Synopses & Reviews
Audrey Hepburn is an icon like no other, yet the image many of us have of Audrey—dainty, immaculate—is anything but true to life. Here, for the first time, Sam Wasson presents the woman behind the little black dress that rocked the nation in 1961. The first complete account of the making of
Breakfast at Tiffany's,
Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M. reveals little-known facts about the cinema classic: Truman Capote desperately wanted Marilyn Monroe for the leading role; director Blake Edwards filmed multiple endings; Hepburn herself felt very conflicted about balancing the roles of mother and movie star. With a colorful cast of characters including Truman Capote, Edith Head, Givenchy, "Moon River" composer Henry Mancini, and, of course, Hepburn herself, Wasson immerses us in the America of the late fifties before Woodstock and birth control, when a not-so-virginal girl by the name of Holly Golightly raised eyebrows across the country, changing fashion, film, and sex for good. Indeed, cultural touchstones like
Sex and the City owe a debt of gratitude to
Breakfast at Tiffany's.
In this meticulously researched gem of a book, Wasson delivers us from the penthouses of the Upper East Side to the pools of Beverly Hills, presenting Breakfast at Tiffany's as we have never seen it before—through the eyes of those who made it. Written with delicious prose and considerable wit, Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M. shines new light on a beloved film and its incomparable star.
Review
“Reading a book about a movie is seldom as entertaining as watching the film, but Wassons is the rare exception.” Christian Science Monitor
Review
“Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M. offers lots of savory tidbits [from the making of Breakfast at Tiffanys]. Mr. Wasson brings a lively and impudent approach to his subject.” Wall Street Journal
Review
“Sam Wasson is a fabulous social historian...[Fifth Avenue, 5 AM] is as melancholy and glittering as Capotes story of Holly Golightly.” The New Yorker
Review
“A fascination with fascination is one way of describing Wassons interest in a film that not only captures the sedate elegance of a New York long gone, but that continues to entrance as a love story, a style manifesto, and a way to live.” New York magazine
Review
“This splendid new book is more than a mere ‘making-of chronicle. Wasson has pulled it off with verve, intelligence, and a consistent ring of truth...compulsively readable. Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M. is both enjoyable and informative: everything a film book ought to be.” Leonard Maltin, author of Leonard Maltin's 151 Best Movies You've Never Seen
Review
“Rich in incident and set among the glitterati of Americas most glamorous era, the book reads like a novel…[Wasson] has assembled a sparkling time capsule of old Hollywood magic and mythmaking.” Kirkus Reviews
Review
“A brilliant chronicle of the creation of Breakfast at Tiffanys. Wasson has woven the whole so deftly that it reads like a compulsively page-turning novel. This is a memorable achievement.” Peter Bogdanovich
Review
“Sam Wassons exquisite portrait of Audrey Hepburn peels backs her sweet facade to reveal a much more complicated and interesting woman. He also captures a fascinating turning point in American history when women started to loosen their pearls, and their inhibitions. I devoured this book.” Karen Abbott, author of Sin in the Second City
Review
“Sam Wasson unfolds the dramatic story of the films creation. He also offers a fascinating slice of social history.” Arrive Magazine
Review
“Reads like carefully crafted fiction…[Wasson] carries the reader from pre-production to on-set feuds and conflicts, while also noting Hepburns impact on fashion (Givenchys little black dress), Hollywood glamour, sexual politics, and the new morality. Capote would have been entranced.” Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Review
“[We] couldnt put down Sam Wassons new book, Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M..... Along with juicy film gossip, the book offers behind-the-scenes insight on how Hepburn and designer Hubert de Givenchy created Holly Golightlys iconic style.” AOL Stylelist
Review
“A breezy tale of dresses and breakfast pastries, this is not.... The subtexts of Breakfast at Tiffanysmaterialism, sexual freedomwere decidedly more complicated.” Women's Wear Daily
Review
“The anecdotes are numerous and deftly told. This well-researched, entertaining page-turner should appeal to a broad audience, particularly those who enjoy film history that focuses on the human factors involved in the creative process while also drawing on larger social and cultural contexts.” Library Journal
Review
“Wassons story is part encyclopedia, part valentine, and worth reading just to find out what exactly went into making the amazing party scene.” The Huffington Post
Review
“Crammed with irresistible tidbits…[Wassons] book winds up as well-tailored as the kind of little black dress that Breakfast at Tiffanys made famous.” New York Times
Review
“A bonbon of a book...as well tailored as the little black dress the movie made famous.” Janet Maslin, New York Times
Review
“So smart and entertaining it should come with its own popcorn.” People
Review
“Wasson offers enough drama to occupy anyone for days...The whole thing reads like a cool sip of water.” Daily News
Review
“Anyone even slightly interested in Capote/Hepburn/Breakfast at Tiffanys will delight in [Wassons] account.” USA Today
Review
"Any teen who's ever dreamed big or worshipped a star from afar will relate to this lightweight but nonetheless enchanting novel about identity and self-worth."
Review
"Audrey may be the center of attention in Shaw's story, but it's really about friendship, shared dreams, and the lonelier and less glamorous side of Holly Golightly."
