Adventures in the Screen Trade

Enter Hollywood's inner sanctums in this gossipy and honest book by the Academy Award-winning screenwriter and bestselling author of The Princess Bride.

A National Bestseller—Named One of the Top one hundred Film Books of All Time by The Hollywood Reporter

No one knows the writer's Hollywood more intimately than William Goldman. Two-time Academy Award-winning screenwriter and the bestselling author of The Princess Bride, Marathon Man, Tinsel, Boys and Girls Together, and other novels, Goldman now takes you behind the scenes for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, All the President's Men, and other films . . . into the plush offices of Hollywood producers . . . into the working lives of acting greats such as Robert Redford, Laurence Olivier, Paul Newman, and Dustin Hoffman . . . and into his own professional experiences and creative thought processes in the crafting of screenplays. You get a firsthand look at why and how films get made and what elements make a good screenplay.

“Not only an illuminating primer for the aspiring screenwriter but a joy to read.” —Variety

“A nuts and bolts account—shrewd, practical, economical. . . We feel we have got the hang of the trade.” —The New York Times

“A celebration and a sharp analysis of the screenwriter's art . . . gossipy enough to enchant the customers in the balcony, but it is also authoritative and outspoken.” —Los Angeles Times

“Fascinating . . . Goldman's candor here is both amusing and moving. . . . Surprising, refreshing, and informative.” —Chicago Sun-Times