Customer Reviews

Rewrites a Memoir

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is more than the interesting story of the first part of Neil Simon's life. It's also a very practical guide to being a playwright. Simon discusses creating his first success, "Come Blow Your Horn." He had eighteen rewrites before he showed it to anybody but his wife! He also discusses the lucky breaks he got when the play first opened. But the real meat of the book for the working playwright is the play writing tips he sprinkles throughout the book. "If somebody leaves the room, where does he go?" "Character is the foundation of the play." "An audience won't believe what you don't believe." "We need to see a character change, not just know that he's changed." "Adversaries need to be equal." Be alert as you read--Simon usually drops these gems in a discussion of problems he had working on a specific script. Face it, if you pay attention, there's a lot you can learn from the most successful playwright since Shakespeare.

The insights in this book about becoming a successful playwright make the book more than a five star work. I do not remember reading or hearing a better discussion of what comedy is and should be about.

The book also has many beautiful insights into how to be and have a wonderful spouse. Those scenes from a marriage are often well worth restaging in your life.

This book is a fascinating series of skits, sketches, and one liners masquerading as a memoir. Although Mr. Simon was (with difficulty) able to transcend his training as a gag and sketch writer to learn playwriting, he made little attempt to learn autobiography for this book. Instead, he fell back on his most natural way of communicating, the humorous story. That approach provides the reader with the unexpected bonus of many funny stories and good laughs.

The time period covered is Mr. Simon's life from age 30 to 46, with occasional visits to his earlier years. You will never read or watch a Neil Simon play in the same way after reading this memoir. You will find yourself in closer touch with the bittersweet parts of these comedies as a result . . . and with your own innermost self.

If you have seen or read Chapter Two, you already knew that Mr. Simon had lost his first wife to cancer at a young age. What I did not realize is what an overwhelmingly tragic event this was for him. The marriage had been a magnificent one for two people who were deeply devoted to and supportive of one another. In a sense, the comedy in this book is simply there to heighten your ability to appreciate the real subject, the tragic loss. The jokes are like the gravediggers' scene in Hamlet, to relieve the heaviness of the ultimate atmosphere.

Mr. Simon is very candid in this memoir. He describes having his brother help him hire a lady who rented by the hour for his first sexual experience, having once asked his wife for his freedom (and then changing his mind 5 minutes later as she calmly went along), and a lot of very bad business decisions. He also describes the psychological problems that could plague him and others on Broadway. He also describes things using the "f" word a lot that offends many people.

Perhaps the most revealing parts are the ways that he mines every memorable encounter in his life into a play. It is as though playwriting is his way to get control over his fear of life.

As a writer, I was riveted by his detailed description of how he came to write Come Blow Your Horn as his first play, and to learn his craft through many painful rewrites. No one would ever have gone through what he did if you knew what was coming. Mr. Simon's very great dislike of Hollywood was a powerful spur into playwriting that drove him relentlessly. In the process, he brilliantly describes the insights that others shared with him, and that he learned. He became addicted to having people read the material aloud, so that he could hear their reactions. As soon as that occurred, he could ruthlessly edit and rewrite material -- even "forgetting" what he had written originally to write something better rather than trying to fix flawed approaches. Apparently, Mr. Simon's genius is that he rewrites much better than he writes. Interesting.

After you finish enjoying this book and giving it a symbolic standing ovation, I suggest that you create a similar outline of your life as a memoir that focuses on your most formative period. How did you get where you are today (for better or worse)? What does that mean? How could someone (including you) learn from this experience?

Mr. Simon had few regrets in his life. The deepest one was not telling his younger daughter, Nancy, that her mother was dying. What are you holding back now that you will regret someday?

I enjoyed reading Neil Simon's account of his early successes as a writer. His story is one of a man who seems to have everything fall into place almost too easily until late in the book when personal tragedy strikes and he writes of his wife's illness and death.
As one would expect from such a prominent figure in the theater his book is filled with entertaining anecdotes regarding various actors and theater people. Simon comes across as a sincere and very regular guy who has the talent to take what he observes in himself and others and transform it into priceless comic material.
This is an enjoyable read for anyone who is even a casual fan of his work.

