The 125 Best Books About Hollywood

Movie Love goes deeper than just watching movies. Movie Love is something closer to obsession: thinking about films, talking about them, certainly reading about them. While writers have long been under-appreciated in Hollywood, there are scores of fascinating books about one of America’s most famous industries—and defining cultural exports. Works like The Day of the Locust, Nathanial West’s dark satire, or What Makes Sammy Run?, Budd Schulberg’s unforgettable debut novel, are even considered literature. But if Hollywood is rough on screenwriters, novelists had their revenge, as you’ll discover in Carrie Fisher’s hilarious Postcards From the Edge, or I Lost My Girlish Laughter, a lost treasure by Jane Allen.

There are also brilliant, detailed histories of the industry—starting, of course, with Kevin Brownlow on the silent era; An Empire of Their Own, by Neal Gabler; and Final Cut, Steven Bach’s whipsmart insider’s look at the Heaven’s Gate disaster. "The making-of" is an appealing sub-genre, starting with Picture, Lillian Ross’s account of the making of The Red Badge of Courage, and its spiritual successor, The Devil’s Candy, Julie Salomon’s blow-by-blow look at the debacle that was Bonfire of the Vanities. There are biographies galore—Chaplin, Stanwyck, Welles; candid, absorbing memoirs from Louise Brooks and Angelica Huston; and an unforgettable cult classic by Barbara Payton. Of course, we give the critics their due—Agee, Kael, Sarris, as well as craftspeople like editor Ralph Rosenblum and cinematographer James Wong Howe. You’ll also find a tasty selection of beautiful coffee table books, highlighting 100 years of Black movie poster art, the glamour photography of George Hurrell, and the genius of animator Tex Avery.

There are more than a few surprises, too. And so we offer, for your consideration, our list of 125 essential books about Hollywood and the American movie experience.