By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions. Goldman's credits are legendary, two Oscars, for the screenplays in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and All the President's Men, and many many more. After detailing the vast amount of work it takes to bring a script all the way to the big screen, it's no wonder Goldman gets so angry at the Auteur theory. Bill Goldman is painfully frank about his struggles, his weaknesses, and the seamy underbelly of the business that has paid his bills for decades.

Nor realized that lots of regular guys dream of being in a position where rich people send expensive cars to drive them around. Goldman also name-drops like a gossip columnist with revealing details and tidbits about familiar names and the then-current (early 1982) Hollywood climate - Stallone, Redford and Newman feature prominently - and many forgotten or never heard of films have been added to my radar. Goldman won two Academy Awards: an Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and an Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay for All the President's Men. He talks a lot about Hollywood and there are some darling little stories about particular stars and directors, then he shows you the actual screenplay for the movie with directions to the actors etc. Between all the self-aggrandizing and payback that Willy skillfully disguises as friendly banter, he throws in some screenwriting advice.and into his own professional experiences and creative thought processes in the crafting of screenplays. It's an interesting tutorial on the craft of screenwriting, but I'm not sure it belongs in this book. Adventures in the Screen Trade is a sparkling memoir and every bit as entertaining as some of the landmark films he helped create (including Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, All the President's Men, and Marathon Man). But Will shares that story and others like it throughout the book to casually note what a humble, normal person he is, despite the fact that humble, normal people avoid constantly pointing out how humble they are in their books published by Time Warner. Goldman has many funny stories to tell about Hollywood insiders and a lot of the silliness that is present in the industry.

The only detractor is that the book was written in 1983 and the references to stars include: Robert Redford, Burt Reynolds, etc. He illustrates his advice by including the entire screenplay for Butch Cassidy, then analyzing its strengths and faults. Not surprisingly, Goldman is not a fan of the auteur theory, a notion promulgated by young French new wave critics (including Francois Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard) in the Fifties asserting that the director is the author of the movie. Goldman grew up in a Jewish family in Highland Park, Illinois, a Chicago suburb, and obtained a BA degree at Oberlin College in 1952 and an MA degree at Columbia University in 1956.He then solicits feedback from a suite of movie insiders: a director, editor, cinematographer, etc . Although written in 1983, with many films he cites from this era, I am sure the process is little changed. However, the inclusion of the screenplay for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid makes the book even more valuable, especially since he also analyzes the screenplay and what works and what doesn't.