Memo from David O. Selznick

New York: The Viking Press. Near Fine in Very Good+ dj. 1972. First Edition. Hardcover. (price-clipped) [nice clean book, an exceptionally nice copy with only a touch of shelfwear; the jacket is in much nicer condition than usually seen on this title, with just faint surface wear plus a couple of tiny nicks and a bit of dog-earing at the top of the spine; would grade Near Fine but for the price-clipping]. (B&W photographs) An endlessly fascinating read-through of the correspondence files of the legendary producer of GONE WITH THE WIND and other classics (and an occasional non-classic) -- albeit, as editor Behlmer explains in his foreword, presenting "a rather one-sided case, with no opportunity for the several victims of Selznick's unhappiness or, in some instances, wrath, to offer rebuttals or countercharges." The selection of memos -- from among two thousand file boxes of Selznick's papers -- was a monumental task, and although it was by necessity a highly selective process, at the end you feel like you've gotten a pretty comprehensive picture of DOS -- "at times pontificating and overly fussy," as the editor allows, but "also brilliant, knowledgeable, tasteful, painstaking, and possessed by what he was doing." The book itself was something of a landmark of cinema scholarship: never before had a book of film history (or biography) been presented as an assemblage of primary documents, and it's not saying too much to state that it raised the bar for future film historians' excavation of such archives. Quite fittingly included in the important bibliography "100 Books on Hollywood & the Movies." ****NOTE that additional postage charges will be assessed for international shipping of this heavy book; if this concerns you, please contact us for a shipping quote before placing your order. As always at ReadInk, domestic Media Mail shipping is free.**** .