I should emphasise from the start that I had no involvement or contact with anyone involved in the production of Pretty Bird, so I when I say it’s one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen I’m doing so from a (thankfully) detached position.

Pretty Bird is pretty bad. Perhaps not M Night Shyamalan bad, but still pretty woeful. But my overriding feeling after watching it was one of bafflement. Pretty Bird is just so odd, so half-hearted, so dull that it’s hard to figure out what exactly it’s trying to achieve.

The meandering first hour sees quirky entrepreneur Curt (Billy Crudup) recruit rocket propulsion expert and super-grouch Rick (Paul Giamatti and moustache) and chequebook-happy bed salesman Kenny (David Hornsby) for an unspecified scheme that is eventually revealed to involve building a rocketbelt.

What’s so special about this rocketbelt, the device around which the whole movie and any conflict within it hinges? Why are these guys so driven to build it, to fly it, to fight over it? We never find out. They build the thing without much effort, Curt and Rick fall out over nothing much, Kenny’s money runs out, and the rocketbelt disappears. And that’s pretty much it. It’s all deeply unsatisfying.

Although the leads do perfectly fine jobs, they’ve got very little to work with. The script is bland, the characters are underdeveloped, and the little conflict that exists is introduced too late. It’s pitched as a comedy, but there’s nothing remotely funny in it. It’s a really difficult movie to care about.

I was left wondering whether production problems played any part in Pretty Bird’s downfall. The best scene, Curt’s (very short) meeting with a potential investor played by Garret Dillahunt, almost seems like it’s been cut and pasted from another movie. And Curt’s romantic fling with one of Kenny’s employees, played by Kristen Wiig, shapes up interestingly, only for both the subplot and Wiig to be immediately forgotten about.

The movie labels itself as a work of fiction inspired by real events, and certainly the characters of Curt, Rick and Kenny are based on the real-life Brad, Larry and Joe. And there’s a rocketbelt in it. But comparisons with the true story pretty much end there.

I’ve no problem with the film makers playing loose with the facts. The real rocketbelt caper story is too complicated, too sprawling, maybe even too far-fetched, to be transferred to the screen without a thorough condensation of characters and events. But if you’re going to leave things out, you don’t leave out the most interesting bits, surely?

Pretty Bird makes dull work of unique and fascinating true story. It feels like a huge opportunity missed, and that’s a shame. I’m certain there’s a still great rocketbelt caper movie out there. It’s just that no one has made it yet.

Read more about The Rocketbelt Caper.

Anyway, it’s up now, so Kindle people can go and do their Whispernet thing. The price will vary according to which country you’re in, and to be honest I can’t work it out, so just go take a look.

If you don’t have a Kindle, you can get a non-Kindle ebook here. And, of course, if you’re still living in 2008 or something you can get a version of the book made of cellulose pulp, derived mainly from wood, rags and certain grasses, processed into flexible sheets or rolls by deposit from an aqueous suspension. That’s a paperback to you and me.

The Rocketbelt Caper is the non-bestselling true story of three men who build a jetpack, fall out, hit each other over the head with baseball bats, and other unspeakable things. It is most definitely NOT the source material for straight-to-video rocketbelt caper movie Pretty Bird.

[UPDATE 21/05/10] Having investigated further, the Kindle version costs $2.99 in the US – the lowest price it was possible for me to list an ebook on the service. Amazon keep 65% of that, and then pay me the remainder via a US dollar cheque, on which I have to pay a fee to cash into my UK bank account. So I’m not making any money on this. I’m simply making the book available on Kindle to get it in front of as many readers as possible.

However, in the UK, Amazon hikes the price to $5.86 – almost twice the price paid by US readers. The official reason given by Amazon for this is ‘taxes and operating costs’. Hmm. UK VAT might account for an extra 17.5%, but is there really an extra operating cost associated with sending an item that does not physically exist across the Atlantic? A rum deal, but if you don’t want to pay Amazon’s premium feel free to buy direct from this website instead.

[ANOTHER UPDATE 25/06/10] The UK price has now been reduced to $3.51 for no fathomable reason, but is now only $0.52 more than the US price.

The movie premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2008, but has sat on a shelf ever since. It stars Paul Giamatti, Billy Crudup and David Hornsby, and was directed by Paul Schneider. The story is credited to Zene Baker…

The original Wikipedia entry for the movie stated that it was based on The Rocketbelt Caper. However, as the revision history shows, a user named Econbowery has ‘removed erroneous information (that this movie is based on a book)’. Econbowery’s only user contributions to Wikipedia have been to edit the Pretty Bird listing.

