
Oscar Wars
A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears
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Narrated by:
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Charlie Thurston
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By:
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Michael Schulman
The author of the New York Times bestseller Her Again: Becoming Meryl Streep returns with a lively history of the Academy Awards, focusing on the brutal battles, the starry rivalries, and the colorful behind-the-scenes drama.
America does not have royalty. It has the Academy Awards. For nine decades, perfectly coiffed starlets, debonair leading men, and producers with gold in their eyes have chased the elusive Oscar. What began as an industry banquet in 1929 has now exploded into a hallowed ceremony, complete with red carpets, envelopes, and little gold men. But don’t be fooled by the pomp: the Oscars, more than anything, are a battlefield, where the history of Hollywood—and of America itself—unfolds in dramas large and small. The road to the Oscars may be golden, but it’s paved in blood, sweat, and broken hearts.
In Oscar Wars, Michael Schulman chronicles the remarkable, sprawling history of the Academy Awards and the personal dramas—some iconic, others never-before-revealed—that have played out on the stage and off camera. Unlike other books on the subject, each chapter takes a deep dive into a particular year, conflict, or even category that tells a larger story of cultural change, from Louis B. Mayer to Moonlight. Schulman examines how the red carpet runs through contested turf, and the victors aren't always as clear as the names drawn from envelopes. Caught in the crossfire are people: their thwarted ambitions, their artistic epiphanies, their messy collaborations, their dreams fulfilled or dashed.
Featuring a star-studded cast of some of the most powerful Hollywood players of today and yesterday, as well as outsiders who stormed the palace gates, this captivating history is a collection of revelatory tales, each representing a turning point for the Academy, for the movies, or for the culture at large.
Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
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Narrator does a nice job of relaying this book
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Fasten Your Seatbelts
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Loved it!
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At the very least, many might want to consider moving immediately into your own era, or the era just before yours, so you will be more familiar with the names and movies you are hearing about. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy stories that took place before I was born—I have watched and enjoyed 1950’s Best Picture winner All About Eve since hearing about it in the book—but it took on a new level of interest when I hit 1970, as I was born in 1968.
If on a scale of 1-10, Quentin Tarrantino loves and knows movies with a level 10 ferocity, I’m probably a 5 or 6. If you’re not at least that high, this book will likely bore you far more than interest you. If you don’t tend to remember names of movies, along with their major stars, years after you have seen them, or if you don’t find yourself outraged every year by who got nominated and/or snubbed at the Oscars, you might want to sit this one out.
I’m really glad I listened to this book. It gave me a lot of ideas for movies I want to watch, and taught me more about actors and actresses who previously were little more than names and faces. It also told some fascinating stories about how some of my favorite movies got made, and sometimes almost didn’t.
Don’t read if you don’t like history
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Great Fun!
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Fascinating and wonderful
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Entertaining, But Can Narrators Start to Improve?
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Intrigued and bewildered!
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An interesting History of Hollywood through the lens of the Oscars
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Far better than I’d imagined
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