The two best books I’ve read about how Hollywood works are William Goldman’s:
- Adventures in the Screen Trade: A Personal View of Hollywood and Screenwriting (1983)
- Which Lie Did I Tell?: More Adventures in the Screen Trade(2000)
You might remember William Goldman as the screenwriter for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and many other movies.
Now, there’s David Mamet’s new book about his 40 years in Hollywood, Everywhere An Oink Oink. Mamet, a polarizing figure among playwrights, shows he’s just as polarizing among producers, directors, and screenwriters in Hollywood. The best thing Mamet has to say about his years in Hollywood is “I was left alone on Hoffa, and on Ronin, The Verdict, The Postman Always Rings Twice, Wag the Dog, and perhaps a few others.” (p. 193)
Mamet also admits some some mistakes: “I turned down both Scorsese’s offer of Raging Bull and Sergio Leone’s of Once Upon a Time in America.” (p. 141)
If you’re interested in how Hollywood works plus plenty of stories about actors, actresses, directors, producers, and other Hollywood figures, give Mamet’s Everywhere An Oink Oink a try. GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Prologue: forty years in a harem — 1
Speed-the-plow — 5
The little engine and the factory ship — 11
Mother Earth — 15
Out in the Styx — 17
To build a fire — 21
Leda & the swan, or the impossible dream — 25
Early films — 29
Hats and shoes — 33
Gossip — 41
The form persists — 49
Curious survivals — 57
The Frank Sinatra story — 65
High & low — 71
Villains and sexual abuse at the Golden Globes — 79
Joe and Don — 87
Colleagues and swine — 97
Just one damn thing after another — 109
A dinosaur — 117
Tools — 121
Destroyed by tobacco — 125
The trauma in the boathouse — 129
Lime rock — 135
Temper and gags — 139
Poodvecker — 145
Gifts — 153
How Max Factor became pregnant — 157
Things change — 165
An appreciation of the state of play — 169
The cards — 173
A two-sided coin — 179
The centipeep — 183
Singing in the shower — 187
Hoffa — 193
Courage and hypocrisy — 197
History — 205
The flocky — 211
Backwash –217
L’envoi — 225
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS — 227
INDEX — 229
Lost my respect for Mamet when he came out in support of Trump.
Steve, same here.
Sadly, he struck me as a perfect model of a Trumpoid without even the excuse of stupidity many years ago, when I was mostly aware of Trump as SPY’s favorite living joke. Controversial is kind.
Cormac McCarthy is of a piece with him, by me.
Todd, it always baffles me when I see “intelligent” people who support Trump. I see Trump as a con-man and liar and cheater. Why can’t these people see that???
Well, if they aren’t simply dense, they’re letting their resentment trump all. As a malignant narcissist, that is where Mein Drumpf lives all the time.
Lots of clowns would like to emulate his blustering past authority figures and being as obnoxious as possible, well into criminality as well as constant lies, to everyone around him.
One of my oldest friends has been an essentially lifelong Republican and paleoconservative (she did prefer John Anderson to Reagan in ’80), and she can’t abide him…voted for the Christian democratic party American Solidarity for president in 2000, as she wouldn’t dream of voting for Tramp nor the likes of Meatball Ron.
Todd, I’m worried about Third Parties and voter apathy that might swing the Election to Trump like it did in 2016.
Well, I’ll avoid the book, though I still enjoy many of Mamet’s films.
Just curious, George:
How do you feel about Mamet’s admiration of Trump, George?
I mean, everyone has a right to some opinions, but Mamet’s rationale was more like an alarming work of fiction than any reality-based argument.
Dan, I’m leaning toward a diagnosis of Early On-Set Dementia in Mamet’s case.
What Steve said. I am way off him now and decided against reading this one. I have seen a few of his plays over the years.
I agree with you on the Goldman books, by the way. Especially his key explanation of Hollywood: “Nobody knows anything.”
Jeff, Mamet agrees with Goldman’s “Nobody knows anything” statement about Hollywood. But the Mamet subtext is most people in Hollywood are Wrong.
Broken face clocks, twice a day. Particularly when it’s special pleading.
Todd, you’re right…again.
The book sounds interesting and I like the approach of short pieces about Hollywood. I did not know that Mamet was pro-Trump and that makes me less interested in reading it, unfortunately.
Tracy, you would enjoy the Hollywood stories Mamet writes. Trump doesn’t show up in EVERYWHERE AN OINK OINK.
Todd-McCarthy was a Trump supporter? I hate hearing that. His Blood Meridian is my second favorite novel. Huck Finn is my first.
That Goldman book has been sitting on a shelf for thirty years. I never give it to the library but I never seem to read it. It is always cited as the best of the best.
Patti, Goldman’s books show how Hollywood really works!