Hollywood Days and Nights - Softcover

Benjamin J. Stein

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0553345206 ISBN 13: 9780553345209

Publisher: Bantam, 1988

Synopsis

The author shares his experiences as a Hollywood screenwriter and offers his observations on the movie industry and California society

About this title

From Publishers Weekly:

Former White House speechwriter Stein's (Her Only Sin, etc.) diary of six months, from November 1985 to May 1986, is a failed attempt to humorously depict what life is like for a nice guy living in crazy Hollywood. Complaining about his Porsche and his money problems, Stein goes to Morton's or the Hard Rock Cafe with friends and high school kids (he's researching a book on secondary education), whom he mocks as particularly ill-informed. He calls his agent, who won't speak to him; pitches ideas for screenplays and sitcoms to studio bigwigs; gossips about celebrities; encourages friends to commiserate over his bad luck; goes to exclusive parties; and talks about what a decent fellow he is (he likes dogs and children). Stein's observations include: "Jean has big blue eyes and silky blond hair. She is too smart to look that good"; "Movies are a peculiarly American art form"; "Oooh, I have some very juicy gossip. Very, very juicy. Very hot stuff." Among the many low points in this disappointing effort, Stein calls Sylvester Stallone "a creative genius" and Richard Nixon "a sensitive poet locked up in a politician's body."
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal:

Like most Hollywood novels, newspaper columnist/teacher/deal pitcher Stein's diary, spanning November 1985 to May 1986, simply confirms all the cliches about Hollywood life we nonresidents hold so dearly. What he gives usthe money, cars, deals, movie/TV executives, lunches, sunis real tinsel to be sure, but one grows a tad weary of intellectual-in-Disneyland Stein's love/hate relationship with the city and industry. After a while, his problems in dealing with his luxury lifestyle fall on increasingly numb ears; the cost of his lunches at carefully name-dropped trendy restaurants would probably add up to a lot of librarians' annual salaries. Like the movies and TV shows crawling from the factory, this is bearably amusing but very familiar stuff. David Bartholomew, NYPL
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Bantam
• Publication date: 1988
• ISBN 10: 0553345206
• ISBN 13: 9780553345209
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 166