"Alien" Quartet

David Thompson, born and educated in London, now lives in San Francisco. He writes regularly for both the U.S. edition of Esquire and the Independent on Sunday in London. He is also known for his biographies--Showman: The Life of David O. Selnick and Rosebud: The Story of Orson Wells--for three remarkable 'fictions' that are derived from the screen--Suspects, Silver Light and Warren Beatty and Desert Eyes--and for A Biographical Dictionary of Film, which is now in its third edition. His most recent book is Beneath Mulholland, a collection of essays, and he is also the author of 4-2 (from Bloomsbury), a memoir on growing up as a soccer fan, based on the 1966 World Cup final.