Cinema Speculation (Pre-Owned)

by Quentin Tarantino

Cinema Speculation is Tarantino's debut work of nonfiction — part film criticism, part film theory, part memoir — organised around key American films of the 1970s that he saw as a young moviegoer growing up in Los Angeles. 

Organised around key American films from the New Hollywood era, the book is as intellectually rigorous as it is entertaining.  Tarantino digs deep into classics like Bullitt, Dirty Harry, Taxi Driver, and Deliverance — dissecting what makes them work, where they fall short, and how they shaped his own filmmaking. His signature "cinema speculation" also kicks in with thrilling what-if scenarios, such as what might have happened if Brian De Palma had directed Taxi Driver instead of Scorsese. 

As a filmmaker writing criticism rather than a critic writing about film, Tarantino reverses the usual trajectory — bringing the experience of the field into the realm of analysis, with none of the limitations of a regular critic: no deadlines, no word counts, and none of the pressure to be polite. 

The book debuted at number five on the New York Times nonfiction bestseller list.  Essential reading for cinephiles, film students, and anyone who wants to understand how one of cinema's most singular minds actually thinks.