A review by cassidymenard
Adventures in the Screen Trade by William Goldman

4.0

Man oh man, what to think?! For some, admittedly arbitrary, reason, I have always loved William Goldman. I think this whim found roots when reading Cary Elwes's account of the making of The Princess Bride, a book called As You Wish, in which Elwes describes Goldman as sincere and humble, but simultaneously odd and somewhat hysterical. Now that I've finally read Goldman's writing in its purest form, I would add witty and intelligent to that list of qualities. My favourite section is definitely part 2, because there is nothing more interesting than behind-the-scenes gossip. Goldman's writing takes on even more relatability when discussing his writing projects. He's just so charming! I was ready to give this a 5-star review at that point. But then we entered part 3, and I gotta say, I really don't like barber stories. Don't like barbershops, don't find haircuts dramatic, and especially don't have any patience for artist characters who see their talent as justification for being shitty people (as George Roy Hill so eloquently notes in the book). So the fact that the entire final section of the book required me to read a barber-centric short story, the adapted screenplay for that story and several interviews about how one might produce a film from that story left me far from charmed. It literally pains me to say such harsh things about this random man I admire but never met. Furthermore, around the time of my reading part 3, I also began reading reviews of a different book by Goldman that make note of some concerning remarks he made in said book about the queer, female and other minority communities. From what I can tell, a lot of this can be chalked up to the outdated language and social awareness of the 60s, but it definitely soured my reading. Moral of the story: don't have heroes?