Reviews
The story of Network is the story of a prophetic screenwriter and his unrelenting determination to make the film that would not only change the way we looked at television, but free us to express our anger, individually and collectively. This is more than a book about a seminal movie. It's a book about a seminal moment in American history, told with grace, force, wit, and intelligence., Network , the satirical masterpiece that won four Academy Awards in 1976, remains a cultural touchstone . . . [and in Mad as Hell ] Itzkoff peppers his straightforward and balanced narrative with plenty of juicy anecdotes . . . but Itzkoff's real achievement is in his chilling analysis of Network as prophecy demonstrating through interviews with Anderson Cooper, Stephen Colbert, Bill O'Reilly, and others that Chayefsky's satire has become our reality., "Itzkoff's account of how the brilliant, stubborn, and pugnacious Chayefsky... imposed his vision on the film is elegantly executed."-Ted Koppel, NPR All Things Considered "Absorbing and revealing... [ Mad as Hell ] garners insights into what made the film enduringly provocative and riveting."- USA Today, [A] compellingly told story of the making and cultural effect of the 1976 Hollywood satire of the TV industry [and] a solid behind-the-scenes movie book . . . Fans of the film will find the book irresistible.|9781250062246|, This is that rarest of the 'biography of a movie' genre: the one that allows you to enjoy, in new ways you never dreamt of, the greatness of a perfect, prophetic film like Network ., Gave me chills . . . Itzkoff's engrossing, unfolding narrative contains the perfect amount of inside-baseball moviemaking stories and anecdotes about stars., Dave Itzkoff has written a sensational and definitive book about how the twentieth century's most important screenwriter came to write the twentieth century's most explosive movie. It's a loving and intelligent examination of what happens when talent and skill take common pain and anger and focus it into a magnificent work of art. I believe this is the first thing written about Paddy Chayefsky that Chayefsky would have liked. Watch Network and read this book., Network , the satirical masterpiece that won four Academy Awards in 1976, remains a cultural touchstone . . . [and in Mad as Hell ] Itzkoff peppers his straightforward and balanced narrative with plenty of juicy anecdotes . . . but Itzkoff's real achievement is in his chilling analysis of Network as prophecydemonstrating through interviews with Anderson Cooper, Stephen Colbert, Bill O'Reilly, and others that Chayefsky's satire has become our reality., Dave Itzkoff does a terrific job of bringing this signal moment in movie history to life, conveying the larger significance without losing sight of the crazy day-to-day stuff that goes into the process--the egos, uncertainty, desire, money, and power struggles that make us love to read about movie-making. And he does it all with an intensity and passion Paddy Chayefsky would admire., Dave Itzkoff takes us on an extraordinary journey, and in the process reveals Chayefsky's prognosis for TV, a prognosis we've chosen to ignore even as it's come true before our eyes., Absorbing . . . [Chayefsky] kept a passion for the worth of the common person throughout his career, and every insult to human dignity infuriated him . . . A making-of film book that's also a piquant biography., Dave Itzkoff has blessed us with a vivid and richly entertaining account of what goes on inside the making of a hit movie--the mixture of intrigue, creativity, infighting, and astonishing behavior of the famous and the driven; all of which somehow came together to produce a superb motion picture. Not to be missed., [A] compellingly told story of the making and cultural effect of the 1976 Hollywood satire of the TV industry [and] a solid behind-the-scenes movie book . . . Fans of the film will find the book irresistible., This thorough and rousing book reminds us that Paddy Chayefsky, aside from being one of the knockdown smartest individuals Hollywood has ever allowed, ranked with its most visionary. Mad As Hell makes painfully clear how our country's tabloid ethic has only worsened in the years since this Paul Revere of screenwriters saw it coming four decades ago. We should have listened., Dave Itzkoff's account of the making of Network, Paddy Chayefsky's prescient if mordant x-ray of network news on its way down from its postwar heights to the pabulum it is today, makes for riveting reading., Network is still a movie worth arguing about, and Dave Itzkoff shows us not just how this movie got made, but how, step by step and line by brilliant, argumentative line, it got written. This is one of the most rewarding books I've read about how a script evolves, and a tough, true and unsparing portrait of an extraordinary writer.
