Read it! Color of Light has become one of my favorite books, and by reading it, William Goldman was elevated from one of my favorite authors to one of the people I most respect and love in the world. I am changed every time I read it, discovering each time new precious details I missed the last time, adding new depth and meaning to every single word (which, for me, has always been the mark of excellent work). I am sorely disappointed to find that the book is out-of-print, and will now hold on to my lucky copy as tightly as I can. If you have ever been interested in writing fiction, this book (and also the Princess Bride) will touch and inspire you like no other author can. Find a copy, somehow, and read it now!

William Goldman made me want to be a writer. Books like this are the reason why. It is the bittersweet serio-comic tale of a young man who becomes a one book wonder writer while trying to deal with all the assorted problems life throws at him. The characters are well developed, by the book's end you hate to see them leave.

Started with Marathon Man. Then came Magic. Then The Princess Bride (keep 'em coming, man). At this time, my addiction long since complete, I quickly obtained and absorbed all of the early stuff I could find (Boys and Girls Together, Soldier in the Rain, No Way to Treat a Lady, etc). Then...what...there was nothing left! I spent a morbid hiatus. Then I discovered The Color of Light. Perfect: in pace, in length, in individuality, and in what I needed. If you're a Goldman fan and haven't read it, this book could end up being your favorite.

This is an extraordinary book. It is written by an author with a first class mind and genuine curiosity about his subject. Whilst one may not agree with all of it, the writing is a delight and he does not shirk dealing with controversial issues such as the influence of homosexuality on the stage and the corrupt financial practices in relation to theatre tickets, etc. Even though it was written for the 1967-1968 season, it still resonates and viewed in retrospect, it provides crucial evidence relative to the aetiology of the culture wars.

William Goldman's groundbreaking book The Season is all it's cracked up to be and more. Though a number of the people he deals with are no longer with us, many of the shows have been forgotten, and the ticket prices are quite a bit higher, it's astonishing how much the Broadway of the late 1960s resembles the Broadway of today. The same problems, the same headaches, the same disappointments, and the same triumphs are all still a part of the Great White Way. No Broadway enthusiast should be without this book; The Season is a stunning history--and current events--lesson on Broadway theatre.

Having lived in New York for so long it's scary how accurate "The Season" is, although written over 30 years ago.

Broadway has become a tourist trap with very little to offer serious theatergoers anymore except spectacle shows.

Each chapter in this book shows how Broadway was crippled with each passing season...and it makes sense that this is what it's come to.

But the book is very funny (especially the chapter on critics where he launches an all-out assault on then-New York Times reporter Clive Barnes) and explains everything you'll ever need to know about how plays and musicals are put together.

Oh, yes: there's plenty of dirt, gossip, anecdotes and name-dropping...Neil Simon, Carl Reiner, Tennessee Williams, David Merrick and NBC Reporter Edwin Newman drop in for cameos.

Most people have seen these four films. Far fewer have read the screenplays. Because of the diversity of the material and the quality of the writing, this book is truly essential to all writers, especially those who want to write for the screen. Goldman's screenplays are unique. In effect, he has invented his own screen language. He's that rare beast, a screenwriter who cares about style.
Prepare to be thrilled and inspired.

Well, I've always enjoyed reading screenplays. In addition, I've loved The Princess Bride since I first saw it. I also loved Misery. However, I hadn't seen Butch Cassidy yet. Reading the screenplay made it mandatory.

Goldman's comments about the movies are a wonderful addition to the screenplays. I highly recommend this book.

An enthusiastic 'thumbs-up' to William Goldman for including four essays to accompany his wonderful screenplays.

If you wonder why the author chose the idea of using the grandfather as the storyteller in the "Princess Bride" or how beloved Andre the Giant was on the set of the film then this book is a must-read.

Want to know which major scene with Kathy Bates in "Misery" was changed over the objections of the screenwriter? It's all here, colorfully annotated by the author in his essays that preface each screenplay.

The most entertaining book I've read so far this year (1998). If you've enjoyed these movies then, by all means, read this book!

I picked up this gem at a second hand bookstore and could not put it down. Arnie Goldman has suffered from rheumatoid arthritis since the age of 8 and his friend, Redso, turns out to be a manic depressive. The third protagonist, Billy Rubin, daughter of an orthodox rabbi, needs to be needed. All three characters are highly intelligent. Savan's writing is beautiful. The pages just flow one into the next. Will definitely try and get his other book. It seems he has only written one other. I identified with all three main characters even though Redso is not a likeable person at all.
Did not really want to give the book 5 stars because the ending was a bit weak but decided that the quality of the writing and the way the story gripped me, was worth the extra star. Savan is truly amazing in that he writes about manic depression and rheumatoid arthritis as though he himself has suffered them. I wonder if he has any first hand knowledge of these illnesses.

Having thoroughly enjoyed White Palace, Glen Savan's earlier book that was made into a mediocre movie, I was looking for anything else that he had written. I was not disappointed with Goldman's Anatomy. It's funny, poignant and is so well written that many passages deserved to be read aloud. My only complaint is I can't find anything else written by Glen Savan. That's a shame.

Leslie Ann Williams' professional, straightforward, cut-the-crap honesty is balanced beautifully by her engaging wit and humor. It's just the right mix to encourage and nurture the necessary dialogue between the often warring factions of teenagers and their parents.

