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Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind: A Bestseller's Odyssey from Atlanta to Hollywood
by
Ellen F. Brown (Goodreads Author),
John Wiley
This is the first detailed look at how Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind became an international phenomenon. Various Mitchell biographies and a compilation of her letters tell part of the story, but until now no single source has told the full saga. This entertaining account of the rise of a bestseller tells how Mitchell's book was developed, marketed, distributed, an...more
Hardcover, 379 pages
Published
February 16th 2011
by Taylor Trade Publishing
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Margaret Mitchell was reluctant to grasp the stardom that came with the writing of Gone With the Wind. She was an extremely private person; it was questionable at the time if she would attend many of the promotions for the book and movie. Mitchell was raised in the era where children were seen and not heard. Mitchell took this opportunity to listen. She heard many stories about the war between the states and her ideas started to form. I think it is so funny that in the first drafting of GWTW, Mi...more
My grandmother stood on Peachtree Street during the premier of Gone With the Wind and swore she could have reached out and touched Clark Gable. She introduced me to the novel and movie at a young age, and I’ve reread it, re-watched it, and treasured it ever since. I was thrilled to see that a new book on this Southern icon was available, and I eagerly read it. Even though I have read a good deal about the book, movie, and Margaret Mitchell, I learned some things from this book that I did not kno...more
Cannot begin to tell how much I enjoyed this book and how much I learned about a book that is about to celebrate its 75th anniversary. I truly do not believe that there has been another book that has generated so much international interest before, during, after, and even 75 years later.
If anyone has any interest in Mitchell's GONE WITH THE WIND, then they must read this book. If you have ever read GWTW, then you need to read this book.
I learned so much and enjoyed every page.
If anyone has any interest in Mitchell's GONE WITH THE WIND, then they must read this book. If you have ever read GWTW, then you need to read this book.
I learned so much and enjoyed every page.
I'm a rather dedicated GONE WITH THE WIND fan (as of this writing I currently own 36 and 1/2 copies), and though I'm familiar with the background of Margaret Mitchell, the novel, and the film, this new book looks like it will provide a nice refresher; plus it discusses some of the other GWTW endeavors we've been treated to over the past 20 years or so.
4/09: As another reader has already mentioned, the book's title is slightly misleading: It is very much the story of Gone With the Wind - the nove...more
4/09: As another reader has already mentioned, the book's title is slightly misleading: It is very much the story of Gone With the Wind - the nove...more
This was a very interesting book, but I think the subtitle was slightly misleading. There was almost zero coverage of Mitchell writing the book (though her and Marsh's time spent editing is covered) and the journey to Hollywood seemed abbreviated (considering the title). A more extensive interpretation of Macmillan's marketing strategy, why the editors got behind her manuscript, and why such a niche novel became a bestseller were strangely absent.
This was mostly a business/legal history of the n...more
This was mostly a business/legal history of the n...more
I’ve never read a book about a book before. Instead of writing another biography of Mitchell or the making of the movie, the authors have created a nonfiction account of the making of a book. It discusses everything from the writing process to the publisher’s correspondence to selling the movie rights and defending the copyright.
I feel like this book should have been titled “Don’t Ever Write a Book If You’re An Introvert.” Poor Margaret Mitchell spent years crafting Gone With the Wind, only to...more
I feel like this book should have been titled “Don’t Ever Write a Book If You’re An Introvert.” Poor Margaret Mitchell spent years crafting Gone With the Wind, only to...more
This was a very interesting book that told the whole story about how this amazing book, Gone with the Wind, came about, what Margaret Mitchell experienced with her sudden overwhelming fame with this book, and what it took for her to keep people from stealing her blind in using her work without permission. I now wonder if she had known what she would go through for this book, would she have done it all over again? No wonder she never wrote another book! She was a very private person and chose not...more
Adolph. Seriously, how can anyone think that Hitler's name was spelled "Adolph"? And yet the author perpetuates the error twice. Entirely bizarre in a book devoted to the minutiae of publishing and selling one particular book.
