Four Seasons of Success: Personal Remini

by Budd Schulberg

Stories of twentieth-century American literary giants, by the man who was their friend, peer, and confidantWhen he was introduced to F. Scott Fitzgerald as a potential partner on a screenplay, novelist and scriptwriter Budd Schulberg was surprised the author was still alive. In Schulberg's view, the pressures of success and the public's merciless judgment had destroyed Fitzgerald's talent early in his career--a situation that is arguably typical for many of America's great literary geniuses. In Writers in America , Schulberg shares memories and insights from his relationships with authors such as Fitzgerald, John Steinbeck, Nathaneal West, and Sinclair Lewis, as well as brilliant writers who never attained the success and recognition they deserved, such as Thomas Heggen. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Budd Schulberg including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the author's estate.

Genres: Writing

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

Budd Schulberg (1914–2009) was a screenwriter, novelist, and journalist who is best remembered for the classic novels What Makes Sammy Run?, The Harder They Fall, and the story On the Waterfront, which he adapted as a novel, play, and an Academy Award–winning film script. Born in New York City, Schulberg grew up in Hollywood, where his father, B. P. Schulberg, was head of production at Paramount, among other studios. Throughout his career, Schulberg worked as a journalist and essayist, often writing about boxing, a lifelong passion. Many of his writings on the sport are collected in Sparring with Hemingway (1995). Other highlights from Schulberg’s nonfiction career include Moving Pictures (1981), an account of his upbringing in Hollywood, and Writers in America (1973), a glimpse of some of the famous novelists he met early in his career. He died in 2009.

Reviews

[M.R. Dowsing · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book features Schulberg's personal reminiscences of six American authors and their varying experiences with success and failure. The authors in question are Sinclair Lewis, William Saroyan, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Nathanael West, Thomas Heggen and John Steinbeck. As one would expect from Schulberg, it's an insightful and entertaining read - he couldn't write a boring sentence if he tried! Anyone who has read the same author's The Disenchanted (based on his experiences with F. Scott Fitzgerald) and is curious to know how much of it was true will find some answers here.

I'd never heard of Heggen before, but it turns out that he was the author of one book, Mister Roberts, which was a smash hit. I saw the film some years ago and now want to read the book. In fact, the trouble with this kind of book is it makes you want to read lots of other books. I already re-read West's Miss Lonelyhearts straight after finishing this.

Any lover of twentieth-century American literature will love this book.

[Elizabeth D Shields · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic essays about fantastic writers

Budd Schulberg is a writer with such a distinctive voice that his writing voice & style are uniquely recognizable. I read this book straight through, starting yesterday & finishing the following evening. Schulberg seats us at the table, along with his friends and allows us to be a part the many highs and lows, soaring successes & personal tragedies. This book illustrates in perfect detail why, in America, nothing fails like success , and nothing succeeds like failure. The concept is one that would seem to be a very difficult underpinning for an entire book, and yet it flows beautifully, from one chapter to the next. The body of work achieved by Schulberg's writing contributions deserves to be celebrated, as he has celebrated the works of his fellow novelists. Unfortunately, time has moved on & away from those mid century writers that so many of us grew up on. Yet the stories in their novels are still completely relevant & captivating. As Schulberg repeatedly points out, many authors become "overnight" successes after years of toiling writing mines. And not infrequently their novels become hugely successful after their deaths. He writes poignantly about this sad fact & pays them belated tributes to those writeds, in their absence.
With this love letter, to all who try & fail, Schulberg reminds us that all we have to do each day is try. Thinking too much about being labeled a "Success" or "Failure" is a limiting & potentially dangerous way to look at ours or anybody's work or life.
That kind of all or nothing viewpoint in our American creative culture has left many great artists to languish in the past, when they could be re-released to new audiences.
These authors who came before us had good stories to tell. We do ourselves a favor when we revisit their worlds.