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Adventures in the Screen Trade: A Personal View of Hollywood and Screenwriting by William Goldman
dknippling's review
5.0
Not only is the book an excellent discussion of how Hollywood works, but shows how the author would have transformed one of his short stories into a screenplay--then, because apparently he has no fear, he talks to several industry professionals about the adaptation and records their brutally honest replies.
Whew.
Whew.
heathercawte's review
5.0
I really loved this book. Although it was written in the early 80s, so much of what he says about the film industry still seems to hold true.
The first section explains how a project is put together, including some horror stories of projects that took a lot of everyone's time, effort and money and still didn't end up getting made.
The middle, main section deals with some of his screenplays - massive hits such as 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid' and 'A Bridge Too Far' - and explains how each film came into being. This was particularly interesting to me, as I had seen almost all of the films he was talking about.
The final section comprises an unpublished short story by Goldman, his unfilmed screenplay written from that story, and the comments on it by a variety of professionals such as a composer and a director. It was fascinating to see how they each reacted to it differently, and praised or panned different aspects according to their own expertise.
I found this a very fast and enjoyable read.
The first section explains how a project is put together, including some horror stories of projects that took a lot of everyone's time, effort and money and still didn't end up getting made.
The middle, main section deals with some of his screenplays - massive hits such as 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid' and 'A Bridge Too Far' - and explains how each film came into being. This was particularly interesting to me, as I had seen almost all of the films he was talking about.
The final section comprises an unpublished short story by Goldman, his unfilmed screenplay written from that story, and the comments on it by a variety of professionals such as a composer and a director. It was fascinating to see how they each reacted to it differently, and praised or panned different aspects according to their own expertise.
I found this a very fast and enjoyable read.
librariandude's review
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
4.0
Goldman wrote "Butch Cassidy." Dude can tell some Hollywood tales. What more do you need to know?
deborahfmunoz's review against another edition
4.0
Es interesante y muy instructivo, aunque no sepas mucho de cine (como es mi caso). Está dividido en tres partes: una explicación sobre cómo funciona el mundillo, sus aventuras en dicho mundillo y el proceso de creación de un guion. Cuenta además muchas anécdotas y algún cotilleo.
explodinghead's review
3.0
This book is great fun. Written in a friendly approachable way, it moves by extremely quickly. In terms of being "helpful" for screenwriters, I don't think the first 300 pages are that informative. Goldman deals with a lot of inside-baseball regarding the practices of Hollywood.
The last half is much more helpful -- you get Goldman's original screenplay of "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" along with his own brutally honest breakdown of the screenplay's strengths and weaknesses. He also shares an original short story he wrote and discusses the numerous ways to try to adapt it into a screenplay.
The last half is much more helpful -- you get Goldman's original screenplay of "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" along with his own brutally honest breakdown of the screenplay's strengths and weaknesses. He also shares an original short story he wrote and discusses the numerous ways to try to adapt it into a screenplay.
alexak_28's review
4.0
Really good book about the Hollywood film industry. Not the best if your completely interested in screenwriting tips. He does provide a few but most of the advice is on the film industry in general.
a thing to remember before reading this book: it was made in 1982. That's over 30 years ago. The film industry has changed a lot in those 30 years. While a lot of his advice is still usable today, some are simply outdated.
overall this book is 4 out of 5 for me. It was entertaining.
a thing to remember before reading this book: it was made in 1982. That's over 30 years ago. The film industry has changed a lot in those 30 years. While a lot of his advice is still usable today, some are simply outdated.
overall this book is 4 out of 5 for me. It was entertaining.
meltedwaxwings's review
4.0
I was recommended this podcast via The Story Boys on 'Story Break', and I have to say that I very much enjoyed it!
I bought this book sometime in 2022, and only just now got to reading it. I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Kiff VandenHeuvel, and the skill and humor expressed was very entertaining.
There are problems with this book, seeing as it is a novel from just about 40 years ago, but there is definitely some interesting topics and experiences talked about in this book.
I feel the need to say that if you wish to read it because you are wanting to learn about screenwriting you will find the very few lessons helpful, but alas, few. The bulk of this novel is still, very much, about Hollywood during the 50's-80's, so while information may be outdated, it still gives a perspective I think many screenwriters should find useful, even today.
Either way, it was still an enjoyable and interesting read, and I encourage anybody interested to listen to the audiobook because the skill shown by VandenHeuvel made the novel that more enjoyable.
I bought this book sometime in 2022, and only just now got to reading it. I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Kiff VandenHeuvel, and the skill and humor expressed was very entertaining.
There are problems with this book, seeing as it is a novel from just about 40 years ago, but there is definitely some interesting topics and experiences talked about in this book.
I feel the need to say that if you wish to read it because you are wanting to learn about screenwriting you will find the very few lessons helpful, but alas, few. The bulk of this novel is still, very much, about Hollywood during the 50's-80's, so while information may be outdated, it still gives a perspective I think many screenwriters should find useful, even today.
Either way, it was still an enjoyable and interesting read, and I encourage anybody interested to listen to the audiobook because the skill shown by VandenHeuvel made the novel that more enjoyable.