Hollywood novel
Encyclopedia
A Hollywood novel is a novel
that takes the Southern California
motion picture industry as its setting and often its subject. Examples of Hollywood novels include The Day of the Locust by Nathanael West
, What Makes Sammy Run by Budd Schulberg
, The Last Tycoon by F. Scott Fitzgerald
, After Many A Summer Dies the Swan by Aldous Huxley
, Inside Daisy Clover by Gavin Lambert
, The Deer Park by Norman Mailer
, I Should Have Stayed Home by Horace McCoy
, Michael Tolkin's The Player and The Return of the Player, Joan Didion's Play It As It Lays, StarCrossed Hearts by Anne Carter, etc. Novels set in Los Angeles
but not primarily about the movie business and its effect on movie people and the public are not properly called Hollywood novels.
and F. Scott Fitzgerald
took jobs writing screenplays in Hollywood since they made more money. But many novelists such as them soon felt the film industry made them so miserable, and wrote novels detailing fictionalized versions of their experiences. Often some of these novels would revolve around some bitter screenwriter or producer who believed they were screwed over by some studio executive. And these same novels often took place during The Golden Age of Hollywood in the 1930s-1940's.
is an unfinished novel written Fitzgerald left incomplete before his death about a studio executive Monroe Stahr and later adapted into The Last Tycoon (film)
starring Robert DeNiro. Stahr is living for his job, focusing on nothing else but work, and is now suffering from a heart condition. The point of view of this novel is told through Cecelia Brady, the daughter of one of Stahr’s fellow executives. She flirts him, and wants to start some kind of love affair, but he is too wrapped up in his work to even try to think of her in romantic fashion.
written by Budd Schulberg
is from the point of view of New York Times drama critic Al Manheim focusing on the 16 year old Jewish boy Sammy Glick who rises out of the ghetto in New York to becoming a hot in demand screenwriter in Hollywood. The two become good friends almost from the start, but soon realizes his best friend is a ruthless backstabber.
was a novel written bestselling author Jackie Collins
, and was from the point of view of several wives of screenwriters and producers, detailing how their wives dealt with the Hollywood lifestyle along with how it affected them. A couple years after the novel’s release, it was turned into a made for television miniseries by Aaron Spelling
, and was a huge hit for the ABC network. It was also most popular miniseries during the 1980s. Spelling also produced Dynasty (TV series)
which the author’s sister Joan Collins
who playing the iconic role of Alexis Carrington in the series.
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
that takes the Southern California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
motion picture industry as its setting and often its subject. Examples of Hollywood novels include The Day of the Locust by Nathanael West
Nathanael West
Nathanael West was a US author, screenwriter and satirist.- Early life :...
, What Makes Sammy Run by Budd Schulberg
Budd Schulberg
Budd Schulberg was an American screenwriter, television producer, novelist and sports writer. He was known for his 1941 novel, What Makes Sammy Run?, his 1947 novel The Harder They Fall, his 1954 Academy-award-winning screenplay for On the Waterfront, and his 1957 screenplay for A Face in the...
, The Last Tycoon by F. Scott Fitzgerald
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was an American author of novels and short stories, whose works are the paradigm writings of the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Fitzgerald is considered a member of the "Lost...
, After Many A Summer Dies the Swan by Aldous Huxley
Aldous Huxley
Aldous Leonard Huxley was an English writer and one of the most prominent members of the famous Huxley family. Best known for his novels including Brave New World and a wide-ranging output of essays, Huxley also edited the magazine Oxford Poetry, and published short stories, poetry, travel...
, Inside Daisy Clover by Gavin Lambert
Gavin Lambert
Gavin Lambert was a British-born screenwriter, novelist and biographer who lived for part of his life in Hollywood...
, The Deer Park by Norman Mailer
Norman Mailer
Norman Kingsley Mailer was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, poet, playwright, screenwriter, and film director.Along with Truman Capote, Joan Didion, Hunter S...
, I Should Have Stayed Home by Horace McCoy
Horace McCoy
Horace McCoy was an American writer whose hardboiled novels took place during the Great Depression. His best-known novel is They Shoot Horses, Don't They? , which was made into a movie of the same name in 1969, fourteen years after McCoy's death.-Early life:McCoy was born in Pegram, Tennessee...
, Michael Tolkin's The Player and The Return of the Player, Joan Didion's Play It As It Lays, StarCrossed Hearts by Anne Carter, etc. Novels set in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
but not primarily about the movie business and its effect on movie people and the public are not properly called Hollywood novels.