Rewrites was a fabulous book by Neil Simmon about his life as a playwrite, a father and a husband. It is extremely entertaining and a very easy read. He uses a very fast paced writing style and a great deal of humor to describe the events of his life. Although he is a very public figure, he describes the events of his life in a way that everyone can relate and feel comfortable with.He tells things in a way which makes everyone think about their own life experiances and learn alot about themselves. I agree with Steve Martin when he said " It's funny and moving work. I cried till I laughed." I could not have said it better myself, and I think any one who reads "Rewrites" will have the same reaction.As some one who loves theater and Broadway, this was a great book and I enjoyed every minute of.

and that is very high praise, since Hart's autobio is generally considered a stellar achievement. (I just loved it.)

I had had "Rewrites" on my bookshelf for a number of years, and just somehow never got around to it. Finally, one snowy weekend last month, I took it off the shelf and started reading. I loved it from the get-go -- it's simply one of the best memoirs ever written, IMO. (I've read a lot of autobios/memoirs, especially in my younger years, so I write with some knowledge in this area.)

I'll always remember that snowy weekend I spent "with Neil," and I'll also always remember how I ran to get the sequel, "The Play Goes On," on Monday. (That was also top-notch, but "Rewrites" was just a smidge better.)

Don't miss "Rewrites." It's a winner, it's a keeper, it's pure reading delight!

Neil Simon is one of my heroes. he is a fabulous writer and an even better person. In this bittersweet memior Neil Simon reveals himself as a person to the reader. And this may not seem like a great accomplishment, but indeed it is. Many autobiographies are not completely truthful and do not reveal the good and the bad about the person, but Neil Simon bares all. He explains what it was like for him when his wife was dying, his failures and successes, and the stress of his every day life. It would be an undertstatement to say I greatly admire him. I think Neil Simon is amazing. This book may not be the most compelling one on the market, but it is quite inventive and never bores you. Its great humor eases the reader and lets them relax during the serious parts of the book. Learning about the different play Simon wrote was truly the highlight. Although, there are many plays he left out that I would have liked to hear about. Any theater buff would love this book. But an every day person may not get the true kick of this book. so, although it will be appreciated by all, it may not be praised to everyone. But don't skip this glossy, bittersweet biography. It is truly a treat.

Where can you find a memoir that's also a playwright's manual rolled into one? It's actually a play too sans the character lines. In reading Rewrites, you'll learn how and why this gifted writer got his comedic talent of not only distilling everyday life's funny moments, but also by living them himself.

From the mentoring and guidance of his brother Danny to the eventual death of his wife, Joan, due to cancer, you'll find in Rewrites the soul of a self-made playwright whose not ashamed to have his works criticized just to emerge with a better, more refined piece afterward. Just as he's reserved the 100%-no-more-rewrites-playwright to the Bard, he's the one I consider as best playwright of this century. Or maybe next.

Simon has always gotten laughs for being honest. In this memoir, as in his best plays, Simon finds the humor in real life through the reader's empathy. Noting that here Simon writes, not about fictional characters, but himself, it makes the story that much more moving. In Rewrites, Simon says he always enjoyed reading stories about real people, and that fiction didn't appeal to him. In reading this painfully honest piece of work, many will understand his choice.

At first, I was looking forward to reading about the enduring and fascinating career of Neil Simon by Simon himself. But then some of the reviews I read professed it a dull read. Friends told me not to waste my time. I suppose the moral of that is if you're interested at first, don't let anyone dissuade you from reading a book. For I found this to be a very good read, both moving and highly entertaining. It spoke to me not only as a writer, but as a husband and father as well. The information concerning the torturous development of his early plays was a glimpse into the process and filled with hilarious anecdotes. Though he does tend to put his first wife, Joan, up on a pedestal, frankly his recreation of their courting and marriage makes her place in his memory understandable. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. "Rewrites" is a fine read, worthy of it's author's already indelible reputation. - Ron Fassler

This is Neil Simon's humorous, touching, and overall delightful memoir. I was impressed at how he is able to describe his amazing success as a playright with modesty--he never boasts, he merely reports. His voice in this book is self-deprecatory and he is quick to point out his faults and mistakes, which is very endearing. He also lets us in on the struggles of writing for theater with a detailed account of writing and rewriting the 20-some drafts of his first play, and the many, many attempts to perfect the final act in the Odd Couple under intense pressure. His annecdotes are fascinating, and as an added bonus, they often include such prominent artists as Bob Fosse, Mike Nicholls, Walter Matheau, and Robert Redford, to name a few.

This book has so much heart. In part it's a love letter addressed to his beloved wife Joan. But this is also Neil Simon's love letter to the theater, and to New York City. And man, you read this book and he'll convince you that the theater is magic and that NYC is absolutely the place to be.