Ready for My Closeup

The Making of Sunset Boulevard and the Dark Side of the Hollywood Dream

By: David M. Lubin

Narrated by: Jason Culp

For readers of Sam Wasson and Glenn Frankel, a cultural history about the making and lasting significance of Sunset Boulevard, whose piercing—and in many ways, prophetic—critiques of fame continue to resonate today.

Great films are born of great collaborations, and Sunset Boulevard represents one of the most extraordinary confluences of cinematic talent in film history—but its production was surprisingly fraught, filled with unexpected twists. Why was William Holden, who had never caught fire as a leading man, hired to play Joe Gillis after the fastest‑rising star in the business dropped out at the last minute? After Mae West and Mary Pickford turned down the now iconic role of Norma Desmond, how did Billy Wilder convince Gloria Swanson, who had long been absent from Hollywood at this point, to leave her low‑paying job as a TV talk show host to join the cast? From the writers' room during Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett’s final collaboration to the moment when the film won three Academy Awards, scholar and former Rolling Stone staffer David M. Lubin takes readers on a fascinating journey through film history that proves, once and for all, why Sunset Boulevard is one of the most iconic films in cinematic history.

Just in time for the film's 75th anniversary, Ready for My Closeup breathes life into a beloved masterpiece of American cinema.

Critic reviews

"Sunset Boulevard belongs in the Hollywood pantheon, alongside such classics as Chinatown and The Wizard of Oz, both of which have deservedly received their own “biographies.” Now David Lubin gives Sunset its due with this fast-paced journey through the making of the movie, sprinkling his well-researched tale with rich nuggets about the Golden Age. Anyone who admires Billy Wilder, adores William Holden and is mesmerized by Gloria Swanson will hunger for more."
—Stephen Galloway, New York Times bestselling author of Truly, Madly

"David Lubin’s deep dive into Hollywood’s darkest take on Hollywood seamlessly analyzes process, motive and meaning, as well as the confluence of talents that brought this bleak, beloved tale to life and, eventually, immortality."
—Scott Eyman, New York Times bestselling author of John Wayne: The Life and Legend

"Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard is one of the most majestic and original works of Hollywood’s golden era, and David M. Lubin's entertaining book casts a wide net in capturing and exploring all of the elements of the film's brilliant artistry, from great writing and acting to set design and cinematography for a movie that is both a scathing critique and a requiem for the studio system, its grandeur and its cruelties."

—Glenn Frankel, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of Shooting Midnight Cowboy

“With the perfect blend of journalistic brio and scholarly erudition, David Lubin’s Ready for My Closeup invites us on an eminently pleasurable journey through the production history, the critical and popular reception, and the enduring resonance of Sunset Boulevard. The gripping story he tells will surely be catnip to cinephiles and equally seductive to readers of Hollywood history and lore.”—Noah Isenberg, bestselling author of We’ll Always Have ‘Casablanca’: The Life, Legend, and Afterlife of Hollywood’s Most Beloved Movie

“David Lubin’s exhaustively researched and fluently written anatomy of Sunset Boulevard, Billy Wilder’s classic about `the pathology of fame’ (Lubin's phrase), is an example of the ‘behind-the-scenes’ genre at its best.”—Peter Biskind, author of Easy Riders, Raging Bulls

"David M. Lubin’s impeccably researched Ready for My Close-Up pulls apart the hall of mirrors that is Sunset Boulevard, convincingly demonstrating that the film is not only the greatest American statement on fame and its delusions, but that it also served as a fulcrum point in the lives of its makers and the industry that it filets so expertly. This observant and trenchant making-of blends biography, history, and cultural criticism to thrilling effect." —Isaac Butler, author of The Method: How the 20th Century Learned to Act

A Timeless Classic.

Sunset Boulevard is an incredible film. A timeless classic. And an inspiration for so many movies and characters in Hollywood and beyond. David Lubin provides an incredibly complete and well researched account of how the movie came together and of why it had such an impact. The title of the book is so fitting - as it provides such insight into the movie, the actors, writers, and directors that made it all happen, and weaves such a detailed and complete tribute around each one of them, and takes us through their lives with tremendous detail and wit. Well done David Lubin!

For fans of the movie

Nothing really new in this backstory of a classic film, but it is worth reading if you love the movie.

Billy Wilder was brilliant

I love the movie, great backstory, I met Gloria Swanson at a book signing, wonderful!

Enjoyable Behind the Scenes Information

This enjoyable book follows the backstory and making of Sunset Boulevard. A good portion of the book is taken up by the biographies of the principals and some fascinating Hollywood history, leading into compelling information on the making of the film. Early on in this section, I felt as if the author was padding the book with detailed descriptions of scenes in the movie (which most readers have presumably seen), but these descriptions eventually led to an interesting fact or observation. At the end, the author sketches the lives of the principals after Sunset Boulevard. I did feel this was rushed, and interesting aspects were skipped over. For example, he never mentions Swanson's final film, Airport 75, in which she plays a version of herself. Then, while detailing William Holden's African work as an environmentalist and game preservationist, he mentions nothing of Holden's important partnership in this endeavor with the actress Stephanie Powers, with whom he also had a romantic relationship until his death. Powers created the William Holden Wildlife Foundation and became its first president.

Outstandingly entertaining!

Sunset Blvd: watch this movie and then read this highly entertaining, well-written, and compelling story of its making, its real life and fictional players - and of the cultural and historical times that informed its making. Then watch the movie again with deeper appreciation and enthusiasm that will come from Lubin’s insight, thoroughness, and the breadth of point of view brought to the film. This is a gem - I honestly couldn’t put it down. Reader Jason Culp was a perfect choice.