Synopsis
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
NEW YORK TIMES BEST BOOK OF 2010
-So smart and entertaining it should come with its own popcorn- - People
-A bonbon of a book... As well tailored as the little black dress the movie made famous.- - Janet Maslin, New York Times
-Sam Wasson is a fabulous social historian.- - The New Yorker
-Reads like carefully crafted fiction... Wasson] carries the reader from pre-production to on-set feuds and conflicts, while also noting Hepburn's impact on fashion (Givenchy's little black dress), Hollywood glamour, sexual politics, and the new morality. Capote would have been entranced.- -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)
-Sam Wasson's exquisite portrait of Audrey Hepburn peels backs her sweet facade to reveal a much more complicated and interesting woman. He also captures a fascinating turning point in American history-- when women started to loosen their pearls, and their inhibitions. I devoured this book.- -- Karen Abbott, author of Sin in the Second City
Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M. by Sam Wasson is the first ever complete account of the making of Breakfast at Tiffany's. With a cast of characters including Truman Capote, Edith Head, director Blake Edwards, and, of course, Hepburn herself, Wasson immerses us in the America of the late fifties, before Woodstock and birth control, when a not-so-virginal girl by the name of Holly Golightly raised eyebrows across the nation, changing fashion, film, and sex, for good. With delicious prose and considerable wit, Wasson delivers us from the penthouses of the Upper East Side to the pools of Beverly Hills presenting Breakfast at Tiffany's as we have never seen it before--through the eyes of those who made it.
Synopsis
Its 5:00 a.m. on Fifth Avenue, and 16-year-old Gemma Beasley is standing in front of Tiffany & Co. wearing the perfect black dress with her coffee in hand—just like Holly Golightly. As the cofounder of a successful Tumblr blog—Oh Yeah Audrey!—devoted to all things Audrey Hepburn, Gemma has traveled to New York in order to meet up with her fellow bloggers for the first time. She has meticulously planned out a 24-hour adventure in homage to Breakfast at Tiffanys; however, her plans are derailed when a glamorous boy sweeps in and offers her the New York experience shes always dreamed of. Gemma soon learns who her true friends are and that, sometimes, no matter where you go, you just end up finding yourself.Filled with hip and sparkling prose, Oh Yeah, Audrey! is as much a story of friendship as it is a love letter to New York, Audrey Hepburn, and the character she made famous: Holly Golightly.
Synopsis
A revealing look at the life and work of David Lynch, one of the most enigmatic and influential filmmakers of our time Every frame of David Lynch's work, from the '70s midnight movie Eraserhead to the groundbreaking TV series Twin Peaks, to the digital-video DIY feat Inland Empire, bears his unmistakable imprint. But the paradox of the Lynchian is that it's easy to recognize and hard to define. Lynch is a master of the inscrutable gesture, the opaque symbol. His career evades the usual categories: pop culture icon and subject of academic study, cult figure and industry outsider. He's a Renaissance man—musician, painter, photographer, carpenter, entrepreneur—and a vocal proponent or transcendental meditation.
Dennis Lim, the newly minted director of Cinematheque programming at Lincoln Center, is a skilled cinephile wary of over-interpretation. David Lynch preserves the strangeness of the Lynch's universe and offers a personal meditation on the most distinctive filmmaker in modern American culture. It leaves what Lynch likes to call "room to dream," honoring the allure of the unknown and the unknowable.
Synopsis
Part of James Atlas’s Icons series, a revealing look at the life and work of David Lynch, one of the most enigmatic and influential filmmakers of our time
Synopsis
At once a pop culture icon, cult figure, and film industry outsider, master filmmaker David Lynch and his work defy easy definition. Dredged from his subconscious mind, Lynch’s work is primed to act on our own subconscious, combining heightened, contradictory emotions into something familiar but inscrutable. No less than his art, Lynch’s life also evades simple categorization, encompassing pursuits as a musician, painter, photographer, carpenter, entrepreneur, and vocal proponent of Transcendental Meditation.
David Lynch: The Man from Another Place, Dennis Lim’s remarkably smart and concise book, proposes several lenses through which to view Lynch and his work: through the age-old mysteries of the uncanny and the sublime, through the creative energies of surrealism and postmodernism, through ideas of America and theories of good and evil. Lynch himself often warns against overinterpretation. And accordingly, this is not a book that seeks to decode his art or annotate his life—to dispel the strangeness of the Lynchian—so much as one that offers complementary ways of seeing and understanding one of the most distinctive bodies of work in modern cinema. Its spirit is true to its subject, in remaining suggestive rather than definitive, in allowing what Lynch likes to call “room to dream,” and in honoring the allure of the unknown and the unknowable.
About the Author
DENNIS LIM, director of programming at Lincoln Center, is a skilled cinephile wary of over-interpretation. David Lynch preserves the strangeness of Lynch's universe and offers a personal meditation on the most distinctive filmmaker in modern American culture. It leaves what Lynch likes to call "room to dream," honoring the allure of the unknown and the unknowable.