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A review by bethreadsandnaps
The Girls: From Golden to Gilmore by Stan Zimmerman
3.5
3.5 stars, rounded up
Stan Zimmerman had aspirations to be an actor, but instead he became a rather successful screenwriter in Hollywood. I appreciated learning the "inside Hollywood" take. He worked on two shows I particularly enjoyed: The Golden Girls and Gilmore Girls. He lingers far longer on The Golden Girls, which makes sense because he spent more time there early in his career, and that show (and particularly Estelle Getty) had such an impact on him.
My main quibble with this book is it drops at least five names per page in rapid-fire succession. If you're like me, you'll know who some of the people and places are (Brad Pitt, Lily Tomlin), but there a lot that you may have no idea who they are. Many of the names have no context because they are contained in a list of who Stan met at a party. Not all of the name drops are of famous people (most are, though). Sometimes it's places. Like Revolver Bar in Weho. I had to Google that Revolver Bar is a gay bar in West Hollywood. Oh, Weho. Got it now.
The author ends the book with a wonderful tribute to his mother, and there are some pictures of his mother and him in the photo section. But she's not even in the rest of the book! He uses so much of the space for famous people and famous places, but I would have appreciated to hear more about HIM, including his mother and her impact on him and if he and his writing partner Jim are still together. And what about any of his relationships? It feels like so much of him was foregone in order to have all the name drops.
However, if you go back to the title of the book, this book did talk about "The Girls" and some hot gossip to boot.
A quick, entertaining read!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Stan Zimmerman had aspirations to be an actor, but instead he became a rather successful screenwriter in Hollywood. I appreciated learning the "inside Hollywood" take. He worked on two shows I particularly enjoyed: The Golden Girls and Gilmore Girls. He lingers far longer on The Golden Girls, which makes sense because he spent more time there early in his career, and that show (and particularly Estelle Getty) had such an impact on him.
My main quibble with this book is it drops at least five names per page in rapid-fire succession. If you're like me, you'll know who some of the people and places are (Brad Pitt, Lily Tomlin), but there a lot that you may have no idea who they are. Many of the names have no context because they are contained in a list of who Stan met at a party. Not all of the name drops are of famous people (most are, though). Sometimes it's places. Like Revolver Bar in Weho. I had to Google that Revolver Bar is a gay bar in West Hollywood. Oh, Weho. Got it now.
The author ends the book with a wonderful tribute to his mother, and there are some pictures of his mother and him in the photo section. But she's not even in the rest of the book! He uses so much of the space for famous people and famous places, but I would have appreciated to hear more about HIM, including his mother and her impact on him and if he and his writing partner Jim are still together. And what about any of his relationships? It feels like so much of him was foregone in order to have all the name drops.
However, if you go back to the title of the book, this book did talk about "The Girls" and some hot gossip to boot.
A quick, entertaining read!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.