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My Movie Business: A Memoir

john irving

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John Irving's memoir begins with his account of the distinguished career and medical writings of the novelist's grandfather Dr. Frederick C. Irving, a renowned obstetrician and gynecologist, and includes Mr. Irving's incisive history of abortion politics in the United States. But My Movie Business focuses primarily on the thirteen years John Irving spent adapting his novel The Cider House Rules for the screen--for four different directors.

Mr. Irving also writes about the failed effort to make his first novel, Setting Free the Bears, into a movie; about two of the films that were made from his novels (but not from his screenplays), The World According to Garp and The Hotel New Hampshire; about his slow progress at shepherding his screenplay of A Son of the Circus into production.

Not least, and in addition to its qualities as a memoir--anecdotal, comic, affectionate, and candid--My Movie Business is an insightful essay on the essential differences between writing a novel and writing a screenplay.

The photographs in My Movie Business were taken by Stephen Vaughan, the still photographer on the set of The Cider House Rules--a Miramax production directed by Lasse Hallström, with Michael Caine in the role of Dr. Larch. Concurrently with the November 1999 release of the film, Talk Miramax Books will publish John Irving's screenplay.

222 pages, Paperback

First published January 1,1999

This edition

Format
222 pages, Paperback
Published
October 10, 2000 by Random House Publishing Group
ISBN
9780345441300
ASIN
0345441303
Language
English

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About the author

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john irving

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JOHN IRVING was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, in 1942. His first novel, Setting Free the Bears, was published in 1968, when he was twenty-six. He competed as a wrestler for twenty years, and coached wrestling until he was forty-seven.
Mr. Irving has been nominated for a National Book Award three times—winning once, in 1980, for his novel The World According to Garp. He received an O. Henry Award in 1981 for his short story “Interior Space.” In 2000, Mr. Irving won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Cider House Rules. In 2013, he won a Lambda Literary Award for his novel In One Person.
An international writer—his novels have been translated into more than thirty-five languages—John Irving lives in Toronto. His all-time best-selling novel, in every language, is A Prayer for Owen Meany.
Avenue of Mysteries is his fourteenth novel.

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Community Reviews

Rating(4.1 / 5.0, 80 votes)
5 stars
31(39%)
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23(29%)
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26(33%)
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80 reviews All reviews
Profile Image for Kimberly .
Recrement
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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Only for John Irving fans, and if you want a longer more in depth history read "Trying to save Piggy Sneed". This is mostly about adapting The Cider House Rules for film. I have loved the book since I first read it in High School, so much so I was terrified to watch the movie, lest it destroy my mental vision of the book. However it did force me to dig the paperback out of the basement and re-read it since its not available on the Kindle. (Neither was Owen Meany which I felt compelled to read after that!)
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Damebozo
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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I admit I am a fan of John Irving. His early fiction especially. I have mixed feelings about some of his later work, but I cannot help but personally admire his discipline and strength. This non-fiction book proves he earned his Oscar with sweat. I wish him health and many more years.
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Dustyacer
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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This is a biograpy of sorts. It focuses a lot on his wrestling time in high school and college and the people he met and worked with along the way. Not a full biography by any means but an intimate look into johns earlier history.
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PlasmaticAspect
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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This really should be called "The Making of Cider House Rules." While Irving does discuss Garp and Hotel New Hampshire a little bit, you can tell that Cider House was top of mind when he was writing this. (The simplest explanation being that Cider House was his most recent movie effort at the time.) Because this was a toilet book for me, I heartily enjoyed it -- the chapters are small and easily consumable in a single bathroom session, and Irving's blunt, sentimental language shines through in this memoir. However, as a solid, full-attention, straight-through-read, this book is simply not enough. It is really more of a series of quick conversations with Irving, as opposed to a well thought out narrative. So, as long as you approach it as such, this book can augment your knowledge of Irving and his movies, but only as an add-on to your other experiences with his writing. And, if you don't know Irving very well, do not start here.
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Impacted8
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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3 STARS

"'WHEN I FEEL LIKE BEING A DIRECTOR, I WRITE A NOVEL' John Irving

John Irving's memoir begins with his account of the distinguished career and medical writings of the novelist's grandfather Dr Frederick C. Irving, a renowned obstetrician and gynaecologist, and includes Mr Irving's incisive history of abortion politics in the United States. But My Movie Business focuses primarily on the thirteen years John Irving spent adapting his novel The Cider House Rules for the screen - for four different directors. The movie was nominated for seven Oscars, winning two - for Best Adapted Screenplay for John Irving and Best Supporting Actor for Michael Caine.

Mr Irving also writes about the failed effort to make his first novel, Setting Free the Bears, into a movie; about two of the films that were made from his novels (but not from his screenplays), The World According to Garp and The Hotel New Hampshire; about his slow progress at shepherding his screenplay of A Son of the Circus into production.

Not least, and in addition to its qualities as a memoir - anecdotal, comic, affectionate and candid - My Movie Business is an insightful essay on the essential differences between writing a novel and writing a screenplay." (From Amazon)

I enjoyed this memoir on Irving's books being adapted to film. If you read his books and watch his films I would recommend this book.
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Profile Image for Kimberly .
emprizzko
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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Admittedly, it was a pretty dumb idea to read this without having read any of John Irving's other books. Oh well.
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flottings
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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Being a John Irving fan, this book was a must read.

I have read every book he has written. To me every one of his books has a certain je nais sais pas that makes it a special reading experience.

Perhaps it is the recurrent setting in Vienna? Well, that and so much more.

In this book he writes of his collaboration with producers and directors to bring "Cider House Rules" to the big screen. Often times frustrating and humorous, it clearly shows the difference between the written word meant to be read and the written word meant to be spoken and filmed. It clearly demonstrates why some books should never be made into a movie while some lend themselves to an easy translation to the screen.

A great and informative read with quite a bit of explication about his inner thoughts on several of his books, with emphasis on Cider House Rules.

I finally found out why he sets many of his books in Vienna: he attended college there. Aha!
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Tixx7
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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John Irving is my favorite author and I had been waiting to read this book. Unfortunately, because it's been several years since I've read most of his novels, many of the references he makes in this memoir were distant memories for me. The memoir focuses on the writing of Cider House Rules and the subsequent making of the movie. I would strongly discourage anyone from reading this book who has NOT yet read Cider House Rules as there are spoilers. I haven't seen the movie, and I wished I had, although I think if I see it now, it will be with greater appreciation for the creative choices made. This book made me want to return to Irving's oevre and reread many of his books expecially Cider House Rules, but also Son of the Circus and Widow for One Year, also referenced in this memoir. My favorite parts of this book were Irving's discussion of his grandfather, a well-regarded ob/gyn, and his grandfather's writings and Irving's introjections of his personal beliefs about women's reproductive health, which totally align with my own. Finally, Irving clarified that he does not "foreshadow" (which I've said is one of my favorite aspects of his literary style) but rather "flashforwards." Mr. Irving, I apologize for my incorrect description of your literary style and humbly sit, book in hand, corrected. Although I wish I had read this book when I was more well-immersed in Irving's oevre, I am not sorry I read it as it gave a glimpse into the man behind my most beloved books and confirmed my suspicion that I would enjoy his company - if I didn't think I would be so totally in awe that I would remain absolutely silent throughout our meeting. Finally, I appreciate this memoir for the very reason that it DOES make me want to return and reread many of my favorite books. If there's anything I love more than being in the middle of a good long book, it's returning to a beloved book and becoming reacquainted with long lost friends. And now I have the perfect excuse to do so and I will be able to to so with fresh insight into the creation of these delightful novels.
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