The Essays of Leonard Michaels

Book review from The Movie Snob

The Essays of Leonard Michaels, edited by Katharine Ogden Michaels (Farrar, Straus and Giroux 2009). You know what's a dangerous combination? Going to my favorite McDonald's for breakfast on a weekend morning and reading book reviews in a magazine or newspaper. Know why? Because this particular McD's shares a parking lot with a Borders book store. So when I read a glowing review of this book, I somehow acquired a copy before I made it home again. I had never heard of Michaels (1933-2003), but the review sold me on the book. It had some interesting stuff in it, especially his story about writing a successful novel, then getting a contract to turn it into screenplay, and then actually getting the movie made. Interesting stuff. (The movie, The Men's Club, was not a success.) His autobiographical essays were also quite good. Still, I think I would have been wiser to just check it out of the library.