The Rocketbelt Caper tells the true story of three men (Brad Barker, Larry Stanley and Joe Wright) who set out to build a rocketbelt, nicknamed Pretty Bird, only for their friendship to fall apart in bizarre and dramatic circumstances.

By contrast, Pretty Bird tells the fictional story of three men (Kurt, Rick and Kenny) who set out to build a rocketbelt, nicknamed Pretty Bird, only for their friendship to fall apart in bizarre and dramatic circumstances.

The movie had mixed reviews after the premiere and failed to find a distributor, hence its straight-to-DVD release. See some reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. This review mentions The Rocketbelt Caper.

For the record, I have had no involvement or contact with anyone involved in the production of Pretty Bird. The movie option for The Rocketbelt Caper was purchased by another production company, but that option expired without a film going into production. (Interestingly, Pretty Bird is being released by Paramount – the same company that held the Rocketbelt Caper option.) I have not yet seen Pretty Bird, and so have no reason to believe it takes any details from the book that are not otherwise available in the public domain. I am looking forward to seeing it.

The Amazon product description says: ‘Based on a true stoy, this comic tale of three would-be entrepreneurs set out to invent a rocket belt. The venturesome partnership soon takes an unhealthy toll as their mismatched personalities clash and some unexpected success lead to retaliations and kidnapping in this parable of American dreams and delusions.’

The DVD is released on 29 June 2010 and can be pre-ordered from Amazon.com.

The Rocketbelt Caper is available in paperback and as a download here. It should also be available on Kindle soon.

William P Suitor was an original test pilot for the Bell Rocketbelt, and also flew the Tyler Rocketbelt and the Rocketbelt 2000. He has clocked up more rocketbelt airtime than anyone else, and flew two of the most famous rocketbelt flights of all time – as one of the stunt pilots on the James Bond movie Thunderball, and in front of a worldwide audience of billions at the LA Olympics opening ceremony in 1984.

He was the test pilot on the RB-2000, but thankfully got out before the project spiralled towards its murderous conclusion. Bill supplied a lot of information for my book, and you can read more about his involvement in the caper here.

Sadly, Bill’s book doesn’t feature the foreword he wanted from the first Bell rocketbelt pilot Hal Graham. As previously posted, Hal died in October, aged 75. According to the Nashville Scene, Hal replied to Bill’s request with a message saying, “I probably won’t be around after tomorrow. Catch it in the papers.” The following afternoon, Hal drove to the local headquarters of the Federal Aviation Authority, which had revoked his pilot’s license two weeks earlier. Hal entered the building, saying nothing, took out a handgun, and shot himself in the head. You can read more about the tragic end to a high-flying life in the article Hero pilot Hal Graham’s hard fall to earth by Brantley Hargrove.

Bill Suitor’s tale has a happier ending, and he is currently attending book signings to talk about his remarkable rocketbelt career. You can get his Rocketbelt Pilot’s Manual here.

Harold ‘Hal’ Graham was a 27-year-old science graduate from Buffalo who had been working for the Bell Aircraft Company as a test engineer for just over a year when he was selected to be the first man to pilot the rocketbelt – the iconic flying jetpack created by engineer Wendell Moore.

It would be Graham’s first taste of flying. He was not a registered pilot, and the only machine he had previous experience of driving was a car. He was, however, a rocketbelt fan, having grown up with Buck Rogers comics and Commando Cody serials. When Bell began to ask around for a volunteer to fly the rocketbelt he had no hesitation in applying for the job.

Graham’s first tethered flight took place in March 1961. These flights took place in a large aircraft hangar. The rocketbelt was suspended from the ceiling, and small amounts of thrust were used to generate moderate lift. 36 tethered flights later, it was time for the safety ropes to come off.

The very first untethered rocketbelt flight took place at seven in the morning on 20 April 1961. A 20-man Bell crew gathered at an empty clearing near the Bell plant on Buffalo’s Niagara Falls Boulevard and opposite the Niagara Falls Municipal Airport, which had been specially closed for 30 minutes. The crew ran through a detailed checklist in preparation for the flight.

Then Graham, wearing a black rubber suit, white helmet, work boots, and goggles, released the throttle in a short burst to check the propulsion. All seemed fine. Again he released the throttle, this time successfully lifting the belt around 18 inches from the ground in a thick cloud of steam, and piloted it in a straight line at a speed of around ten miles per hour.

