{"product_id":"the-way-they-wereisbn-9780806542332","title":"The Way They Were","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe first ever account of the making of the cinematic classic \u003ci\u003eThe Way We Were\u003c\/i\u003e starring Barbara Streisand and Robert Redford, revealing the full story behind its genesis and continued controversies, its many deleted scenes, its much-anticipated but never-filmed sequel, and the real-life romance that inspired this groundbreaking love story…\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt’s one of the greatest movie romances of all time. Fifty years on, the chemistry between Barbra Streisand as Jewish working-class firebrand Katie Morosky and Robert Redford as all-American golden boy Hubbell Gardiner remains potent. Yet ­the friction and controversy surrounding \u003ci\u003eThe Way We Were\u003c\/i\u003e were so enormous, the movie was nearly never made at all.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eImpeccably researched and eye-opening, here is the full story behind the challenges, rivalries, and\u003cbr\u003ereal-life romance surrounding the movie. Even the iconic casting was fraught. Screenwriter Arthur Laurents wrote the role of Katie with Streisand in mind, but finding Hubbell was another matter. Redford was reluctant to play what he perceived as the “Ken doll” to Streisand’s lead, resulting in ten writers—among them Francis Ford Coppola—being called in to rework the script.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe first preview was disastrous. Several scenes were cut, angering Streisand and Laurents, yet the new version was a resounding success, and its appeal endures, earning it a regular spot in the AFI’s annual Top 10 movie romances.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Way They Were\u003c\/i\u003e also explores the deep, surprising love story that inspired the screenplay—the relationship between Laurents, a Jewish Brooklyn-born college leftist, and his longtime partner, Tom Hatcher. Drawing on Laurents’s unpublished writings, as well as interviews with Streisand, Redford, and other key players, this is the definitive account of a film that changed the rules of moviemaking and has defined romance ever since.\u003cb\u003ePraise for THE WAY THEY WERE\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Fifty years after its debut, \"The Way We Were\" remains one of the most popular romances to ever hit cinemas. But the film's path to the big screen wasn't strewn with rose petals. More like barbed wire. ….Author Robert Hofler details the astounding amount of turmoil and conflict that went into the making of the film. The struggles began long before the cameras started rolling. Hofler's juicy, compelling book will enthrall fans of the film.” \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e—Pop Culture Classics\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A rich, gossipy tale… Author Robert Hofler’s detailed look at the movie’s creation, the cleverly titled “The Way They Were,” tells a sweet and sour story behind the cameras.”\u003cb\u003e \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e—\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eAssociated Press\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Theater critic Hofler (\u003ci\u003eMoney, Murder, and Dominick Dunne\u003c\/i\u003e) delivers a spellbinding behind-the-scenes look at the seminal 1973 film \u003ci\u003eThe Way We Were. \u003c\/i\u003eHofler’s prose sparkles, and he successfully blends histrionics with on-screen magic. The captivating result makes clear that the drama happening behind the camera can be just as gripping as what’s in front of it\u003ci\u003e.” \u003cb\u003e—Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Just in time for the film’s 50th anniversary, theater critic Hofler (\u003ci\u003eMoney, Murder, and Dominick Dunne: A Life in Several Acts\u003c\/i\u003e) digs deep to find the drama that went on behind-the-scenes.  …this is a detailed and well-researched biography of a popular film that avid fans and film students will likely find fascinating.” \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Library Journal\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Hofler knows the trick of writing a \"making of\" book: to give the behind-the-scenes story a measure of the excitement, even the suspense, of an actual movie. He nails it. Thoroughly entertaining.”\u003ci\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Booklist\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eThe Way They Were\u003c\/i\u003e has it all: Huge egos on collision courses; great showbiz gossip; and insight into how Hollywood movies once got made. But at its center is the love story between Arthur Laurents, a Broadway legend with the sharpest of tongues, and Tom Hatcher, who put up with it all. It's a complicated love story to be sure, but that's what makes Robert Hofler's book so compelling.