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From the foreword by Quentin Tarantino:"One of the reasons Michael's work has such meaning for me is he's writing about feelings and emotions that it seems at times the last few generations have become blind to. Some of Michael's work is about family remembrances. A moment he saw his mother wrap her arms around his father's waist, or how his sister looked in one dress in particular. Some of them are thought jazz. Some are the best recordings of the gypsy life of a movie actor I've ever read. Michael stuck on some location, on some crappy movie, bored out of his mind with too much time on his hands and not enough per diem is Michael at his funniest. But for me, the real journey that Michael the writer is exploring is what it means to be a man in a world where the notions of manhood that some of us grew up with are barely remembered. But then if everybody embarked on the hero's journey, everybody would be a hero, wouldn't they?"
Tears For My Father: Outlaw Thoughts & Poems explores not only Madsen's remarkable life and experiences in and out of Hollywood, but also his familial influences that have participated in crafting and shaping him, including thoughts on his father; his mother and the rumor that he was born without a left hand; ghosts, whiskey, and payback; Robert Mitchum, James Cagney, and "sensitive sons of bitches"; the mentality of actors and growing up to be a man; his first audition; drunken behavior; epic drinkers; and much, much more.
About the author
Michael Madsen is most notably recognized for his role as the sadistic killer, Mr. Blonde, in Quentin Tarantino's
Reservoir Dogs. His career spans over twenty-five years and over 170 films. He has played memorable characters in a myriad of box office hits, including
Kill Bill,
Sin City,
Hell Ride,
Die Another Day,
Donnie Brasco,
Species,
The Getaway,
The Doors,
Thelma & Louise, and yes, he played the loving father in
Free Willy. He is also featured in Quentin Tarantino's
The Hateful Eight.
Madsen is also an accomplished poet and has an international following, his first book,
Burning In Paradise, won the Independent Firecracker Award in 1998 and was recently translated in Norwegian in 2008. He has been recognized worldwide as a poet and invited to the International Poetry Festival in Genoa, Italy, and Mexico to be honored for his Bukowski style poetry.
The Complete Poetic Works of Michael Madsen, Vol. I 1995–2005 is the only authorized book of Madsen's poetry dating up to 2005, and
Signs of Life, dedicated to Chris Penn was Madsen's first ever book of photography.
Summary
From the foreword by Quentin Tarantino:
One of the reasons Michael's work has such meaning for me is he's writing about feelings and emotions that it seems at times the last few generations have become blind to. Some of Michael's work is about family remembrances. A moment he saw his mother wrap her arms around his father's waist, or how his sister looked in one dress in particular. Some of them are thought jazz. Some are the best recordings of the gypsy life of a movie actor I've ever read. Michael stuck on some location, on some crappy movie, bored out of his mind with too much time on his hands and not enough per diem is Michael at his funniest. But for me, the real journey that Michael the writer is exploring is what it means to be a man in a world where the notions of manhood that some of us grew up with are barely remembered. But then if everybody embarked on the hero's journey, everybody would be a hero, wouldn't they?
