The Season: A Candid Look at Broadway

by William Goldman

Book Overview

Playwright/novelist/screenwriter Goldman analyzes Broadway from the perspective of the audiences, playwrights, critics, producers and actors. "Very nearly perfect... It is a loose-limbed, gossipy, insider, savvy, nuts-and-bolts report on the annual search for the winning numbers that is now big-time American commercial theatre." -Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, The New York Times

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0151799237
• ISBN13: 9780151799237
• Release Date: January 1969
• Publisher: Harcourt Brace & World
• Length: 432 Pages
• Weight: 2.05 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Thorough Candor

This is an extraordinary book. It is written by an author with a first class mind and genuine curiosity about his subject. Whilst one may not agree with all of it, the writing is a delight and he does not shirk dealing with controversial issues such as the influence of homosexuality on the stage and the corrupt financial practices in relation to theatre tickets, etc. Even though it was written for the 1967-1968 season, it still resonates and viewed in retrospect, it provides crucial evidence relative to the aetiology of the culture wars.

A shattering--yet thoroughly essential--look at Broadway.

William Goldman's groundbreaking book The Season is all it's cracked up to be and more. Though a number of the people he deals with are no longer with us, many of the shows have been forgotten, and the ticket prices are quite a bit higher, it's astonishing how much the Broadway of the late 1960s resembles the Broadway of today. The same problems, the same headaches, the same disappointments, and the same triumphs are all still a part of the Great White Way. No Broadway enthusiast should be without this book; The Season is a stunning history--and current events--lesson on Broadway theatre.

Funny, honest and tragic...

Having lived in New York for so long it's scary how accurate "The Season" is, although written over 30 years ago. Broadway has become a tourist trap with very little to offer serious theatergoers anymore except spectacle shows.Each chapter in this book shows how Broadway was crippled with each passing season...and it makes sense that this is what it's come to.But the book is very funny (especially the chapter on critics where he launches an all-out assault on then-New York Times reporter Clive Barnes) and explains everything you'll ever need to know about how plays and musicals are put together.Oh, yes: there's plenty of dirt, gossip, anecdotes and name-dropping...Neil Simon, Carl Reiner, Tennessee Williams, David Merrick and NBC Reporter Edwin Newman drop in for cameos.

The Best Book on the Theater Ever Written

I read this book when it came out and it is, without a doubt, the best, most complete and sometimes hilarious book on the theater you will ever read. Can't wait to read "What Lie Did I Tell"

A fabulous read.

Though this was written about a Broadway season back in the mid-'60s, Goldman's lively, opinionated writing makes this as fresh as ever. You may not agree with all of his conclusions, but he backs everything up with compelling facts and anecdotes. A great piece of journalism and one of the best books I've read all year.