Rewrites

by Neil Simon

Overview

His plays and movies have kept us laughing for four decades, but even more than the humor, it is the humanity of Neil Simon's vision that has made him America's most-loved playwright. Now, the author of such hilarious and heartwarming plays as Barefoot in the Park, The Odd Couple, Plaza Suite, and The Goodbye Girl gives readers his memoir—a funny, touching biography filled with the details of his writing life and rich with the experiences that underlie his work.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780684835624
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster
Publication date:	04/01/1998
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	400
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Neil Simon is the writer of more than forty Broadway plays, including Barefoot in the Park, The Odd Couple, The Out-of-Towners, and Lost in Yonkers, which won the Pulitzer Prize.

Editorial Reviews

Gwen Verdon "Rewrites is courageously honest and revealing. We all lived, through Neil, a life full of laughter, wonder and sorrow."

Mike Nichols "Neil, while telling the absolute truth, makes things both funnier and more positive. And then I realize with a pang that this is truly how it was. I miss it. I miss it all."

Steve Martin "Neil Simon has created that rare thing: an autobiographical page-turner. It's a funny and moving work. I cried till I laughed."

Hal Prince "A life in the theater is often a refuge from childhood demons. Neil Simon has charted his escape route in this characteristically straightforward, self-critical, and compassionate autobiography of his early years."

From the Publisher

A memoir from America's best-known (and probably best-paid) playwright.

Library Journal

The prolific master of Broadway fun hops over the footlights to recall much—but not all—of his personal history.

This is an intelligent and diverting memoir, artfully constructed. The work of crafting Simon's first dozen or so plays, from Come Blow Your Horn and Little Me to The Sunshine Boys and The Good Doctor, is presented in the order of their creation. The periods of Simon's life that they recall do not fall so neatly in order, and yet the memories that eddy around the landmarks of the plays are somehow all the more effective without strict chronology. There is a funny set piece on young Neil's sexual initiation. His native wit is as abundant as ever, but he can easily write a simple declarative sentence without punctuating it with a gag. There are poignant glimpses of a childhood in a strangely inoperative family, of a sometimes loving, always complex relationship with gagwriter brother Danny. Simon hasn't much use for agents or their advice on business deals. (Following such advice, he "never saw a dime, a nickel, or a penny" from the TV series of The Odd Couple.) There are third-act problems, out-of-town rewrites, and missing stars. Though there are no lessons on how to be funny, the book is full of clues on the craft of playwriting. There are deft character sketches, but, by far, the most touching parts of Simon's story deal with his love for wife Joan. With her early passing some two decades ago Simon brings down the curtain. Not covered: military escapades, much of life as a TV gag writer, and later uxorial adventures. There are more plays, of course, so let's have the next installment soon, Mr. Simon.

Neil Simon delivers, from the heart, a fine portrait of the artist.

Kirkus Reviews