What to Read Ahead of the Oscars
Publishing and film have long had a special relationship.
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As the 96th Oscars approach, I’ve been thinking about how closely intertwined Hollywood and the literary world are. Arguably, publishing’s biggest contribution to the movies today is providing an intellectual-property source for new projects. Lots of films in the running for statues, such as Oppenheimer, American Fiction, The Zone of Interest, Poor Things, and Killers of the Flower Moon, are adapted from books. And for as long as we’ve had movie stars and blockbusters, we’ve had tell-alls and journalistic exposés of their foibles and triumphs.
First, here are three new stories from The Atlantic’s books section:
This week, Fran Hoepfner recommended seven books that dig into how the film industry really works—titles such as Julia Phillips’s dishy New Hollywood classic, You’ll Never Eat Lunch in This Town Again, and two excellent (if very different) memoirs from the actors Viola Davis and Eartha Kitt. As Hoepfner writes, Davis’s prose is as clear as a bell, and she is direct about how her hard work as well as her luck brought her success; meanwhile, Kitt’s effervescent memoir proves that she “knew everyone, she talked with everyone, and she couldn’t wait to talk about it all.”
The celebrity memoir I read most recently was Jennette McCurdy’s I’m Glad My Mom Died—a provocative title for a deeply felt and remarkably mature book. McCurdy and I are close in age, and I’d already felt an affinity for her, having grown up watching her on television. In her book, she is honest without glorifying suffering, and she balances justified rage with love. When the book came out, Nina Li Coomes wrote that McCurdy successfully taps into the voice of her younger self, making the writing a vessel for a “complicated truth—of having adored and feared someone, of missing them and being relieved that they’re gone.” Her book is a strong addition to a genre that contains low lows and high highs. In April of last year, Allie Jones recommended some other celebrity memoirs that couple self-awareness with a driving, engaging voice, including ones written by Stanley Tucci and Demi Moore.
Part of the draw of reading these books is seeing the curtain pulled back on a VIP’s journey to, and through, fame. The business of film is famously opaque: As Davis points out in her memoir, it takes more than talent to break into stardom; who makes it and how is frequently a matter of connections and chance. Awards shows such as the Oscars are so exciting and glamorous because, for just one night, the people we feel like we know seem like they're right in front of us.
Seven Books That Explain How Hollywood Actually Works
By Fran Hoepfner
These titles shed light on an industry that’s always bubbling with drama beneath the surface.
What to Read
Wendy, Master of Art, by Walter Scott
If you’ve ever been nauseated—or even vaguely annoyed—by art-world pretension, you’ll find Scott’s Wendy series hilariously familiar. The books follow a messy young woman named Wendy and her rise to industry acclaim as she stumbles through late, sloppy nights; bad critiques with M.F.A. nemeses; scathing reviews; and cringey performances. Informed by Scott’s own experience in the fine arts, later books show Wendy attending graduate school in rural Ontario at the University of Hell, where her classmates are interested in the “semiotics of pissing” and “really long string.” She parties with a friend named Screamo whose head resembles the subject of Edvard Munch’s famous painting, envies a successful artist who’s drawn as an alien with glamorous wavy hair, and ricochets around professional events in a questionably tiny strapless dress. Scott’s drawings drip with physical comedy: His characters turn noodle-limbed when they’re high, run with giant sweat droplets when they’re nervous, and prance around with black-holed eye sockets when they’re sleep-deprived. I can’t imagine a funnier series of comics than this one, part coming-of-age chronicle and part critique of creatives, populated by people who loathe and terrify one another, all clamoring for fame, approval, and love. — Kristen Radtke
From our list: Seven great graphic novels that go beyond words
Out Next Week
Your Weekend Read
The New York Times’ New Game Is Genius
By Ian Bogost
Strands, the new word-search game still in beta, seems to fuse some of the best features of Wordle, Connections, and the crosswords. The game might not be for everyone, but for me it represents a breakthrough. “We got really hyped about taking something classic—word search—and adding something new to it,” Mason said. Connections may torment its players with little room for error, but Strands rewards wrong guesses, in a way, by filling in a progress bar that gets you to a hint. The game displays its daily theme front and center, crossword-style, which helps you with the first, and toughest, word to find. From there, each further discovery shrinks the board and makes the next one that much easier, delivering a pleasant sense of acceleration toward victory.
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