The noise was incredible – an explosive roar of gas as loud as a pneumatic drill. And visibility was poor – almost zero according to Graham – due to condensation created by the rocket exhaust.

On the first free rocketbelt flight Hal Graham flew for 13 seconds and covered a distance of 112 feet – eight feet less than the Wright Brothers had covered in their inaugural flight. It was nevertheless a thoroughly triumphant debut.

Following the success of the test flight, Bell executives were keen to unveil the remarkable device to the public. After 28 test flights, Wendell Moore was satisfied enough to agree to a public demonstration.

The first public rocketbelt flight took place at Fort Eustis, Virginia, on 8 June 1961 at a demonstration of new technologies. Light bulbs flashed and film reels rolled as Graham piloted the rocketbelt into the air, legs swinging below him. Against a backdrop of Air Force planes, Graham maneuvered the rocketbelt over a truck, and higher into the sky. He flew to around 15 feet, and then descended, bouncing slightly as he landed on his feet. Graham then offered a salute.

After removing his fire suit, Graham was mobbed by the press. Microphones were thrust into his face, and pencils jotted down every word he said. Bell officials handed out press releases which began, ‘Harold M Graham is believed to be the first man to fly with back-carried rocket equipment.’

The story made the front pages across the US. The New York Times headline read, ‘Portable army rocket propels man 150 feet in 11-second test flight.’ Life magazine said, ‘Graham was strapped to a hydrogen peroxide-fuelled rocket. The Army hopes it will someday make all foot soldiers look like Buck Rogers.’

One week later, Graham demonstrated the rocketbelt on the front lawn of the Pentagon in Washington DC in front of a huge crowd of military personnel.

Then, in October 1961, Graham, Moore and the Bell crew travelled to Fort Bragg in North Carolina to participate in another military demonstration, this time as part of a display of combat readiness. The demonstration was performed in front of a notable guest of honor – President John F Kennedy.

Graham, wearing a US Army uniform, took off from an amphibious landing vehicle, flew across a pond in a spray of water, and landed 14 seconds later on a sand embankment in front of JFK. Graham remembered to salute but forgot to depressurize the belt in the excitement of the moment, although he managed to remain on the ground. ‘Mr Kennedy was described by an Army Officer sitting near him as “wide eyed and open mouthed, just like a kid”,’ reported the Buffalo Evening News.

The public interest and publicity surrounding Graham and the rocketbelt generated much correspondence. Letters requesting public appearances began to flood the Bell offices. One man wrote to Bell requesting the use of the rocketbelt in order to claim a $1 million treasure trove that, he claimed, he could only reach with the use of the belt. Suspicious Bell executives turned the request down.

Although Hal Graham could now proficiently fly the rocketbelt, he was still not a registered airplane pilot. In November 1961 he decided to do something about that. He began to take flying lessons, and qualified for his pilot’s license in July 1962. That year also saw the debut of the B-Series rocketbelt. The new belt was engineered to reduce weight, and, as rocketbelt pilot, Graham was kitted out in a brand new bright yellow flight suit.

But Hal Graham’s short career as a rocketbelt pilot was coming to an end. During an ill-fated demonstration at Cape Canaveral, Graham fell 22 feet, landed on his head, and was knocked unconscious. He survived the crash, but decided to get out of the rocketbelt business. Graham made 83 untethered rocketbelt flights during his time at Bell, but he left the company in 1962 to pursue his new love of flying traditional aircraft. He set up his own one-man, one-plane charter flight company in Crossville, Tennessee.

Hal Graham died in Nashville on 22 October 2009, aged 75.

Watch Hal Graham fly the rocketbelt (YouTube)
Visit Hal Graham’s rocketbelt website

So, for example, a piece of software or a game will be given away free, with the belief that a percentage of the people who use it will end up paying for a related service or a premium version, such as support for the software, or extra game levels.

The book began as a Wired cover story, Free! Why $0.00 Is the Future of Business, which provides a neat introduction to Anderson’s theory.

The hardback is out now, priced £18.99 (currently discounted to £9.41 on Amazon). But as you might expect, Anderson is also making his book available for free.

The ebook can be read – although not downloaded – at Scribd.com. An abridged 3-hour audio book is available on Spotify. Free is the first audio book to appear on Spotify. The 6-hour unabridged version can be downloaded free from Audible.

Anderson promises that the book will be rolled out in other free formats over the next few weeks, via iTunes, Kindle, Google Books and more. Check his blog for more details.