Rant not quite over. It's Gone with the Wind. Small "w". Another bizarre error. Is the author trying to improve on Margaret Mitchell? And how many citations required her to make the change in capitalization without noting it? Or at least explaining in the notes why she mad...more
Rant not quite over. It's Gone with the Wind. Small "w". Another bizarre error. Is the author trying to improve on Margaret Mitchell? And how many citations required her to make the change in capitalization without noting it? Or at least explaining in the notes why she mad...more
I must confess that as a teenager I was a GWTW freak. I read the family hardbound cover so many times that it fell apart. Friends bought me the slipcased Margaret Mitchell Anniversary Edition copy. So when I found out about this book that tells the back story of Margaret Mitchell's writing of the GWTW I was intrigued, and not disappointed.
The authors relay the story of the long and turbulent process of getting the book from draft form to publication. But what happened next - the incredible succe...more
The authors relay the story of the long and turbulent process of getting the book from draft form to publication. But what happened next - the incredible succe...more
I can't say that I've read EVERY book about Gone with the Wind, b/c there is probably one or two hiding out there that I haven't found (yet). But I can say that I've read A LOT of them - including all the sequels and parodies. And yet, there was new information for me in this book.
I never realized that the author had such a hard time getting the book ready for press, and I have a feeling if I'm every lucky enough to attempt it, I'll be a lot like her. After reading what she went through, it's no...more
I never realized that the author had such a hard time getting the book ready for press, and I have a feeling if I'm every lucky enough to attempt it, I'll be a lot like her. After reading what she went through, it's no...more
In a word: treasure. I don't know if it's possible to call this a Biography, but it is, just not in the traditional sense. Ellen Brown & John Wiley Jr wrote a biography not of Margaret Mitchell, but of Gone With The Wind. Reading it I felt like a fly on the wall of MM's living room. It's a love story in a sense of Mitchell's pursuit of perfection to get her prized novel GWTW onto the big screen. But it's also a wonderful account of what a true Steel Magnolia Mitchell was throughout all the p...more
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I first saw this book in a bookstore in Connecticut last summer, and finally got around to picking it up a few weeks ago with some Christmas money. I've known the story of Gone With The Wind for all of my life, it seems like - I've seen the movie many times, don't even know how young I saw it for the first time, and I read the book when I was 12. However, apart from knowing that Margaret Mitchell was from Atlanta, I knew nothing about her or the story of how the novel was published.
This book fol...more
This book fol...more
I finally did it - I embraced my Southern sensibilities - I read "Gone with the Wind." Okay, so I didn't particularly enjoy it. I guess I just like my Southern fiction to be dark and gothic, words I would not quickly apply to Margaret Mitchell's opus. None of this is to say that "Gone with the Wind" was bad, it's just that it wasn't my cup of tea, or my brand of Whiskey (should Scarlett prefer). Now, you are wondering why I chose to read this book so obviously out of step with my usual literary...more
I wish I had had this book when I was writing The Heroine's Bookshelf! This is the book I always looked for, but never could find...a comprehensive history of the publication of Gone With the Wind written in meticulous and well-documented fashion.
My favorite parts of the book were the revelations of the enormous editorial process that occurred as the book was getting ready to go to press. The thought of Peggy and John Marsh laboring night and day over a completely discombobulated manuscript was...more
My favorite parts of the book were the revelations of the enormous editorial process that occurred as the book was getting ready to go to press. The thought of Peggy and John Marsh laboring night and day over a completely discombobulated manuscript was...more
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I am a huge fan of Gone With the Wind (hereinafter referred to as "GWTW") and that is putting it lightly. Once I heard about this book I knew that I had to read it. I loved that this book wasn't merely a biography of Margaret Mitchell yet a biography of GWTW itself. From the beginning when Mitchell first started writing the book until now, it covers everything to do with the book. Some reviewers mentioned that they found some parts about the copyright laws a bit dry but I found it fascinating. M...more
I met the author at the Southern Festival of Books, and heard her give an interesting talk about the writing of this book. Although I honestly didn't expect the book to be a good read, I bought one to be polite. Turned out it was a real page-turner and I enjoyed it very much. I had read some things about Margaret Mitchell and the writing of GWTW years ago, but this story of the writer and her manuscript was fascinating. Mitchell was an odd duck, no doubt; she and her husband and brother/attorney...more
When I was reading this book, my mother asked me, "is that an interesting book?" And I replied with, "If you like reading about the publishing industry in the 1920s, then yeah!" And because I'm a literary nerd, and GWTW is my favorite book, reading about all the ins and outs of the publishing industry was incredibly fascinating. It was a wonderful insight into all the steps it took to create the book, and how it still remains so culturally relevant today.