Background and Perception of Hollywood Novels
Many novelists such as William FaulknerWilliam Faulkner
William Cuthbert Faulkner was an American writer from Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner worked in a variety of media; he wrote novels, short stories, a play, poetry, essays and screenplays during his career...
and F. Scott Fitzgerald
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was an American author of novels and short stories, whose works are the paradigm writings of the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Fitzgerald is considered a member of the "Lost...
took jobs writing screenplays in Hollywood since they made more money. But many novelists such as them soon felt the film industry made them so miserable, and wrote novels detailing fictionalized versions of their experiences. Often some of these novels would revolve around some bitter screenwriter or producer who believed they were screwed over by some studio executive. And these same novels often took place during The Golden Age of Hollywood in the 1930s-1940's.
The Love of The Last Tycoon
The Love of The Last TycoonThe Love of the Last Tycoon
The Love of The Last Tycoon: A Western is an unfinished novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, compiled and published posthumously.-Publication history:The novel was unfinished and in rough form at the time of Fitzgerald's death at age 44...
is an unfinished novel written Fitzgerald left incomplete before his death about a studio executive Monroe Stahr and later adapted into The Last Tycoon (film)
The Last Tycoon (film)
The Last Tycoon is a 1976 American dramatic film directed by Elia Kazan and produced by Sam Spiegel, based upon Harold Pinter's screenplay adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Last Tycoon, sometimes known as The Love of the Last Tycoon. It stars Robert De Niro, Tony Curtis, Robert Mitchum, Jack...
starring Robert DeNiro. Stahr is living for his job, focusing on nothing else but work, and is now suffering from a heart condition. The point of view of this novel is told through Cecelia Brady, the daughter of one of Stahr’s fellow executives. She flirts him, and wants to start some kind of love affair, but he is too wrapped up in his work to even try to think of her in romantic fashion.
What Makes Sammy Run?
‘’What Makes Sammy Run?What Makes Sammy Run?
What Makes Sammy Run? is a novel by Budd Schulberg. It is a rags to riches story chronicling the rise and fall of Sammy Glick, a Jewish boy born in New York's Lower East Side who very early in his life makes up his mind to escape the ghetto and climb the ladder of success...
written by Budd Schulberg
Budd Schulberg
Budd Schulberg was an American screenwriter, television producer, novelist and sports writer. He was known for his 1941 novel, What Makes Sammy Run?, his 1947 novel The Harder They Fall, his 1954 Academy-award-winning screenplay for On the Waterfront, and his 1957 screenplay for A Face in the...
is from the point of view of New York Times drama critic Al Manheim focusing on the 16 year old Jewish boy Sammy Glick who rises out of the ghetto in New York to becoming a hot in demand screenwriter in Hollywood. The two become good friends almost from the start, but soon realizes his best friend is a ruthless backstabber.
Hollywood Wives and Other Perceptions
Hollywood WivesHollywood Wives
Hollywood Wives is a 1983 novel by the British author Jackie Collins. It was her ninth novel, and her most successful.Hollywood Wives tells the stories of several women in Hollywood, ranging all the way from long-time talent agents and screenwriters to vivacious screen vixens and young, innocent...
was a novel written bestselling author Jackie Collins
Jackie Collins
Jacqueline Jill "Jackie" Collins is an English novelist and former actress. She is the younger sister of actress Joan Collins. She has written 28 novels, all of which have appeared on the New York Times bestsellers list. In total, her books have sold over 400 million copies and have been...
, and was from the point of view of several wives of screenwriters and producers, detailing how their wives dealt with the Hollywood lifestyle along with how it affected them. A couple years after the novel’s release, it was turned into a made for television miniseries by Aaron Spelling
Aaron Spelling
Aaron Spelling was an American film and television producer. As of 2009, Spelling's eponymous production company Spelling Television holds the record as the most prolific television writer, with 218 producer and executive producer credits...
, and was a huge hit for the ABC network. It was also most popular miniseries during the 1980s. Spelling also produced Dynasty (TV series)
Dynasty (TV series)
Dynasty is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 12, 1981 to May 11, 1989. It was created by Richard & Esther Shapiro and produced by Aaron Spelling, and revolved around the Carringtons, a wealthy oil family living in Denver, Colorado...
which the author’s sister Joan Collins
Joan Collins
Joan Henrietta Collins, OBE , is an English actress, author, and columnist. Born in Paddington and raised in Maida Vale, Collins grew up during the Second World War. At the age of nine, she made her stage debut in A Doll's House and after attending school, she was classically trained as an actress...
who playing the iconic role of Alexis Carrington in the series.
Further Reading
- Brooker-Bowers, N.: The Hollywood Novel and Other Novels About Film, 1912-1982: An Annotated Bibliography, Garland, 1985.
- Slide, A.: The Hollywood Novel: A Critical Guide to Over 1200 Works with Film-Related Themes or Characters, 1912 through 1994, McFarland & Co., 1995.