#ReadThis @simonschuster HITS, FLOPS, AND OTHER ILLUSIONS By Ed Zwick
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We love people that tell stories for a living, and that's how Zwick opens! We love an insider's view and have built a business on it: Zwick is clearly an insider. This is a memoir built on five decades of memories, and based on several notebooks. We love the history! This is almost Cliff Notes for the film industry in some cases, and Zwick shares his wisdom with style, panache and fun. Our readers will see how he has the ability to regale on the page as well as the silver screen.
He espouses laughter and adopts a genuine interest in guiding the next generation through his verbiage. Zwick's lists that pepper the pages show you what you can learn in life from other people. Even if you think you have zero interest in entertainment, there is something in this industry for everyone to grow from. Pictures always enhance memoirs, and this one has those supporting shots too. Crack this one open perhaps on the beach....summertime is right around the corner and P.S. Ed we also tell stories and some people think they are pretty good if you want to contact Peachy!
HITS, FLOPS, AND OTHER ILLUSIONS: My Fortysomething Years in Hollywood by Ed Zwick (Gallery Books; Hardcover; on-sale February 13, 2024) is a heartfelt and wry career memoir from the director of Blood Diamond, The Last Samurai, Legends of the Fall, About Last Night, and Glory, creator of the show thirtysomething, and executive producer of My So-Called Life.
“I’ll be dropping a few names,” Zwick confesses in the introduction to his book. “Over the years I have worked with self-proclaimed masters-of-the-universe, unheralded geniuses, hacks, sociopaths, savants, and saints.”
Zwick’s long career has spanned four decades of directing, producing, and writing projects that have collectively received eighteen Academy Award nominations (seven wins) and sixty-seven Emmy nominations (twenty-two wins). In HITS, FLOPS, AND OTHER ILLUSIONS he recalls the head spinning ascents and vertiginous plunges that define a career in Hollywood – with equal emphasis on craft, and luck, and the intense collaborations he's shared with actors and other collaborators.
Talents whom he spotted early include Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Denzel Washington, Claire Danes, and Jared Leto. Established stars he worked closely with include Leonardo DiCaprio, Anthony Hopkins, Tom Cruise, Julia Roberts, Anne Hathaway, Daniel Craig, Jake Gyllenhaal, Bruce Willis, Demi Moore, and Jennifer Connelly. He also sued Harvey Weinstein over the production of Shakespeare in Love—and won. He shares personal stories about all these people, and more.
Written mostly with love, sometimes with rue, this memoir is also a meditation on working, sprinkled throughout with tips for anyone who has ever imagined writing, directing, or producing for the screen. Fans with an appreciation for the beautiful mysteries—as well as the unsightly, often comic truths—of crafting film and television won’t want to miss it.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Ed Zwick is an Academy Award and Emmy Award-winning director, producer, and writer with over four decades of highly acclaimed film and television projects. His filmography as director includes Glory, Legends of the Fall, Blood Diamond, The Last Samurai, Courage Under Fire, Love & Other Drugs, and Defiance; with producing credits including Steven Soderbergh's Traffic and Shakespeare in Love, for which Zwick won an Academy Award. From early-career, breakout performances from Denzel Washington, Brad Pitt, and Matt Damon to career-defining roles for Tom Cruise, Leonardo DiCaprio, and more, Zwick has directed many of Hollywood's biggest stars. His mark on television is equally impressive, including two series he co-created with longtime creative partner Marshall Herskovitz: the Emmy award- winning thirtysomething, regarded as one of the most influential dramas in modern TV history; and ABC's Emmy-winning ensemble drama, Once and Again. He also executive produced the groundbreaking teen drama, My So-Called Life, which launched the careers of Claire Danes, Wilson Cruz and Jared Leto. Zwick and Herskovitz continue to lead their award-winning production company, Bedford Falls, founded in 1985.
HITS, FLOPS, AND OTHER ILLUSIONS
By Ed Zwick | Gallery Books
ISBN: 9781668046999|
GALLERY BOOKS, a division of Simon & Schuster, is an imprint dedicated to publishing a variety of must- read books on a wide array of topics. Launched in 2010, Gallery is designed to showcase established voices and to introduce emerging new ones—in both fiction and nonfiction. Gallery Books is the publisher of Taste by Stanley Tucci, The Longest Race by Kara Goucher, My Travels with Mrs. Kennedy by Clint Hill, Where Tomorrows Aren’t Promised by Carmelo Anthony, The Girl with the Lower Back
Tattoo by Amy Schumer, Zero Days by Ruth Ware, and Anna: The Biography by Amy Odell, among others.
SIMON & SCHUSTER, a global leader in general interest publishing, is dedicated to providing the best in fiction and nonfiction for readers of all ages, and in all printed, digital and audio formats. Its distinguished roster of authors includes many of the world’s most popular and widely recognized writers, and winners of the most prestigious literary honors and awards. It is home to numerous well-known imprints and divisions such as Simon & Schuster, Scribner, Atria Books, Gallery Books, Adams Media, Avid Reader Press, Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing and Simon & Schuster Audio and international companies in Australia, Canada, India, and the United Kingdom, and proudly brings the works of its authors to readers in more than 200 countries and territories. For more information visit our website at www.simonandschuster.com.