Most interestingly, Anderson and his UK publisher Random House are giving away an abridged paperback edition, which Anderson says is “the entire book minus, if memory serves, the appendixes”, courtesy of a sponsorship with Adobe and via the Brand Republic website. The paperback giveaway will begin at the end of this week.

I’d like to say I trumped Anderson by making my book The Rocketbelt Caper free in both ebook and paperback editions a couple of weeks ago. (See this write-up at TeleRead.) But Anderson was an inspiration for the free promotion, and his distribution model has the potential to really shake up the book industry.

Earlier this year I attended the London Book Fair and saw publishers attempting to embrace ebooks, but determined to charge paperback prices for electronic editions. This will not work for one simple reason: physical books are better than ebooks.

“If you believe that the physical book is the superior form, then you have to believe that people who love the sample will buy the physical book,” Anderson said at a keynote speech at SXSW in Austin earlier this year. And making the full version of Free available on Scribd.com is essentially offering a sample, as few readers will want to read the whole thing via Scribd’s online reader.

Making a paperback edition free courtesy of sponsorship is a really interesting idea. When I worked in publishing we briefly attempted something similar, but the project didn’t get off the ground, mainly because sponsors and advertisers just didn’t get the concept. But it’s essentially the same concept that allows newspapers and magazines to be distributed free. And free newspapers and magazines have seriously damaged their paid-for equivalents, so the book industry needs to take a careful look at what Anderson and Random House are doing here.

It would be fascinating to know how much Adobe has paid to sponsor the project, and how the figures stack up for Random House, who will apparently spend £30,000 promoting the “giveaway”.

So I’m looking forward to reading and listening to Free – for free. And if it’s any good I’ll most probably buy it). A victory for “freenomics”.

It would be remiss of me to end without saying that The Rocketbelt Caper is available as a free ebook for the long term, and a free paperback for a limited period, right here.

The book tells the true story of three men who set out to build a real-life Buck Rogers-style flying machine called the Rocketbelt 2000. But their obsession with the rocketbelt shattered their friendship and set in motion an astonishing chain of events involving theft, deception, a bizarre kidnapping, a ten million dollar lawsuit and a horrifically brutal murder.

The eBook is released under a Creative Commons license.

It’s available in a range of DRM-free formats, including ePub, Mobipocket, and custom PDF, and is compatible with Amazon Kindle, Sony Reader, iPhone or iPod Touch, iRex iLiad, Smartphone, PDA, Adobe Reader and more. And, of course, you can read it on your PC screen.

The eBook is hosted by and can be downloaded from Feedbooks, and you can also get format advice and help from that website.

If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch you can access the eBook via the Stanza app – just select Online Catalog and access ‘Feedbooks – Free Content’.

Why is it free? In a nutshell, because I want it to be read by as many people as possible. Please download it, read it and – hopefully – enjoy it. If you do enjoy it, you might like to tell your friends, or buy one of the lovely paperback editions, and if you think the eBook is worth paying for, you might even like to make a donation here. Thank you very much in advance. If you don’t enjoy it, well I’m sorry about that, but – hey – at least it was free.

Read more about The Rocketbelt Caper here.

The ePub edition can be read on the Sony Reader, on an iPhone with the free Stanza app, and on a PC with free Adobe Digital Editions. It’s reflowable and DRM-free. The PDF edition can be read with the free Adobe Reader.

The US paperback edition of The Rocketbelt Caper will be released on 29 June. Get more details here.

UPDATE: The ebook is now available – FREE – in most popular formats here.

Mobipocket format ebooks can be read on a Windows PC, Windows Mobile, Palm Os, Symbian phone, Blackberry, Pocket-PC, Cybook, iRex, Iliad, and more.

I’m currently working on making the book available in ePub format, compatible with the Sony Reader, and also intend to make the book available on Amazon’s Kindle. I wrote about ebook formats in The Guardian a couple of weeks ago. As I own the digital publishing rights to the book, I’m attempting to blaze something of a solo trail through the world of ebooks, shoehorning my experience of running a publishing company / typesetting books etc into a digital context. I’ll post updates, and possibly some how-to guides, over the next few weeks.

The US edition of The Rocketbelt Caper, released in paperback on 29 June, has a new cover, and very slightly abridged/updated text, and it doesn’t have photos. If you want the colour photos and Frank Dickman’s Building A Rocketbelt essay then you’ll need to get the UK paperback.

UPDATE: The ebook is now available – FREE – in most popular formats here.