They Went Another Way: A Hollywood Memoir

Screenwriter and cartoonist Kaplan (I Was a Child) captures the agonizing uncertainty of trying to get a TV series greenlit in this plangently funny memoir. Through a series of diary entries, Kaplan catalogs his monthslong efforts in 2022 to sell a pilot script about a divorcée who finds romance with a man almost 50 years her junior, with actor Glenn Close and comedian Pete Davidson attached as leads. After anxious afternoons waiting for calls from network executives and choked-back fury over creative differences (“This book should now be named I Don’t Enjoy Glenn Close”), Kaplan received a Showtime offer—just before Davidson bailed, killing the project for good. Kaplan supplements the main narrative thread with lamentations about other irons in his fire, including a dreaded writing berth on Hulu’s Life and Beth, and settles his nerves by doing chores, drawing cartoons for the New Yorker, and shepherding his family towards a move to New York City. With a balance of sharpness (“As I meditated, I occasionally paused to text”) and pathos (“This journal definitely might turn into a long suicide note”), the results offer a revealing look at the demoralizing effects of gig work. This mordantly entertaining account buffs the shine off Tinseltown. (Oct.)

Correction: A previous version of this review misstated the year during which the author attempted to sell the pilot script.