Adventures in the Screen Trade

By: William Goldman

Narrated by: Kiff VandenHeuvel

Length: 13 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

Now available as an audiobook for the first time!

No one knows the writer's Hollywood more intimately than William Goldman. Two-time Academy Award-winning screenwriter and the best-selling author of Marathon Man, Tinsel, Boys and Girls Together, and other novels, Goldman now takes you into Hollywood's inner sanctums...on and behind the scenes for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, All the President's Men, and other films...into the plush offices of Hollywood producers...into the working lives of acting greats such as Redford, Olivier, Newman, and Hoffman...and into his own professional experiences and creative thought processes in the crafting of screenplays. You get a firsthand look at why and how films get made and what elements make a good screenplay.

Says columnist Liz Smith, "You'll be fascinated."

©2012 William Goldman (P)2022 Grand Central Publishing

Critic reviews

"[This] is that big, sad, funny, incisive, revelatory, gossipy, perception-forming book about Hollywood that publishers have been promoting for years - and now the real thing is finally here." (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

"A deliciously honest book...Goldman deserves a special Read of the Year award." (The Plain Dealer, Cleveland)

If you like good stories

This book is an excellent intro to how the movie business works. Or…worked in the late 1970s. It’s extremely good. You should listen. It will make you want to learn more about paul Newman and Robert Redford

Excellent book that’s still relevant.

Love this book. The writing is excellent and conversational, the stories are still just like it is today (despite being 40+ years old), and the narration is perfect.

Laugh out loud hilarious and interesting

Amazing performance of a great book by a screenwriter with a strong sense of humor and a lot of interesting experiences in the movie industry.

Dated yet still valid.

Dated in films, but not in content. A fantastic listen. My favorite takeaway: “Nobody knows anything.”

BEST BOOK ON SCREENWRITING

I first read this in 1990, back when I wanted to be a screenwriter. Reread it several times. It was so inspirational. Thrilled they made an audiobook. The narrator is great. Reminds me a little of Albert Brooks.

Ten Stars

I haven’t enjoyed an audiobook this much in years. Brilliant writing and narration. Top drawer.

Matzo ball soup for the screenwriter’s soul.

Brilliant insights from a nuts and bolts writer. Old but still feels relevant. And it’s amazing to see how his predictions have played out.

knowledgeable

The opening music theatrical sound. the core of the book great advice and knowledge of the business. The changes of business changes are eye opening.

Classic in the field stands up

Classic in the trade that I read years ago. Much advice is still relevant as are the critiques of comic book movies 40 years later!

The narrator at first seems a bit harsh and aggressive. But so is William Goldman’s book. The reader grew on me with his excitable reading (when called for) and great mimicry of movie stars’ speech which was enough to help you remember them but not over the top impersonation.

This book is a must for anyone going into any area of movie production or who just follows all the goings on like I do (hey, my husband follows sports and sports management, who gets what contract why and if they deserve it—movie business is what I follow).

Mostly interesting

The last quarter tends to drag but the anecdotes that comprise the first three quarters are often very interesting.