Staff Pick
This book is almost as much fun as the movie. This is a must-read gift for all fans of Caddyshack. Nashawaty is great at showing how the film went from one hilarious script to something very different, but still funny. It's also great reading about the young stars Bill Murray and Chevy Chase along with a few older ones, Rodney Dangerfield and Ted Knight. On top of those four, there are so many others with their own unique perspectives on a movie that easily could have turned out horribly but became a cult classic. Recommended By Jeffrey J., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
Caddyshack is one of the most beloved comedies of all time, a classic snobs vs. slobs story of working class kids and the white collar buffoons that make them haul their golf bags in the hot summer sun. It has sex, drugs and one very memorable candy bar, but the movie we all know and love didn’t start out that way, and everyone who made it certainly didn’t have the word “classic” in mind as the cameras were rolling.
In Caddyshack:The Making of a Hollywood Cinderella Story film critic for Entertainment Weekly Chris Nashawaty goes behind the scenes of the iconic film, chronicling the rise of comedy’s greatest deranged minds as they form The National Lampoon, turn the entertainment industry on its head, and ultimately blow up both a golf course and popular culture as we know it. Caddyshack is at once an eye-opening narrative about one of the most interesting, surreal, and dramatic film productions there’s ever been, and a rich portrait of the biggest, and most revolutionary names in Hollywood. So, it’s got that going for it…which is nice.
Review
"Chris Nashawaty doesn't settle for mere behind-the-scenes gossip or trivia. He tells a novelesque story full of gigantic characters―some of whom happen to have famous names―that shows us where comedy comes from and how classic movies are made, usually unbeknownst to the people making them. Wonderfully written and impeccably researched, Caddyshack is a treat for fans of the movie or anyone who cares about comedy and its flawed practitioners." Jennifer Keishin Armstrong, author of Seinfeldia
“An incisive, definitive portrait of an epoch in the evolution of comedy - told through the improbable saga of the making of a beloved, oddball classic - that solves one of the enduring mysteries of the movie business: How in the name of Bushwood’s gopher did this fractured fairytale ever come together?” Mark Frost, Co-creator of Twin Peaks
“I opened this book thinking, 'Why Caddyshack?' I closed it completely exhilarated by the way it answers that question. This is a tough, sharp history of comedy and competitiveness, of rising stars and brilliant upstarts. Of difficult egos, awful behavior, fragile friendships, bursts of inspiration, and blizzards of cocaine―told by the survivors and shaped by Chris Nashawaty's welcome insight and perspective.”
Mark Harris, New York Times bestselling author of Pictures at a Revolution and Five Came Back
“Funny? Of course. But Chris Nashawaty's book is also a vivid, surprisingly poignant history of a generation that revolutionized American comedy. Well, and of drugs. Lots of drugs.”
Chris Smith, author of The Daily Show (the Book)
Synopsis
"More fun to read than the movie was to watch... a scene-stealing book."
-- The Washington Post
An Entertainment Weekly "Must List" selection
Caddyshack is one of the most beloved comedies of all time, a classic snobs vs. slobs story of working class kids and the white collar buffoons that make them haul their golf bags in the hot summer sun. It has sex, drugs and one very memorable candy bar, but the movie we all know and love didn't start out that way, and everyone who made it certainly didn't have the word "classic" in mind as the cameras were rolling.
In Caddyshack: The Making of a Hollywood Cinderella Story film critic for Entertainment Weekly Chris Nashawaty goes behind the scenes of the iconic film, chronicling the rise of comedy's greatest deranged minds as they form The National Lampoon, turn the entertainment industry on its head, and ultimately blow up both a golf course and popular culture as we know it. Caddyshack is at once an eye-opening narrative about one of the most interesting, surreal, and dramatic film productions there's ever been, and a rich portrait of the biggest, and most revolutionary names in Hollywood. So, it's got that going for it...which is nice.
About the Author
Chris Nashawaty is the lead film critic at Entertainment Weekly, who over his 20 years at the magazine has become one of America’s foremost movie writers and pop-culture authorities. He has appeared on CNN, NPR, Today, and Good Morning America, as well as regularly contributing to to Sirius XM’s EW Radio channel. He has also written for Wired, Sports Illustrated, Esquire, Fortune, and Grantland. He is the author of the book about B Movie producer Roger Corman called Crab Monsters, Teenage Cavemen, and Candy Stripe Nurses, and Caddyshack: The Making of a Hollywood Cinderella Story.