about a book

jaclynday:

What I’ve Read: Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and the Dawn of the Modern Woman by Sam Wasson

I remember the first time I re-watched Breakfast at Tiffany’s as youngster and finally realized, “OH. She’s a hooker.” From the screenplay to the casting to the ducking Hollywood censors for the sake of the story about a high-class call girl, this book provides some really interesting behind-the-scenes tidbits.

The book is broken down into short, 3-4 paragraph categories (i.e., “THE DRESS”) which I think was a genius way of organizing all the information Wasson amassed about the film. It makes for a quick, satisfying read, especially if you have seen the movie. If you haven’t seen the movie, this provides the perfect excuse to watch it. Ideally, you’d watch it once, read this book, then rewatch it. I attend to sit down for another viewing as soon as possible now after finishing the book. I want to see it while the behind-the-scenes details are still fresh in my mind!

The one thing I think Wasson slipped on was his insistence on providing some watershed moment to the entire thing and putting out a feminist, sex-in-films thesis (“dawn of the modern woman”) that he tried to circle back to every now and then. Unfortunately, he didn’t write a book that successfully or thoroughly proved his thesis. Instead of trying to mesh the entertainment portion with his theory, he should have chosen one route or another…or lengthened the book and discussed his theories in the context of other events happening in popular culture at the time.

Have you read this book? What did you think?