Age of Cage

**An** NPR **Books We Love 2022** “ *Age of Cage* might be the closest we will get to understanding the singular beauty of each of Nic Cage’s always electric performances. You are holding the Rosetta Stone for Cage. Enjoy it.” ― **Paul Scheer, actor, writer and host of the** How Did This Get Made? **and** Unspooled **podcasts** ** Icon. Celebrity. Artist. Madman. Genius.** Nicolas Cage is many things, but love him, or laugh at him, there’s no denying two things: you’ve seen one of his many films, and you certainly know his name. But who is he, really, and why has his career endured for over forty years, with more than a hundred films, and birthed a million memes? *Age of Cage* is a smart, beguiling book about the films of Nicolas Cage and the actor himself, as well as a sharp-eyed examination of the changes that have taken place in Hollywood over the course of his career. Critic and journalist Keith Phipps draws a portrait of the enigmatic icon by looking at―what else?―Cage’s expansive filmography. As Phipps delights in charting Cage’s films, *Age of Cage* also chronicles the transformation of film, as Cage’s journey takes him through the world of 1980s comedies ( *Valley Girl,* *Peggy Sue Got Married, Moonstruck* ), to the indie films and blockbuster juggernauts of the 1990s ( *Wild at Heart* , *Leaving Las Vegas* , *Face/Off* , *Con Air* ), through the wild and unpredictable video-on-demand world of today. Sweeping in scope and intimate in its profile of a fiercely passionate artist, *Age of Cage* is, like the man himself, surprising, insightful, funny, and one of a kind. So, snap out of it, and enjoy this appreciation of Nicolas Cage, national treasure.