Williams' greatest strength may be in the seemingly effortless skill she exhibits in holding up the invaluable "mirror of recognition" for both parent and teenager as they assess the failure or success of particular strategies in their ongoing I'm-your-parent/I'm-no-longer-a-little-kid relationship.

Especially successful in guiding the reader to a humane and intelligent disarmament of the often volative parent/teenager disagreements, Williams supplies ample praise (and often gleeful conspiratorial advice) to both parents and their teens as they work to achieve a kind of detente in the arena dedicated to the art of parenting and growing up.

I acquired this book recently on the recommendation of a friend. As both a parent and a public school teacher I thought it might prove interesting and useful, and indeed this is the case. The book is a quick read and to the point, making its case (so I would guess) in a fraction of the space other books on this topic take. Highly recommended for parents of teens and pre-teens, and for teens receptive to clear thinking in an informal and direct Q and A format.

I titled this review such becuse Goldman creates a story with a wonderful setting, fantastic characters and no structured plot. Sienfeld's idea was not unique, Goldman carries it off brilantly. You will laugh out loud, and you'll fall in love with Eustis Clay and Maxwell Slaughter. I am genuenly sad that I had to say good bye to my friends Eustis and Maxwell at the end of this book, and I can't help but wonder what ever became of ole Eustis anyhow? You'll wonder to, like a old friend who you've gotten out of touch with but remember fondly. Hey Goldman, write the screenplay so I can see my friends again!

...they would be Eustis and Maxwell. Soldier was written about 25 years before Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid was released, set on a then present-day Army base in the south. It's both a "buddy" and "coming of age" story about two apparently opposite sergeants united against the larger world, and their eventual coming to grips with it. Terrific characterizations: imagine if they made a movie of this way back when, starring, say, Steve McQueen and Jackie Gleason - both in their primes - in the starring roles; it would make Butch Cassidy seem like a Disney flick in comparison. Thanks, Billy Goldman; you always knew what would entertain us and make us look at ourselves. We just needed the time to get ready to do so.

William Goldman's "Tinsel" is a story of Hollywood and the curious and often vulnerable personalities involved in the movie business. Its framing device is the casting of a new movie about the life and death of a sex symbol, loosely based on Marilyn Monroe. We meet the money and creative people behind the movie and the various starlets hoping for a shot at the incredibly juicy role. As usual with a William Goldman novel, we are privy to the thoughts of the various characters and, as usual, there are surprises along the way. But the best thing about the novel is the feeling of Hollywood that it manages to convey, the blend of sordidness and glamour, the money and egos involved in each film, and the terrible attraction that a starmaking role has for actors and actresses. Many authors have tried to bring Hollywood to life in their novels, but few have succeeded as well as Goldman has with "Tinsel."

As a longtime William Goldman fan, I went into this book expecting to like it. I loved it. Tinsel details the making of a movie; like most of Goldman's books, it's not the story he tells (although it's a fabulous plot) but the way he tells it. In his inimitable way, Goldman rips Hollywood apart and exposes it for everything it is, everything it wishes it was, and everything it can't help being.

This is an example of what screenwriting should be. The writing here is very readable and descriptive. It is as if Goldman wrote a novel and then somebody formatted it as a screenplay. And it works both as reading and as a representation of a film.

If you are a fan of the film (or of Goldman), you owe it to yourself to find out what a great writer he is.

Dreamcatcher: The Shooting Script is a unique book that presents the William Goldman and Lawrence Kasdan collaborative film script of the movie "Dreamcatcher", along with an extensive commentary describing how Stephen King's popular horror novel was successfully adapted to the silver screen. A superb resource that teaches by example the tips, tricks, and techniques of professional screen writers, Dreamcatcher: The Shooting Script is a welcome addition to personal, professional, and film school resource collections and reference archives.

I read Goldman's Temple of Gold in 1963 and have read it many times since. Goldman took me into the character of Raymond. I experienced his joys, his accomplishments and his sorrows. To write a novel had been a dream of mine my entire life. That is, until I read Raymonds story. When I finished the book, I knew that I never would, because this was the book that I would have written..

I've read this book a couple of times - first when I was a senior in high school, again a couple of years into college, and then most recently as a first year grad student - and every time I've loved it. There are a lot of reasons(it's wry, sincere, frighented, hopefull, and terribly honest... not to mention beautifully written), but I think one of them is that as Goldman works his way through the complex weave of friendship, hope, love, fear, confusion, etc with which he fills this novel, amist it all he somehow manages to capture that rhythm by which life just goes on and on and up and down and you learn some lessons and other things leave you scarred but either way things just keep moving. It's a really difficult thing to accomplish in such a personal and straigtforward novel such as this, but when it is accomplished, it's wonderful.

That's just one stab at explaining one of many reasons that I loved this book, though. I recomend it wholeheartedly.

I read this book as a teenager and it "spoke" to me. I read it again as an adult and found it even more meaningful. It's funny and terribly sad; it will make you roar with laughter and cry with anguish. I have read practically all of Goldman's novels and, although I've enjoyed each of them, I've found most to be like cotton-candy; they taste great but don't have a whole lot of nutritious value. The Temple of Gold is a feast for the soul; the stuff of life.