Customer Reviews

Next Stop Hollywood: Short Stories Bound for the Screen

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4 star:		(1)
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This amazing short-story collection both promises to give Hollywood green-lighters terrific material, each of the stories is an entertaining read in and of itself. Kudos all around!

The premise is that many popular movies were based on short stories; but magazines don't publish short stories as often as they used to, so the editors of this volume selected (#?) stories that they feel have movie potential.

My cousin Jerry Ryan (future famous writer) has a story in this collection so of course I had to read it.

His story is A.K.A. and it is an Elmore Leonard like hard boiled tale. Very good.

The other stories in the book are mostly good and it was fun reading so many different types of stories.

They are all sort of short. I think they must have been limited to twenty pages for this collection. I always think of one page of text being about one minute on film which is why novels adapted to the screen are almost always lacking in the movie version. An example of a novella that transferred nearly perfectly to the film version was The Body by Stephen King (which became Stand By Me when it was a movie.)

But then again twenty pages is probably all a producer has time to read, so there you go.

Are any of these stories going to become movies? I don't know.

Best of luck Jerry and the rest of you guys!

By the way - I am the only reviewer here that, so far, admits to being related to one of the featured authors; but if you read the rest of the review it is pretty obvious that I am not the only friend or relative posting here - you know who you are!

Though the other stories have much cinematic potential, my favorite of this collection has to be "Dirk Snigby's Guide To The Afterlife." Funny and snarkily irreverent, it is full of the absurdities that is the currency of organized religion. In the right hands, "Dirk" could be the next "Dr. Strangelove" -- a chilling satire on what we fear most after taking that final breath in this life as we open the door to the next. Who knows, perhaps Dirk might in fact be our Guide. Pick up a copy of this anthology for this story alone.

an excellent collection of short stories that will make wonderful movies. standouts :gone to mum's

dirk snigby

some pig

waltzing matilda.

sit back with a long cool drink and enjoy.

_The Hustler, It Happened One Night, High Noon, Minority Report_ and _All About Eve._ Quite an impressive list, but what do these movies all have in common? Give up? They all started as a short story.

Next Stop Hollywood is the brainchild of Steve Cohen and Jonathan Davis. Each year they partner with St. Martin's Press to publish original short stories that are judged by a panel of Hollywood insiders via an international contest, with winning entries compiled into the anthology. Their criteria? Finding stories that would make a great movie or TV project. More than 600 entries were submitted and narrowed down to a mere 15.

Using the same judging criteria, I chose three stories from Next Stop Hollywood to highlight.

Perry Glasser's "An Age of Marvels and Wonders," tells the story of a lonely old man slowly going blind and the young woman who comes into his life. Raylene is a walking hard luck story--with two kids, no money and an abusive ex-husband. Is it any wonder she's skeptical of an offer of help? Bob may slowly be going blind, but he sees far more than mere eyesight allows.

"Gone to Mum's" by Barry Simiana is a richly detailed and poignant story of missed chances, stolen moments, heartbreak and redemption. Simiana's narrator takes readers along on his journey of self-discovery amid the rugged backdrop of Australia. The author paints emotion on his canvas, stunning the reader with the simplicity and honesty of his prose.

"The Good Kid" by Brian Richmond, is a clever tale of deception. Marty is a bank robber on the run with nowhere to go. The kid is more than willing to help. But is he helping himself or Marty? O. Henry would have approved.

With Hollywood scrambling for fresh ideas, it's nice to know that the art of the short story is not completely forgotten.

Armchair Interviews says: Kudos to Cohen and Davis for their part in reviving an endangered genre.

I thoroughly enjoyed these short stories, especially "Dirk Snigby's Guide to the Afterlife". Dirk and the devil would be a hit on the silver screen!

Perry Glasser is a wonderful writer and an inspiration in my own writing. His forthright yet crafty style will leave you complete. You won't be disappointed!

So far, I've read only the novella-length "An Age of Marvels and Wonders" and "Mexico," both by Perry Glasser. These two stories alone would justify the purchase of the anthology.

Perry has a narrative style and mastery of dialogue as smooth as the best of 'em. His characters come right off the page and into the reader's mind within a matter of paragraphs, and words (as challenge rather than as facilitator to the sheer enjoyment of the story) disappear within seconds. Higher praise I couldn't pay to any writer worth his nom or his plume.

If Perry's stories are any indication of the general tenor of the book, I very much look forward to reading the rest of it.

For the short story lover this book is a treat! My absolute favorite is

Dirk Snigby,s Guide to the Afterlife. E.E. King's delightfully irreverant approach to the hereafter could only insult those completely lacking in a sense of humour. Cant wait to see the movie!

THe "dirk" short is simply too clever of an idea not to get picked up. After seeing "Stranger Than Fiction" I think Will is the man for this role! All the gloves off......this could be HYSTERICAL.