Hunting with Barracudas

The first time Chris works for Hollywood agent Iris Burton, her number one client is the fabulous River Phoenix, big money maker and Oscar nominee. But River was spiralling out of control and ends up dead of a drugs overdose outside LA's the Viper Room. The second time Chris works for her she has Joaquin Phoenix in Gladiator. But by this time the corporate agencies are circling ...the Hollywood jungle is merciless and Iris is getting older and madder than ever. Iris is 5ft 2 - her coat is leopard-skin and her hide pure rhino. She won the Most Beautiful Child in New York contest when she was nine. She was a dancer in the Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis comedies and in Cecil B. de Mille's The Ten Commandments. She dated everyone from Gene Kelly to Steve McQueen. Then she became an agent for kids and teens including Drew Barrymore, Henry Thomas (Barrymore's co-star in E.T.), Fred Savage (star of The Wonder Years), Josh Hartnett, Kirsten Dunst and most recently Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen. 'I hate to say it, but kids are pieces of meat', Iris said in a 1984 People magazine article about child stars. 'I've never had anything but filet mignon. I've never had hamburger. My kids are the choice meat'. "Hunting with Barracudas" is an honest account of being caught up in the Hollywood entertainment industry and working for a tyrant whose sole reason for existence rested on how hot her clients were. An instant classic, this is a gripping and wildly entertaining story of what it takes to make it in Hollywood.