usual political beat to write the 1984 biography of Belushi. Woodward interviewed 217 sources on the record, with the cooperation of Belushi's friends and family, to tell the story of a man he had never met. Woodward portrays Belushi's personality as manic – muddled by talent, fame, drugs, and all the causes and effects that they would cause one another. Woodward's Belushi had difficulty coming to grips with his public and private personas. As he rose to stardom as a cast member on "Saturday Night Live" and in films, Belushi's larger-than-life character personas were not shakable when he was off-camera, especially when he was out on the town. Belushi dealt with the demands and rewards of fame by increasing his drug usage. He was able to go without sleep for days and still manage often brilliant live television appearances. At times, drugs may have even enhanced his performances, and this is possibly why his erratic behavior was so often tolerated – Belushi was just being Belushi. His talent, more often than not, would make up for his abhorrent personal conduct. Belushi's fame was on the rise, but he was wearing himself out. Woodward re-creates scenes from Belushi's life while also presenting certain SNL sketches and scenes from Belushi's movies, complete with dialogue, as if they were scenes from his life. This meshing of Belushi-the-man and Belushi-the-character is a unique stylistic approach that bolsters Woodward's implicit suggestion that no one actually knew the real Belushi, including himself. He was a man uncomfortable in his own skin. By the time he arrives at Belushi's death, Woodward has presented so many scenes of drug abuse and self-destruction that the reader metaphorically overdoses with Belushi. Critics have complained that Woodward presents too much drug use in Wired, but the effect is purposeful – it explains why someone so young, bright, and vivacious could die of drugs. After numerous brushes with death, Belushi finally pushed himself too far – he was not larger than death. It is not inconceivable that Belushi was impossible to help and his death was inevitable. Just before the book was released in June 1984, it was excerpted in The Washington Post, as well as 50 other newspapers, and a portion was published in Playboy. Judy Belushi, in an interview with the Post, just before Wired's release, said that she felt betrayed by Woodward: "To me, the biggest lie is that it claims to be a portrait of John, but it's not," she said. "It's only about drugs." The Post stated, "Although few of the critics of the book cite inaccuracies, instead aiming at the writing or the tone, Judy Belushi contends that the book changes time sequences that she says made her late husband seem more drug-crazed than he really was." John Belushi's close friend and fellow Blues Brother, Dan Aykroyd, also referred to Woodward's work disparagingly. Aykroyd's stance on Wired remains the same almost 20 years after its release. Aykroyd said in Tom Shales' Live From New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live (2002), "He painted a portrait of John that was really inaccurate – certain stories in there that just weren't true and never happened. So no, I wasn't happy. This was my friend that was being besmirched." Both Aykroyd and Judy Belushi were interviewed by Woodward for Wired – Aykroyd over three days and Belushi many times over a year-long period. Bob Woodward is an assistant managing editor of The Washington Post. During his more than 30 years as a reporter and editor, he has written (or co-written) eight No. 1 national nonfiction bestsellers, including Wired. Woodward and Belushi both grew up in Wheaton, Illinois (Woodward graduated from high school six years before Belushi). MORE: Biographical information about Woodward Joan Didion on Woodward Christopher Hitchens on Woodward as Washington's gatekeeper |
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