I liked 'Memo from David O. Selznick' - something similar ?

July 21, 2007 6:27 AM

I've really enjoyed reading 'Memo from David O. Selznick' - can anyone suggest something in a similar line ?

Can anyone recommend books which bear a similarity to 'Memo from David O. Selznick' ?

The book is his collected corrrespondence and I enjoyed the insight into how he conducted business.

As Mr Selznick was a film producer in the 1930/40's the emphasis is on show biz issues at that time.

However I'd be interested in books covering any area of business at any time and which illuminated how things were done and why without getting involved in the sort of hero worship which is often an integral part of contemporary business biographies.

posted by southof40 to writing & language (4 comments total)

Not the same format but other books by and about producers that I've liked include:

What Just Happened? by Art Linson
The Kid Stays in the Picture by Robert Evans
Adventures in the Screen Trade and Which Lie Did I Tell? by Bill Goldman
Hit & Run by Nancy Griffin
If They Move, Kill 'Em by David Weddle
The Devil's Candy by Julie Salamon
Rebel Without a Crew by Robert Rodriquez
Killer Instinct by Jane Hamsher
Outrageous Conduct by Farber and Green
I Was Interupted by Nick Ray
Final Cut by Stephen Bach


And not film related at all but interesting because it reveals how cults work and is a auto/biography:

Life 102: What to Do When Your Guru Saves You by Peter McWilliams
posted by dobbs at 6:46 AM on July 21, 2007

seconding The Kid Stays in the Picture
posted by the cuban at 7:18 AM on July 21, 2007

Great list, dobbs.

A few more about the film biz:
Sex, Stupidity and Greed, Ian Grey
You'll Never Eat Lunch in This Town Again and Driving Under the Affluence, Julia Phillips
Monster and The Studio, John Gregory Dunne
Easy Riders, Raging Bulls and Down and Dirty Pictures, Peter Biskind
Our Movie Year, Harvey Pekar
posted by box at 9:12 AM on July 21, 2007

Lost in the Horse Latitudes by H. Allen Smith

"With irreverent hilarity, Author Smith (Low Man on a Totem Pole) tells how he became a Hollywood writer and of his adventures thereafter. Typical tale: how an enraged agent bit Louella Parsons' arm at a dinner party." - Time Magazine, October 16, 1944
posted by sciatica at 9:59 AM on July 21, 2007