About
the Book:
Adaptations is an Eclectic Collection of Fiction That
Inspired Film
Memento, All
About Eve, Rear Window, Rashomon, and 2001: A
Space Odyssey are all well-known and much-loved movies, but what
is perhaps a lesser-known fact is that all of them began their lives
as short stories. Adaptations:
From Short Story to Big
Screen gathers
together 35 pieces that have been the basis for films, many from
giants of American literature (Hemingway, Fitzgerald) and many that
have not been in print for decades (the stories that inspired
Bringing Up Baby, Meet John Doe, and All About Eve).
Categorized by genre, and featuring movies by master directors
such as Steven Spielberg, Stanley Kubrick, Robert Altman, Frank
Capra, and John Ford, as well as relative newcomers such as Chris
Eyre and Christopher Nolan, Adaptations
offers insight into the process of turning a short story into a
screenplay, one that, when successful, doesn't take drastic liberties
with the text upon which it is based, but doesn't mirror its source
material too closely either. The stories and movies featured in
Adaptations include:
• Philip K. Dick's "The Minority Report," which
became the 2002 blockbuster directed by Steven Spielberg and starring
Tom Cruise
• "The Harvey Pekar Name Story" by reclusive graphic
artist Harvey Pekar, whose life was the inspiration for American
Splendor, winner of the 2003 Sundance Grand Jury Prize
• Hagar Wilde's "Bringing Up Baby," the basis of the
classic film Bringing Up Baby, anthologized here for the first
time ever
• "The Swimmer" by John Cheever, an example of a
highly regarded story that many feared might prove unadaptable
• The predecessor to the beloved holiday classic A
Christmas Story, "Red Ryder Nails the Hammond Kid" by
Jean Shepherd
Whether you're a fiction reader or a film buff, Adaptations
is your behind-the-scenes look at the sometimes difficult, sometimes
brilliantly successful process from the printed page to the big
screen.
What people say:
"Avid
readers and film buffs alike will relish Harrison's thought-provoking
opus about the process of adapting short stories into screenplays.
From science fiction to social satire, this captivating collection of
35 tales embraces literary greats like Chekhov and Cheever and
memorable writings long out of print (such as Frank Rooney's
"Cyclists' Raid" which became the 1953 Brando classic The
Wild One). Harrison devotes a chapter to every imaginable genre,
prefacing each with quotes and anecdotes from writers, directors and
actors associated with the creative endeavors selected. ...Steven
Spielberg, Frank Capra, Alfred Hitchcock and John Ford are among the
cast of cinematic personalities in this tribute to the inspiration
and perspiration required to turn fiction into film."
— Booklist
"...
and that her anthology includes Philip K. Dick, Harvey Pekar and
Anton Chekhov demonstrates Harrison's good, not to mention
wide-ranging, taste." —
Premiere
"It's
that rare book that isn't just welcome in the world but one that's
long been needed." —
Buffalo News
"Stephanie Harrison
has smartly made a kind of double book. Adaptations
can be read as a fascinating anthology of the short story as a form,
not simply the "best" literary or memorable popular pieces
but an eclectic nature walk through short stories in all their
varieties. But for TCM viewers more interesting is the other book,
the one about how these stories became films and what occurs along
those paths, something Harrison covers nicely in the introductions to
each grouped section." — TurnerClassicMovies.com
Prelude to a Kiss
About the Author:
Stephanie Harrison teaches in
the state university system of Florida.