Customer Reviews

What Happens Next: A History of American Screenwriting

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This book is phenomenal. Not only is it well-written and comprehensive, but it fills a horrendous gap in the legacy of screenwriting and its impact on movies.

Other than Ian Hamilton's terrific work on the early years of screenwriting, this book immediately becomes the cornerstone, the bedrock of the genre -- and for very good reason. It's not just a book about the writers themselves, but how the art and craft of screenwriting have evolved in the context of film. What we get is an alternate point of view that has for too long been neglected in entry-level cinema history.

Starting from Edison, Edwin Porter and D.W. Griffith, we travel the well-trodden (but freshly invigorated) path through the studio system and on into modern movie-making -- with the twist that the writer has not been brushed aside. In fact, we immediately see how crucial key scribes have contributed to the development of the art.

It's a cliche in Hollywood that the writer is abused and overlooked (ask a striking member of the WGA if you don't believe me). But other than a work stoppage, nothing can rectify the place of the writer in the public's awareness more than a historical overview with the screenwriter placed in his or her rightful place -- at the center of the creative process itself.

This is not a scree or a polemic, but a finely written, highly entertaining look at Hollywood. I find myself referring to it all the time. In fact, I've recreated my entire Netflix queue around areas of my movie history that could use some screenings. And I've become a big fan of Anita Loos! (You too will discover that at least 50% of the early screenwriters were women, with Anita being its first breakout star.)

Like a great film, this book immerses you in a world and rivets you to your chair. If you are a writer or a curious film buff, you owe it to yourself to pick up a copy. It will reward you with many great nights of delight and discovery -- a claim not enough movies themselves can make these days.

Academy award winner Marc Norman's "What Happens Next: A History of American Screenwriting" is as entertaining as a good movie. It can be studied as serious movie history--his description of the forces that moved the early movie industry from the East coast to the West is as good as any I've ever read--or perused as titillating, yet intelligent gossip. The men and women who wrote the words and stories so frequently disparaged and often disregarded by directors, producers, and heads of studios come alive in "What Happens Next" through anecdote, letters, and reminiscences.

From William Faulkner to Anita Loos (the highest paid screenwriter of her day), from Quentin Tarantino to Charlie Kaufman, this book is a delight for any movie fan or writer, or anyone who's ever enjoyed a juicy bit of scandalous gossip.

This exhaustively researched book starts at the very beginning then steps through each of the decades since D. W. Griffith's famous movie, all in a very entertaining manner.
Not satisfied simply with recounting the history of screenwriting and screenwriters in all their various guises, the author serves up cogent analysis about the business of movie making then comes to the conclusion that whatever else comes down the pike, in whatever form and whatever else screenwriters are called, there will always be a place for the content generator, or composer as he would prefer.
Excellent reading and enjoyable.

I have not yet finished this book, a comprehensive survey of 20th Century screenwriting, because I don't want it to end. Because there is no other book like it. So I am parcelling it out, like a child trying to make his Halloween candy last until Christmas. Wonderfully written, entertaining, and epic. Outstanding on all counts. This book earns a spot on that small shelf of must-read books about filmmaking and filmmakers. A great and worthy achievement.

OK, two quibbles, both factual:

In the Kindle edition, Norman calls Oscar Hammerstein II a composer. He was not. He was a lyricist who collaborated with composers.

He also refers to Mike Nichols having a background as a standup comic. He did not. Nichols teamed with Elaine May to play satiric scenes. He didn't bat out jokes and observations (the realm of the standup), he acted in material he created with May out of improvisation.

Which makes me wonder if the book were copy-edited.

Quibbles aside, I gulped this book down.

Yes, there are people I would have liked to have read about. And I think more could have been made about the screenwriters like the Davids (Chase, Milch and Simon) who have shifted to TV (particularly HBO) where they've got power and respect and where the writing is now better than in most movies. I also think he could have paid attention to the influence the improvisational-satirical companies like Second City had on Amererican screenwriting (Paul Mazursky, Harold Ramis, Dan Aykroyd, Alan Alda, David Mamet, etc.), but then I wrote a book about Second City and the subject's of particular interest to me.

But as a coherent story that provides the context for most of the major challenges, controversies and battles screenwriters have had to face, this pretty much hits the spot. I was particularly interested to learn of the influence the Dramatists Guild contract had on the politics of the Writers Guild. (I sit on the Council of the Dramatists Guild, and this was news to me.) Norman's prose style goes down easy, and his talent as a story-teller makes the struggles of these introverted creatures dramatic and often poignant.

I do hope he's working on more of his own screenplays. SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE (which he modestly doesn't mention in this text) was one of the best-written films in years.

Marc Norman brings his considerable knowledge to the topic of screenwriting history. His views and anecdotes on film making, particularly in the early days, is not only informative, but entertaining as well. I have read several books that claim to be a complete history, but none come close to this one. It is fascinating to see how screenwriting went from an ad-hoc off the cuff verbal technique to the sophisticated rituals we practice today. I found the stories of writers who became directors interesting, but more importantly one of the messages early on in the book describes the advantages of a writer actually having experience in acting or directing. I totally agree with that concept and have followed it myself. I am recommending this book for out next screenwriting class in the university where I teach.

Norman's book is great for offering an historical account of the screenwriting trade, something that is usually overlooked in the Syd Field age. The only problem I had personally with the book is that the author seemed to become a little enamored with the auteurs of the 70s toward the end and didn't really talk about the dedicated screenwriters as much. While I think the stories about guys like Coppola and Lucas are interesting and eye-opening, it would have been nice to hear more about the trials and tribulations of the people whose names weren't above the title during those years.

Overall, a great book, though. It should definitely be on the core reading list of any screenwriting program--from the community group to the graduate level.

As a "recovering screenwriter," I can bear witness to the sometimes painful, sometimes hilarious authenticity of "What Happens Next."
It's a history that needed to be told and Marc Norman has done it with head and heart.