I received an advanced copy of this book. It is a must read! I am not a Gone With The Wind fan--just never read the book--but I loved this book about Margaret Mitchell. A Bestseller's Odyssey gives the reader an interesting insight into the business side of writing a best selling book. I also enjoyed reading how Mitchell and her publisher communicated without the internet, cell phones, twitter or reliable long distance calling. Great read for a southern book club!
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Accidentally got this book from the library first, thinking it was Gone With the Wind, not a book about the author's journey. The book tells of her life, primarily detailing the time between being "discovered" and her death. The authors are researchers, not story tellers, so it is pretty dry at times, but fascinating none the less. I learned alot!
Gone with the wind is probably my all-time favorite book. I admire Margaret Mitchell. That being said, this book was a huge disappointment. I guess I was hoping for more about Mitchell,the book, and the making of the movie and I got a lot of boring facts and figures about sales, copyrights, etc. So very dry and boring for me.
The biography of Gone With the Wind, one of my favorites and the first "grown-up" book I read. Lots of details about publishing which, remarkably, the author manages to make pretty interesting through her use of letters, interviews, etc. Very thoroughly researched. The best part of the book takes place before Mitchell's death.
It was ok in that it added a good deal of info about the author and her husband and their odd approach to dealing with the fame of the book, but overall I found the book a little boring and weak. Of course, I think Mitchell was a little boring so it's not surprising the book does not scintillate.
Thoroughly researched and engaging account of GWTW, the book and movie, from inception to today. There’s a lot of interesting biographical information about Margaret Mitchell and her husband as well. Very entertaining, especially if you’re a GWTW fan.
Thoroughly researched, this tale explores the relationship between Margaret Mitchell Marsh and the McMillan Publishing Company in the middle 1930s when Gone With the Wind was the hottest property on the planet. I find this one hard to put down.
This book is really for hard core Gone With the Wind fans. The book follows the work that went into protecting the privacy of the author and the rights of the book--Mitchell's husband John Marsh and (attorney) brother Stephens Mitchell worked tirelessly alongside the author. Margaret Mitchell's work (through use of agents in other countries) at protecting her copyright around the world proved something usefeul to look back over as Congress was working on the post Berne code U.S. copyright laws (...more
A fantastic story told extremely well. I'm hardly a fan of the book or the movie, but the story behind the book and what happened to the Marshes (Margaret Mitchell and her husband John Marsh) after its publication is full of riveting drama.
The "biography" of the novel Gone with the Wind, from Margaret Mitchell's childhood hearing stories of the Civil War through the present. Really fascinating to learn about the author, her experiences and how this book became a blockbuster.
What can I say? This is a book about a book. It is not about the movie Gone With the Wind, nor is is a biography of Margaret Mitchell. This can really be called a biography of the book itself: It is a book ABOUT a book. In other words, this is total publishing porn for anyone interested in copyrights, book collecting, publishing, editing manuscripts, and the like. It is not a light read for fans of GWTW thinking they are going to get tidbits about Clark Gable and Selznick. But it is a fun read f...more
I had heard a podcast on this book, so it piqued my interest. The authors take you through the day by day details of the book's publication and aftermath. I did skim parts, but was still glad I had read it.
if you are a GWTW fan, or in the book business,this is a must read. Fascinating history of how a legendary classic came to be.
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Ellen F. Brown is an award-winning freelance writer. She lives in Richmond, Virginia, with her husband and their two sons.
You can follow Ellen on Twitter @ellenfbrown.
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You can follow Ellen on Twitter @ellenfbrown.
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