Oscar Wars

A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears

By: Michael Schulman

Narrated by: Charlie Thurston

The author of the New York Times bestseller Her Again: Becoming Meryl Streep returns with a lively history of the Academy Awards, focusing on the brutal battles, the starry rivalries, and the colorful behind-the-scenes drama.

America does not have royalty. It has the Academy Awards. For nine decades, perfectly coiffed starlets, debonair leading men, and producers with gold in their eyes have chased the elusive Oscar. What began as an industry banquet in 1929 has now exploded into a hallowed ceremony, complete with red carpets, envelopes, and little gold men. But don’t be fooled by the pomp: the Oscars, more than anything, are a battlefield, where the history of Hollywood—and of America itself—unfolds in dramas large and small. The road to the Oscars may be golden, but it’s paved in blood, sweat, and broken hearts.

In Oscar Wars, Michael Schulman chronicles the remarkable, sprawling history of the Academy Awards and the personal dramas—some iconic, others never-before-revealed—that have played out on the stage and off camera. Unlike other books on the subject, each chapter takes a deep dive into a particular year, conflict, or even category that tells a larger story of cultural change, from Louis B. Mayer to Moonlight. Schulman examines how the red carpet runs through contested turf, and the victors aren't always as clear as the names drawn from envelopes. Caught in the crossfire are people: their thwarted ambitions, their artistic epiphanies, their messy collaborations, their dreams fulfilled or dashed.

Featuring a star-studded cast of some of the most powerful Hollywood players of today and yesterday, as well as outsiders who stormed the palace gates, this captivating history is a collection of revelatory tales, each representing a turning point for the Academy, for the movies, or for the culture at large.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2023 Michael Schulman (P)2023 HarperCollins Publishers

Narrator does a nice job of relaying this book

Charlie Thurston reminds me of a less salacious VH1 Behind the Music guy. The book overall is a good listen and there were a few details I didn’t know about especially the Olivia De Havilland and Joan Fontaine sibling rivalry. Intense! It’s a good addition to anyone’s cinematic literary collection.

Great Fun!

This is a nice history of Hollywood and how it reflects American culture back to the audience. Interesting way of organizing it around several pivotal years of Oscar history. Lots of infighting and drama, but, hey, if you’re looking at a book with a title like this, that’s likely what you came for. Not a lot of new info (although I was new to the Hattie McDaniel info), but it’s nice to hear things put together in a timeline that flows like this.

Entertaining, But Can Narrators Start to Improve?

Some interesting and well-researched topics here. Just wish the narrator 1) had been provided with a guide for pronunciation of numerous names and 2) had made his voice breathy and soprano-ish every time he read females' quotes. Unbelievable that narrators are STILL doing this!!

Fascinating and wonderful

Absolutely wonderful. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the history of the Academy and all the petty and absurdly strange feuds. I found myself stopping the book to go watch the movies that I had previously not watched. Such a great book. Only critiqué would be that the book ended kind of abruptly. Would’ve liked more of an editorial about the system itself. But still a fantastic book.

Intrigued and bewildered!

A lovely panache of Hollywood glitz, glamour and infamy. Like a first hand spectator to the glorious of the Oscars, the author just brought me there. What a great storytelling!

Fasten Your Seatbelts

Such a fun listen overall. There are some narrative concepts that don’t translate well into audio format (such as when multiple films or actor experiences are cycled through — a bit jarring). But the information and Schulman’s style are so fun, a nice balance of the serious and the salacious.

Loved it!

So interesting, didn’t want it to end! Fascinating how all of the pieces of history come together to what we see now.

Don’t read if you don’t like history

This is a history book. A history book about the movies, and the Academy Awards, but history just the same. As a movie lover, I was super excited about listening to this. The narrator is interesting, and the book is filled with good stories, but I suspect for many people its depth will lose them.

At the very least, many might want to consider moving immediately into your own era, or the era just before yours, so you will be more familiar with the names and movies you are hearing about. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy stories that took place before I was born—I have watched and enjoyed 1950’s Best Picture winner All About Eve since hearing about it in the book—but it took on a new level of interest when I hit 1970, as I was born in 1968.

If on a scale of 1-10, Quentin Tarrantino loves and knows movies with a level 10 ferocity, I’m probably a 5 or 6. If you’re not at least that high, this book will likely bore you far more than interest you. If you don’t tend to remember names of movies, along with their major stars, years after you have seen them, or if you don’t find yourself outraged every year by who got nominated and/or snubbed at the Oscars, you might want to sit this one out.

I’m really glad I listened to this book. It gave me a lot of ideas for movies I want to watch, and taught me more about actors and actresses who previously were little more than names and faces. It also told some fascinating stories about how some of my favorite movies got made, and sometimes almost didn’t.

An interesting History of Hollywood through the lens of the Oscars

Because of the more recent petty scandals of the Academy Awards, you’d think going in this would just be tabloid fair. But the history of the Academy is so much more interesting and complex than that. This does a fantastic job of talking about Hollywood and the film industry from some of the most forgotten early labor issues and scandals. It’s much much more interesting read/listen than you’d even imagine.

Far better than I’d imagined

This was a really good book! Insightful, we’ll organized, and we’ll performed! A must read for movie and/or Oscar fans!