false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174086804m/360468.jpg 7071 11 John Irving's novels pose tantalizing challenges to filmmakers: at his best, Irving has proven both popular and ambitious, crafting rich, picaresque fiction that juggles Big Themes and antic comedy, braiding his central narratives with intriguing subplots and discursive back stories driven by vivid characters. Irving's accessibility teases the would-be director or producer with the prospect of commercial acceptance even as the scope and intricacy of his work raises crucial risks for the scriptwriter. With two early novels that made it to the screen, <I>The World According to Garp</I> and <I>The Hotel New Hampshire</I>, Irving's box office impact thus far evenly translates to hit and miss.<p> This slender memoir offers a perceptive, if hardly objective, critique of the inherent differences between novels and screenplays, with the writer sharing his own experiences creating both. Irving focuses principally on his crusade to bring <I>The Cider House Rules</I> to the screen, tracing its gestation through four successive directors; with Irving himself attached as scriptwriter, we see the novelist struggling to reconcile the demands of concision against his paternal instincts toward the original book. Written before the final cut of <I>The Cider House Rules</I>, <I>My Movie Business</I> often verges on self-justification. Irving's respect for the movie's ultimate caretaker, Swedish director Lasse Hallstrom, is evident, as is his hopeful enthusiasm for the project's casting (which includes Michael Caine, Tobey McGuire, Jane Alexander, and Charlize Theron). Yet Irving can't repress the wariness prompted by his earlier disappointments with both this and other novels.<p> Ultimately, such candor doesn't diminish the account's value as a post mortem of the creative process behind serious filmmaking, nor does it overpower the reliable grace of Irving's prose. Fans will also find <I>My Movie Business</I> revealing in its exploration of the inspiration behind <I>The Cider House Rules</I> and its eloquent stance against the antiabortion movement--Irving's own grandfather, a leading doctor, administrator, and Harvard professor of obstetrics and gynecology. But moviegoers, as well as those who haven't read Irving's original novel, should be forewarned that this memoir does reveal key plot elements of both. <I>--Sam Sutherland</I> 350580 1999 My Movie Business: A Memoir total:292|5:19|4:68|3:139|2:57|1:9| 292 907 432 12 2 0 false false Mon Aug 17 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 13 03:20:24 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 17 17:12:49 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 true false Thu Jun 26 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Jun 26 13:05:44 -0700 2008 Thu Jun 26 13:16:49 -0700 2008 more...]]> 0 0 false false Mon Aug 17 11:58:19 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 17 12:00:17 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2000 Mon Dec 15 00:40:07 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 15 00:42:43 -0800 2008 more...]]> 1 0 false false Thu Oct 15 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 19 06:28:09 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 19 06:31:06 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 25 07:25:21 -0800 2008 Mon Mar 10 12:43:44 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Sep 10 13:07:31 -0700 2007 Mon Sep 10 13:09:45 -0700 2007 3 0 false false Mon Jul 03 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Thu Apr 24 10:17:46 -0700 2008 Thu Apr 24 10:19:40 -0700 2008 3 0 false false Mon Apr 02 17:59:45 -0700 2007 Mon May 07 08:38:36 -0700 2007 2 0 false false Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2003 Fri Mar 23 15:58:57 -0700 2007 Fri Mar 23 16:01:25 -0700 2007 other books. Oh well.]]> 1 0 false false Wed Jan 30 12:54:10 -0800 2008 Wed Jan 30 12:54:43 -0800 2008 5 0 false false Fri Jun 01 20:16:56 -0700 2007 Fri Jun 01 20:17:09 -0700 2007 0 0 false false Sun Nov 29 18:31:06 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 29 18:31:06 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Thu Nov 19 06:51:05 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 19 06:51:05 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Tue Nov 17 10:10:36 -0800 2009 Tue Nov 17 10:10:36 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Sat Nov 14 08:02:11 -0800 2009 Sat Nov 14 08:02:11 -0800 2009 2 0 false false Fri Nov 13 18:56:27 -0800 2009 Fri Nov 13 18:56:27 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Thu Nov 12 08:25:17 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 12 08:26:52 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Wed Nov 11 15:47:00 -0800 2009 Wed Nov 11 15:47:00 -0800 2009 3 0 false false Tue Nov 10 09:24:46 -0800 2009 Tue Nov 10 09:24:46 -0800 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=360468