- Hardcover: 423 pages
- Publisher: Douglas & McIntyre / Not Applicable (Jan 5 2005)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0571211933
- ISBN-13: 978-0571211937
- Product Dimensions: 22.8 x 16.2 x 3.8 cm
- Shipping Weight: 762 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #979,312 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Entertainment journalist Pond (Premiere; etc.) opens this bluntly informative look at the "negotiations and machinations, the politics, the compromises and the excesses" of the Academy Award process by discussing the legendary tastelessness of the show Allan Carr produced in 1989, a production so savaged by critics that it destroyed his reputation (it began with Snow White and Rob Lowe performing a "Proud Mary" duet, prompting a lawsuit from Disney). Pond covers Oscar's early history, including such injustices as Norma Shearer's 1930 win over Greta Garbo, a victory triggered by MGM's orders that employees vote for studio chief Irving Thalberg's wife ("What do you expect?" Joan Crawford famously commented. "She sleeps with the boss"). He devotes many pages to the disastrous choice of David Letterman as host in 1995, whose excruciating jokes ("Oprah. Uma. Uma. Oprah") and pet tricks set a ludicrous tone; and cites Madonna's profane tirades during a 1991 rehearsal. The book covers Academy campaigns over the past 15 years, and effectively dramatizes how the show changed under the leadership styles of Richard and Lili Zanuck and current producer Gil Cates. Little-known anecdotes about Bob Dylan, Barbra Streisand, Julia Roberts, Billy Crystal and Halle Berry confirm that Pond knows this backstabbing territory well, and fans of Hollywood gossip will find plenty of colorful new material.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
"Steve Pond has long been the hardest-working pop culture writer around, and The Big Show proves it. This backstage journey through the last decade of Academy Award specials adds up to way more than the sum of the de rigueur gossip, glamour, and glitz--though there's plenty of that. Based on years of his own behind-the-scenes reporting, Pond delves deep into a closely-held world that the public never gets to see, and brings back an all-access-pass portrayal of the stars and the star-making machinery that makes sure the show must go on. If the Academy awarded Oscars for books about their annual festivities, The Big Show would have no competition." -- David Rensin, author of The Mailroom: Hollywood History from the Bottom Up
"Anyone who's been around show business comes to realize that often the show behind the show is the most entertaining and intriguing. Steve Pond has taken full advantage of his unique, fly-on-the-wall perspective on the Oscars and the result is a compelling, insightful, and revealing look into the glamorous engine room of Hollywood's biggest night." --David Wild, author of The Showrunners: A Season Inside the Billion-Dollar, Death-Defying, Madcap World of Television's Real Stars
"The Big Show is better than the best seat in the house. Only one journalist has ever been given long-term complete access to the Oscar telecast, and the great news is that it's Steve Pond. A masterful writer, Pond gives you the wonderful feeling that you're along for the ride as his exclusive guest. He whisks readers backstage, behind the curtain, and into the inner sanctums, taking you through the laughably pretentious moments, the quiet sadnesses, and the humor, preparation, anxiety, glory, and aftermath of the biggest show around." --Cameron Crowe, Oscar-winning writer/director of Almost Famous and Jerry Maguire
"After nearly a decade of amazing access, Steve Pond tells all in a deeply dishy, always engaging look at What It Takes to put together everyone's favorite Hollywood extravaganza. Nobody can take you behind the scenes of Oscar night like Steve Pond, which is why The Big Show is a must-read for any Oscar fan . . . and any Oscar winner." --Chris Connelly, five-time Oscar pre-show host and red carpet fixture
"Anyone who's been around show business comes to realize that often the show behind the show is the most entertaining and intriguing. Steve Pond has taken full advantage of his unique, fly-on-the-wall perspective on the Oscars and the result is a compelling, insightful, and revealing look into the glamorous engine room of Hollywood's biggest night." --David Wild, author of The Showrunners: A Season Inside the Billion-Dollar, Death-Defying, Madcap World of Television's Real Stars
"The Big Show is better than the best seat in the house. Only one journalist has ever been given long-term complete access to the Oscar telecast, and the great news is that it's Steve Pond. A masterful writer, Pond gives you the wonderful feeling that you're along for the ride as his exclusive guest. He whisks readers backstage, behind the curtain, and into the inner sanctums, taking you through the laughably pretentious moments, the quiet sadnesses, and the humor, preparation, anxiety, glory, and aftermath of the biggest show around." --Cameron Crowe, Oscar-winning writer/director of Almost Famous and Jerry Maguire
"After nearly a decade of amazing access, Steve Pond tells all in a deeply dishy, always engaging look at What It Takes to put together everyone's favorite Hollywood extravaganza. Nobody can take you behind the scenes of Oscar night like Steve Pond, which is why The Big Show is a must-read for any Oscar fan . . . and any Oscar winner." --Chris Connelly, five-time Oscar pre-show host and red carpet fixture
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Most helpful customer reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Great book; not so great quality,
By Ian (Stony Plain, Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Big Show: High Times and Dirty Dealings Backstage at the Academy Awards (Hardcover)
I haven't finished it yet, but its a must for any Oscar lover! However, the book was a bit battered- likely had been on the shelf for sometime even though it is listed as new. Just don't expect perfection!
