WHAT HAPPENS NEXT: A History of American Screenwriting

Marc Norman. Harmony, $27 (560p) ISBN 978-0-307-38339-6

Just in time to put the current Writers Guild of America strike into perspective comes this sprawling, rollicking and very thorough history of that notoriously unappreciated figure, the Hollywood scribe. Chronicling the movies' first century, Oscar-winning screenwriter Norman is instantly arresting, beginning with what might as well be ancient history to today's movie-goer; almost as entertaining are later chapters covering more familiar names like Francis Ford Coppola, Quentin Tarantino and Charlie Kaufman, and crucial developments such as the Hays Code, HUAC's Hollywood witch hunt and the 1990s explosion of American independent film. Norman has little to confess about the screenwriting process itself; instead, he focuses on anecdotes, snappy quotes and larger-than-life personalities, a fittingly Hollywood treatment of the movie machine's plucky underdogs. Though it's a bit protracted, this comprehensive history will make a fascinating read for average fans, cineastes and anyone else who misses the prime-time lineup. (Nov.)