A good-natured memoir of 1990s and 2000s show-running and filmmaking.
An accomplished director, screenwriter, and producer recalls some behind-the-scenes drama.
After creating the hit 1980s TV show thirtysomething, Zwick directed a pre-superstar Denzel Washington in Glory, produced the Oscar-winning Shakespeare in Love, and was trusted with big-budget vehicles for Leonardo DiCaprio (Blood Diamond) and Tom Cruise (The Last Samurai). In this avuncular memoir, he recalls which parts of that success were stumbled upon or hard-fought, telling a few tales about his colleagues and himself. In 1982, he writes, thirtysomething came after spending “four years writing scripts no one wanted to make and directing TV that wasn’t worth seeing.” Shakespeare in Love spent years in production (Julia Roberts was originally slated for Gwyneth Paltrow’s role) and was nearly sunk by the volcanic fury of Harvey Weinstein, who tried to undercut Zwick’s production role. Glory was quite nearly undermined by star Matthew Broderick’s domineering mother. None of the dish Zwick delivers is very spicy or surprising—DiCaprio likes women, Cruise is intense, Brad Pitt has an ego, Shia LaBeouf is mercurial—but it explains how easily personality clashes can derail a project and how a good director manages the difficult dance between art and commerce in an industry overflowing with narcissists. Getting sidetracked is simply part of the job: The author estimates that he took on “as many projects that died in utero as those that thrived and made it into the theaters.” Zwick keeps his own ego out of the narrative—he even downplays his yearslong struggle with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma—and chapters close with lists of advice for young filmmakers, which mostly boil down to “keep your ego in check,” “expect the unexpected,” and “Hollywood isn’t fair.” Throughout his career, Zwick has kept his sense of humor; regarding comedy, “no movie can be funny enough.”
A good-natured memoir of 1990s and 2000s show-running and filmmaking.Pub Date: Feb. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9781668046999
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2023
An engrossing and ominous chronicle, told by a master of the form.
Documenting perilous times.
In his most recent behind-the-scenes account of political power and how it is wielded, Woodward synthesizes several narrative strands, from the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel to the 2024 presidential campaign. Woodward’s clear, gripping storytelling benefits from his legendary access to prominent figures and a structure of propulsive chapters. The run-up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is tense (if occasionally repetitive), as a cast of geopolitical insiders try to divine Vladimir Putin’s intent: “Doubt among allies, the public and among Ukrainians meant valuable time and space for Putin to maneuver.” Against this backdrop, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham implores Donald Trump to run again, notwithstanding the former president’s denial of his 2020 defeat. This provides unwelcome distraction for President Biden, portrayed as a thoughtful, compassionate lifetime politico who could not outrace time, as demonstrated in the June 2024 debate. Throughout, Trump’s prevarications and his supporters’ cynicism provide an unsettling counterpoint to warnings provided by everyone from former Joint Chief of Staff Mark Milley to Vice President Kamala Harris, who calls a second Trump term a likely “death knell for American democracy.” The author’s ambitious scope shows him at the top of his capabilities. He concludes with these unsettling words: “Based on my reporting, Trump’s language and conduct has at times presented risks to national security—both during his presidency and afterward.”
An engrossing and ominous chronicle, told by a master of the form.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2024
ISBN: 9781668052273
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 15, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2024
IN THE NEWS
PERSPECTIVES
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.
A former New York City dancer reflects on her zesty heyday in the 1970s.
Discovered on a Manhattan street in 2020 and introduced on Stanton’s Humans of New York Instagram page, Johnson, then 76, shares her dynamic history as a “fiercely independent” Black burlesque dancer who used the stage name Tanqueray and became a celebrated fixture in midtown adult theaters. “I was the only black girl making white girl money,” she boasts, telling a vibrant story about sex and struggle in a bygone era. Frank and unapologetic, Johnson vividly captures aspects of her former life as a stage seductress shimmying to blues tracks during 18-minute sets or sewing lingerie for plus-sized dancers. Though her work was far from the Broadway shows she dreamed about, it eventually became all about the nightly hustle to simply survive. Her anecdotes are humorous, heartfelt, and supremely captivating, recounted with the passion of a true survivor and the acerbic wit of a weathered, street-wise New Yorker. She shares stories of growing up in an abusive household in Albany in the 1940s, a teenage pregnancy, and prison time for robbery as nonchalantly as she recalls selling rhinestone G-strings to prostitutes to make them sparkle in the headlights of passing cars. Complemented by an array of revealing personal photographs, the narrative alternates between heartfelt nostalgia about the seedier side of Manhattan’s go-go scene and funny quips about her unconventional stage performances. Encounters with a variety of hardworking dancers, drag queens, and pimps, plus an account of the complexities of a first love with a drug-addled hustler, fill out the memoir with personality and candor. With a narrative assist from Stanton, the result is a consistently titillating and often moving story of human struggle as well as an insider glimpse into the days when Times Square was considered the Big Apple’s gloriously unpolished underbelly. The book also includes Yee’s lush watercolor illustrations.
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.Pub Date: July 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-27827-2
Page Count: 192
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2022
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