\" \u003cb\u003e—Michael Riedel\u003c\/b\u003e, author of \u003ci\u003eRazzle Dazzle: The Battle for Broadway\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"No one captures the magic of movie-making, from Fade In to Fade Out, better than Robert Hofler. In \u003ci\u003eThe Way They Were\u003c\/i\u003e, he delivers a riveting account of a cinematic epic full of colorful details and characters who leap off the page. Filled with prodigious research, shrewd insight, and driven by a powerful narrative, the book provides a luminous chronicle of personalities ready for their close-ups and the business that enables them.\"\u003cb\u003e —Bob Spitz\u003c\/b\u003e, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Beatles\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eDearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"And you thought Katie and Hubbell’s relationship was complicated? Wait until you delve into the making of \u003ci\u003eThe Way We Were\u003c\/i\u003e. In scrupulous journalistic detail, Robert Hofler relates the behind-the-scenes internecine conflicts and intricacies of one the screen’s great romances. What surfaces is a backstory as captivating—and, at times, as heartbreaking—as \u003ci\u003eThe Way We Were\u003c\/i\u003e itself.\" \u003cb\u003e—Stephen M. Silverman\u003c\/b\u003e, author of \u003ci\u003eDavid Lean\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Catskills: Its History and How It Changed America\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"For movie lovers, Robert Hofler's surprising exploration of the making of \u003ci\u003eThe Way We Were\u003c\/i\u003e contains secrets and insights into the writing and producing of one of the most romantic movies of the 1970s. But for Barbra Streisand fans it is a definite must-read as a key milestone in the evolution of a star.\"\u003cb\u003e —Sharon Waxman\u003c\/b\u003e, author of \u003ci\u003eLoot \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eRebels on the Backlot\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Robert Hofler’s lively behind-the-scenes tale captures the complicated dance of star power, talent, and politics that made \u003ci\u003eThe Way We Were \u003c\/i\u003esuch a breakout Hollywood romance. With insightful, often droll commentary and rich detail, he entertains and illuminates the art of bringing a classic to the screen.\"\u003cb\u003e —Becky Aikman\u003c\/b\u003e, author of \u003ci\u003eOff the Cliff: How the Making of \u003c\/i\u003eThelma \u0026amp; Louise \u003ci\u003eDrove Hollywood to the Edge\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Robert Hofler brings his vast knowledge of popular culture, movies, and the anxious, talented and flawed people who create them to tell the tale of the making of \u003ci\u003eThe Way We Were\u003c\/i\u003e, one of Hollywood’s last great romantic melodramas. Hofler presents a legendary cast of characters, starting with the gifted but bruising screenwriter Arthur Laurents, to the combative producer Ray Stark, to the savvy director Sydney Pollack, who deftly navigates around the conflicts and contradictions between the movie’s two super-stars, Barbra Streisand, the nervous perfectionist, and Robert Redford, the nonchalant cool guy. Hofler’s portraits are intimate, compassionate yet unblinking; his eye and ear for a good story—whether Pollack’s overnight trimming with a razor blade of 11 minutes of bloat from the final cut; or how Marvin Hamlisch’s stirring melody helped paper over some of the glaring defects of the plot—help keep the narrative moving along at rapid speed. The book is a delivery van stuffed with great dish, couplings and uncouplings, and powerful insights into The Way It Was Done.\u003cb\u003e —Glenn Frankel\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e, \u003c\/i\u003ePulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of\u003ci\u003e Shooting \u003c\/i\u003eMidnight Cowboy:\u003ci\u003e Art, Sex, Loneliness, Liberation and the Making of a Dark Classic\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cb\u003eRobert Hofler\u003c\/b\u003e is the lead theater critic at TheWrap and author of bestselling, critically acclaimed biographies, including \u003ci\u003eMoney, Murder, and Dominick Dunne: A Life in Several Acts\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eThe Man Who Invented Rock Hudson\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eParty Animals\u003c\/i\u003e; and the Lambda Literary Award nominated \u003ci\u003eSexplosion: From Andy Warhol to A Clockwork Orange, How a Generation of Pop Rebels Broke All the Taboos\u003c\/i\u003e. The recipient of the 2020 Los Angeles Press Club Award for Best Theater Reviews, he previously has been an editor and writer for \u003ci\u003eLife\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eUs Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eVariety.\u003c\/i\u003e He lives in New York City and can be found online at RobertHofler.com.","brand":"Citadel","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46303381389541,"sku":"NP9780806542332","price":18.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780806542331.jpg?v=1730754092","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/the-way-they-wereisbn-9780806542332","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}