Chasing the Panther

Adventures and Misadventures of a Cinematic Life

De: Carolyn Pfeiffer, Gregory Collins

Narrado por: Devon O'day

A cinematic and vibrant coming-of-age memoir, Chasing the Panther captures the thrilling and, at times, heartbreaking early years of Carolyn Pfeiffer, a pioneering film producer and one of Hollywood's first female executives—a “mini-mogul” in the words of the Wall Street Journal.

For a moment in the 1980s, Carolyn Pfeiffer was the only woman in Hollywood who could greenlight a movie. Working with directors like Sam Shepard and Wes Craven, and with actors like River Phoenix and Bette Davis, she had a hand in producing or distributing many landmark films, among them Ridley Scott's The Duellists, Alan Rudolph's Choose Me, and the Academy Award-winning Kiss of the Spider Woman. However, long before establishing herself as a player in the world of film, Carolyn was a horseback-riding tomboy who dreamed of exploring the world beyond her small hometown. Her journey turned out to be a tale fit for the movies.

As a young girl jumping from rock to rock in a rural North Carolina town, Carolyn felt a calling she couldn’t articulate but that she nonetheless understood: it was a tug on her heart, a yearning for something more. When she could, she set out for New York City, a refuge for young women exercising their independence and resisting the pressures of marriage and motherhood. There, swept up in the glamorous world of beat poets and millionaires, Carolyn brushed shoulders with a young Burt Reynolds and became fast friends with an English journalist named Penny.

As the turbulent 1960s dawned, Carolyn booked a one-way passage to Europe. Her plan was to visit Penny and to travel around Europe for the summer but, instead, the world opened up to her in ways she never could have imagined. She found herself on set with Italy’s great filmmakers, in the couture houses of Paris’ fashion icons, and swept up in the youthful energy flooding London. She learned about film and found work on iconic movies like Federico Fellini’s 8 ½, Luchino Visconti’s The Leopard, and David Lean's Doctor Zhivago, and she came to befriend and work alongside luminaries like the Beatles, Tennessee Williams, Francoise Truffaut, and Barbra Streisand. Amid these adventures and misadventures, Carolyn fell in and out of love, and was beset by tragedies and triumphs that resoundingly affirmed what she'd known since girlhood—that she was always destined for something more.

Set against the dazzling backdrop of Fellini's Rome, the Paris of the French New Wave, and Swinging London, Chasing the Panther reads like a true-to-life novel revealing Carolyn’s unforgettable journey to find her place in the world.

Photos are included in the audiobook companion PDF download.

Beautiful and captivating

When this book 1st started, I wasn’t sure I was going to like it. But, after giving it about 10-15 minutes, it sucked me in and is such an incredible story.

Fascinating memoir

Come for the celebrity stories from the golden age of American and European film. Stay for the lessons of relationships and career and poignant heartache and joy. I loved this so much more than I expected to.

Beautifully Written

Incredible story that shouts the embodiment of the strength of women. An amazing cinematic journey!

A surprise

I tend to not like memoirs but this book is the exception. It’s not a tell all book but a story about a remarkable woman who happened to be present during an historic time in cinema. There’s no trashing of people here. Just an appreciation of the art of film
Making and the people who make it possible.

The Epitome of Courage and Grace

Carolyn has lived a life that most of us could only dream about! She tells the story of her early years in cinema with such eloquence and grace, it feels like she’s taking you on the journey with her!

The dawning of the 60’s and 70’s brings a lot of change for women and what women can do; how they navigate relationships, working and children, with and without marriage.

With good comes indescribable heartache and yet Carolyn finds the wisdom, grace and perseverance to truly find the good and peace that life brings.

I hope Carolyn writes another book picking up where this one let’s off!