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.2 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews) 9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
For every fan of Oscar.,
By M J Heilbron Jr. "Dr. Mo" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Big Show: High Times and Dirty Dealings Backstage at the Academy Awards (Hardcover)
Steve Pond's "The Big Show" belongs on the bookshelf of everyone with any interest in the Academy Awards.I've read pretty much all the books on the Oscars, and this is one that really doesn't compare to any other. Most of what I was reading here I was hearing for the first time. This books complements every other account of the show, because this is the first book to actually tell the story about the show itself, not the movies or stars. Trust me when I say you have no idea how incredibly difficult it is to put this television show together. Unless, of course, you've been there. It's surprisingly well written; it's a easy fast read. It's gossipy, but pleasantly so, and often funnier than all get out. My favorite Oscar book is still "Inside Oscar" (the first one...as the second is a bit more vitriolic and less, oh, affectionate...) but THAT book and THIS book are the only ones I will read more than once. "Inside Oscar" gives us an account of the year in film, and then goes through the telecast, followed by events that happened in the weeks to months after the show. Here, you get that crucial few days right before the show, and then all the fascinating details surrounding what you actually saw on TV. They're a perfect fit. Each chapter is a year, covering the process of putting on the Oscar telecast: how are the seat-fillers handled; who makes those decisions for those horrible dance pieces; how much thought is put into set design (a lot, but not all the time...)...the stories behind the rehearsals I found to be the most interesting of all. This period covers the switch from the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion shows/Shrine shows to the Kodak Theater. Having a permanent "home" now seems like such an obvious idea, but it clearly wasn't. I discovered things about certain stars that surprised me. I will leave you to discover them, but suffice to say, there's a story involving Celine Dion which made me respect her in ways I would have never imagined (although her music still makes me itch). I loved the insight into each host...so many things are known about them, yet this book assumes that. It assumes that the reader already has a healthy knowledge about Hollywood and film, and gives you the stuff you probably don't know. THAT'S why I love this book! 4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Notebook,
By B. A Varkentine - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Big Show: High Times and Dirty Dealings Backstage at the Academy Awards (Hardcover)
Show biz buffs will enjoy the tidbits and quotes here from Oscar show vets like Marc Shaiman, who provided musical accompaniment for Billy Crystal's medleys before becoming a nominee himself.But this book is probably best enjoyed as a companion to the two Inside Oscar books (consulted, we learn here, by at least one Academy Awards producer in the last decade). Niether makes the others obsolete, but you get something from each that you don't get from the other. The experience of reading the Inside Oscar books is like getting good dish from one or two well-informed but bitchy friends as you sit and watch the televised Oscar ceremonies together. Something of an outsiders view, in other words, however compelling (and broader in scope). Because Steve Pond was granted "behind the curtain" access, The Big Show is more like a report from a relative insider, with a notebook open wide and ears open wider. Being relative, that insider's perspective only goes as far as it goes, however, and one suspects Pond was kept away from, or perhaps sworn to secrecy about, anything really juicy. But there's enough here for Academy Awards viewers to chew on during that boring musical number or endless commercial break. 6 of 8 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Inside the Skinny of the Big Show,
By James Hiller - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Big Show: High Times and Dirty Dealings Backstage at the Academy Awards (Hardcover)
Okay, are you interested at all in the Academy Awards? If you are, even a glimmer of interest, then this is absolutely the book for you. Steve Pond has a true gift; the ability to witness the inner workings of a fabulous show, and the ability to write about it in an entertaining, fast-paced way.Steve Pond was granted unprecedented access to the most recent Oscar shows, and reports many findings in The Big Show. He doesn't shy away from sharing his opinions about certain celebrities, and will name names when warranted. Nothing in his book is outright slanderous, most of it is fair reporting of the things that he observed. One thing that surprised me were the amount of Hollywood stars that were smokers. Pond also painstakingly reports about all of the behind the scene work that goes into the sometimes four-plus hour long production. From the producers endless job of overseeing the masses of people and masses of egos, to the director, who somehow needs to make this marathon visually entertaining, the people behind the scenes get their deserved credit. I shall never watch this show without a now deeper understanding of all of the hours, days, weeks, and months of work it takes to put those hours on my television screen. I highly recommend this book as an engaging, entertaining read. Here's hoping that Steve Pond finds himself at this year's Oscars, and we get another behind the scenes look at this amazing process. |
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