The Devil's Guide To Hollywood: The Screenwriter As God! (2006) - Plot & Excerpts
I see the average review for this book is not even at a three. I loved reading this book. I liked Joe Eszterhas's voice. He seems like a really cool guy. Love's his wife. Love's his 4 boys. I love the way the book was formatted. Simple quotes, short lead in questions or statements. Name dropping. Gotta love the name dropping. Good advice. Uplifting. He's a champion for the screenwriter. I got this book at the library. I was looking for a book about screenplay writing. Specifically one I had skimmed before that had a page saying that there are only 3?5?7? types of scripts. One of them being the ticking clock time's is gonna run out type. You'll be surprised at how many movies use this. American Beauty is one. If anyone knows this book hit me with a message. Anyway, I decided not to get any of the screenplay writing books because I read some when I was younger and I didn't understand them and you know the most important thing, they're by people who don't write scripts. It's ridiculous. The people writing scripts aren't writing books about how to write scripts, they are writing scripts.Well anyway, if you want a good entertaining read and are interested at all about the ins and outs of Hollywood, give this book a go.One of my favorite questions in the book: How do you define success? Director Robert Quine (Sex and the Single Girl) "The definition of success is to be doing better than your best friend."I thought that one was funny. Just me? That's okay.
Outspoken, belligerent, insightful, indiscreet and undeniably talented, screenwriter Joe Eszterhas is the man behind some of Hollywood's most expensive scripts and highest-grossing movies--such as Flashdance, Jagged Edge and Basic Instinct. He is also a man with a quick temper and a low threshold for idiots; making him a poor fit with the FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) vacuities of the people involved with Hollywood's movie machine. Eszterhas is almost too eager to speak his mind, no matter the cost. For the famed screenwriter, retaining ownership of your dignity in a town where weak character is king and integrity is an affect available for sale by-the-hour, is essential to not blowing out your brains at the end of the day. The Devil's Guide To Hollywood is a tell-all tome that is as much about keeping the faith as it is as about the art of scriptwriting (i.e. don't let the bastards see you blink). It is wickedly humorous, painfully revealing, scathingly vituperative, and honest (despite the author's bruised ego perpetually colouring his comments). You don't have to be interested in the art of screenwriting to fall in love with this book; possessing a modicum of integrity, a cynical sense of humour, and a distaste for malignant narcissism of most people is sufficient. Highly recommended.
What do You think about The Devil's Guide To Hollywood: The Screenwriter As God! (2006)?
This is the most entertaining book I've read in quite some time. I can't believe so many people gave it low reviews. I guess with Joe Eszterhas, you either love him or hate him.I love him. I almost never literally laugh out loud while reading, but I couldn't stop with this book. (Admittedly, I don't have the most highbrow sense of humor.) Along with the fun anecdotes and hilarious slams on almost everyone of interest working in Hollywood comes a LOT of really excellent screenwriting advice. There are many tips in here I've never seen elsewhere, and most of them make a lot more sense than stuff you'll read elsewhere from stodgier types. I think this may be my second favorite book on contemporary writing, after Stephen King's On Writing.This isn't Proust, but it's entertaining as hell and Eszterhas is a much better writer than most people give him credit for. (Just ask him, he'll tell you.) I liked this book so much, I only wish I could read it again for the first time.
—C
Joe Eszterhas's The Devil's Guide to Hollywood: The Screenwriter as God! is too long. That's pretty much my only criticism. Perhaps he felt the need to share all of the tidbits of information... Anyways, his biggest helpful tidbit is to become a screenwriter: STOP WASTING TIME AND START WRITING. That being said, why waste time reading approximately 400 pages of his advice when you could be writing? On the plus side, once again, Eszterhas has an interesting voice, personality and point of view on life and screenwriting.
—Janastasia Whydra
Screenwriter and author Joe Eszterhas is not one to shy away from controversy or mince words (his scripts for his films BASIC INSTINCT and SHOWGIRLS demonstrate that), that is why this book is so much damn fun to read.Eszterhas has complied an enormous group of quotes, anecdotes, and advice, from himself as well as Hollywood players and writers ranging from Raymond Chandler and Sam Spiegel to Robert Evans and William Goldman, designed to help guide the novice screenwriter not only through the writing process but also through the shark-infested waters that is the Hollywood Motion Picture business.Here, Eszterhas spares no one, including himself, and does so with a brutal honesty and a devil-may-care attitude, but never belittling the reader and always offering sound advice and genuine encouragement.
—Max Magbee
