WWW. WEDNESDAY asks three questions to prompt you to speak bookishly. To participate, and to see how other book lovers responded, click here. 1. What are you currently reading? Great or Nothing, by Joy McCullough, Caroline Tung Richmond, Tess Sharpe & Jessica Spotswood. Why does this novel have four authors? Because it's a reimagining of Little Women, and each March sister gets her own voice. So far, so good! I admit I was skeptical about this: Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy (as well as Laurie and Professor Bhaer) are very dear to me. But I'm fascinated. This book takes the family from the 1860s Civil War era and places then in the 1940s, where they are reeling from the Pear Harbor attack and Beth's dire illness.
2. What did you just finish reading? All About Eve (1950) is one of my all-time favorite movies. All About All About Eve by Sam Staggs doesn't miss a thing as he fills us in on how it came to be. He goes all the way back to a 1946 short story in Cosmopolitan magazine, about a fan who attaches herself to a great Broadway star, becoming her confidante and Girl Friday, and then stabbing her in the back to become an actress in her own right. He walks us through how the short story became a radio play and then an award-winning screen play for the movie. Oh, but Eve's skullduggery doesn't end with the 1951 award season. Twenty years later, this same story was made into a Broadway musical.
What makes the story so compelling? How many artists and craftsmen does it take to make a truly great film? What were the actors and actresses really like? (All About Eve gave Marilyn Monroe one of her first big breaks.)
I love movies and appreciate them as an art form. I also love glossy Hollywood stories. This book delivered for me on all cylinders.
3. What will you read next? I don't know.
