50th Anniversary Celebration!
A CONVERSATION WITH MICHAEL SCHULMAN
Thursday, August 3 at 7:30 PM
Author of Oscar Wars: A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears
Hosted by Sandee Brawarsky
Event only: Members $20 / Public: $25
Event & Book: Members $42 / Public $47
Join NY Times best-selling author, and frequent New Yorker contributor,
Michael Schulman for a lively conversation about the Academy Awards, focusing
on the brutal battles, the starry rivalries, and the colorful behind-the-scenes
drama.
In Oscar Wars, Michael Schulman chronicles the remarkable,
sprawling history of the Academy Awards and the personal dramas—some iconic,
others never-before-revealed—that have played out on the stage and off camera.
Unlike other books on the subject, each chapter takes a deep dive into a
particular year, conflict, or even category that tells a larger story of
cultural change, from Louis B. Mayer to Moonlight. Schulman examines how the
red carpet runs through contested turf, and the victors aren't always as clear
as the names drawn from envelopes. Caught in the crossfire are people: their
thwarted ambitions, their artistic epiphanies, their messy collaborations,
their dreams fulfilled or dashed.
America does not have royalty. It has the Academy Awards. For nine
decades, perfectly coiffed starlets, debonair leading men, and producers with
gold in their eyes have chased the elusive Oscar. What began as an industry
banquet in 1929 has now exploded into a hallowed ceremony, complete with red
carpets, envelopes, and little gold men. But don’t be fooled by the pomp: the
Oscars, more than anything, are a battlefield, where the history of
Hollywood—and of America itself—unfolds in dramas large and small. The road to
the Oscars may be golden, but it’s paved in blood, sweat, and broken hearts.
The author of the New York Times bestseller Her Again: Becoming Meryl
Streep returns with an entertaining and insightful history of the Oscars.
Featuring a star-studded cast of some of the most powerful Hollywood players of
today and yesterday, as well as outsiders who stormed the palace gates, this
captivating history is a collection of revelatory tales, each representing a
turning point for the Academy, for the movies, or for the culture at large.
Sandee Brawarsky is an award-winning journalist, editor and author.
For many years, she was the culture editor of The New York Jewish Week.