People in the News: Johnny Depp

Bibliography
Grabowski, John. People in the News: Johnny Depp. Detroit: Lucent Books, 2011. Print.

My Thoughts
This was written for a middle school reader. The author "dummies" down the vocabulary or inserts simplistic definitions for words or concepts. Overall, the book was interesting, and I did learn some about Johnny Depp. I also, through the text, recalled some of the "news" stories that followed Depp like his being arrested for swinging a bat at some photographers or his very public romance with Winona Ryder.

One thing I found interesting was why and how he created the character of Jack Sparrow. According to Grabowski, Depp "based his characterization of Captain Jack Sparrow on Keith Richards" and Pepe Le Pew (Grabowski 70). Perhaps this explains why I could hardly make out what was being said in the third movie!

Another thing I didn't know about Depp was that he played in the Nightmare on Elm Street movies as well as Platoon. I've seen almost all of Johnny Depp's movies (at least the movies released in the United States), and he usually plays some odd ball character. I think that's why I really like him. He's not afraid to take risks.

The book does contain many pictures of Depp over the years (although all since he began acting)and insert boxes of related information.

Post script: The week I read this book, People magazine had the same cover picture as the book reporting that Johnny and his girlfriend were breaking up. Strange coincidence!