Heaven and Mel

By: Joe Eszterhas

Narrated by: Tim Halligan

Joe Eszterhas and Mel Gibson had a global confrontation in April of this year over their movie The Maccabees. Heaven and Mel is Eszterhas' explosive, unabridged, no-holds-barred account. It is a Hollywood story, but it's not. It is the story of love and hatred, of anti-Semitism and fathers and sons, and of a movie star's tragic sexual obsession. It is the story of God and the Devil, devastating but often hilarious. It is Joe Eszterhas at his best: two-fisted, movingly sensitive, always outrageous.

©2012 Joe Eszterhas (P)2014 Audible Inc.

the real mel gibson

shame hes nuts. he needs help. hes a dangerous ass hole.not watching his movies . hes preduce

Joe and a Shmoe

This book reveals nothing about Mel Gibson that we already don't know except for the fact he is way more cunning than I would of imagined, Eszterhas on the other hand comes off like a religious bumpkin (who of course became deeply religious after years of drug and alcohol abuse), seems so naïve that is hard to believe he wrote Basic Instinct when he seems to have none.

Gibson who is portrayed by Eszterhas as a dangerous madman hell bent on killing his ex, played Eszterhas like a fiddle and Joe is obviously bitter about it and wrote this book to put Mel in a bad light but unwittingly did the same to himself.

Mel Gibson is a giant jerk who has risen to the top in a world full of giant jerks, what else is new! , I watch movies to be entertained, if I stopped watching movies because the people making them were unscrupulous there would be nothing to watch!

Sounds like a has-been looking for a hand-out

Coming from one of the most deplorable and rumor-ridden screenwriters in Hollywood history, or should I say lore, this nonsensical book is more like a complaint from an angry former employee than a bipartisan addressing of one man's questionable relationship with the monster that is the world of Hollywood.

Just because Joe found Jesus doesn't mean the rest of the world did too, clearly Mel didn't. If Joe was willing to put his transgressions aside to work with Mel at the beginning... Sorry, but money talks doesn't it Joe.

This was a waste of 4 hours of my eardrums shelf life. Im sorry eardrums, I'll make it up to you later.

Great story, annoying second character narration

Narrator’s voice for Mel and others was extremely hard to listen to,though overall a story kept me listening.

so entertaining

Listen i have mixed feelings about Joe Eszterhas, Do i think his movies are good? no. have i read his books and been thouroughly entertained? Yes. This was a totally fascinating listen. I loved it

Mad Mel

In his detailed narrative, Esterhas is almost like a guest at dinner who is so upset over an event that he has just witnessed that he has to unburden himself with a story that he knows needs to be told. The nature of an audio book makes that an especially personal, worthwhile experience for the listener.


“Heaven and Mel” is the articulate and convincing narrative of the disturbing story of a Hollywood superstar with almost psychotic mental issues, which manifest themselves through profane-laden, bigoted, seemingly-uncontrollable, outbursts. Gibson’s inner demons are wound so tightly, they explode in fury whenever he loses control. Because of his continual and casual anti-Semitism, racism and ethnocentrism, I believe the intemperate explosions reveal the actual inner workings of a disturbed mind, not mere ramblings that are profane for the very sake of being profane.


I don't agree that the book is simply an anti-Gibson invective/screed by a bitter would-be associate. Esterhas credibly and seemingly-fairly paints an intimate portrait of a man whom he expected to like, but whose inexplicable ravings converted an incipient friendship into revulsion. He provides enough detail, along with his commentary on his feelings throughout their relatively brief association, that his story is more than creditworthy. The explanation is simple – Gibson is a viciously bigoted, self-centered, bad man.


Before listening to the book, it bothered me that Gibson’s despicable behavior attracted so much curiosity to him and his movies that he became even richer than he was before. After listening to the book, however, I was gratified to realize that he can never enjoy the fruits of his fortune because of his raging inner demons.


Hopefully, the last chapter has been written on the life of Mel Gibson. If not, I suspect the end will be violent … likely self-inflicted by Gibson, but, possibly, inflicted on anyone who is unfortunately in his orbit.

someone full of anger

author is someone who says he's a Christian but carries a big grudge on his heart

Time for Mel to retire

no, I certainly didn't love it. No excuse for that kind of talk to your wife and mother of your child!

A bitter angry man

Eszterhas is a good man who clearly has more integrity than Gibson ever had. Just an angry bitter man whose life is the envy of 99.999% of the planet but still filled with bile.

Eszterhas - quite the hypocrite & coward

Granted Mel comes across as vile . But the book is flat when he’s not featured. Old Joe is very selective about when and where he applies his Christianity . Forgiveness & Chatity not a strong suit. As soon as his project looks to fail Joe Joe gets a big set and writes a letter. His default bravery seemed to be avoid and ignore . The reader makes every woman, teen, child sound nasally and annoying.