Rating: 
Summary: As Good as Moss Hart's
Review: and that is very high praise, since Hart's autobio is generally considered a stellar achievement. (I just loved it.)I had had "Rewrites" on my bookshelf for a number of years, and just somehow never got around to it. Finally, one snowy weekend last month, I took it off the shelf and started reading. I loved it from the get-go -- it's simply one of the best memoirs ever written, IMO. (I've read a lot of autobios/memoirs, especially in my younger years, so I write with some knowledge in this area.) I'll always remember that snowy weekend I spent "with Neil," and I'll also always remember how I ran to get the sequel, "The Play Goes On," on Monday. (That was also top-notch, but "Rewrites" was just a smidge better.) Don't miss "Rewrites." It's a winner, it's a keeper, it's pure reading delight!
Rating:
Summary: A life, from comedy to tragedy
Review: Born in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan, growing up poor, without a book in the house, and beset by the insecurities of his father's frequent unpredictable abandonments, Neil Simon went on to be America's most popular and prolific playwright, winner of numerous Tony Awards and other honors for his touching and hilarious comedies.
The first three quarters of his memoir "Rewrites," leaves readers with much the same warm feeling as his plays. While he never deprecates his own talent, Simon is generous in giving credit to others - producers, directors, actors, even critics.
He never lost his wide-eyed joy and amazement at success and shares with readers the often arduous paths of plays that evolved in rewrite after rewrite, some requiring frantic writing stints after opening night.
It was his older brother Danny (himself a successful Hollywood writer) who started him writing routines for comics as a teenager and who prophesied, " 'You're going to be the best comedy writer in America.' "
This support was complicated by sibling rivalry and the younger brother's struggle for autonomy, which Simon does not dwell on although it was clearly painful. But Danny was also an inspiration for some of his brother's most famous characters - from his first play (and first success) to Felix in "The Odd Couple," a play based on his newly divorced brother's roomate relationship with another newly divorced friend.
Many, if not all, of Simon's plays found their inspiration in family situations or incidents among friends. "The Star Spangled Girl" grew out of an argument at a party between Paddy Chayefsky and an astronaut's wife. Simon, a liberal himself, had difficulty doing justice to the conservative woman. "I found I disliked her politics so much, I made her disagreeable."
Unhappy with the play, he persisted, encouraged by his longtime producer "Saint" Subber. "When you write something you like, the pages fly by. When you know it's not good, each key on the typewriter weighs about ten pounds and you need to see a chiropractor every morning."
But the play was a hit. Afterwards, Simon got drunk at the cast party and later, "I threw up everything I had eaten since the first day I started writing "The Star Spangled Girl." Nothing connected to that play stayed in my mind or my body." He vowed to his wife Joan that he would never again stage a play he didn't like.
Simon's memoir revolves around his marriage as much as his work. Joan was a quirky, stalwart presence unimpressed by money or fame but wholly supportive. Her dislike of Los Angeles and glitz kept Simon grounded in reality and she fiercely guarded the integrity of family life.
Simon's description of their first apartment and Joan's efforts with it are funny, heartwarming and illuminating. No wonder it lead to his smash hit "Barefoot In the Park." Joan was also an inspiration for "Jake's Women," and her amazing reaction to Simon's momentary bout with mid-life crisis became the impetus for "The Last of the Red Hot Lovers."
The book is colorfully studded with anecdotes of the eccentric, even bizarre behavior of show business people - Mike Nichols, who directed several of Simon's plays but never stopped requiring ego massages, George C. Scott, who briefly walked out on "Plaza Suite" because he was afraid of jinxing its success, Maureen Stapleton, Simon's favorite actress.
Simon is an affectionate writer with scarcely a bad word to say about anyone. The worst behavior is transformed into amusing foibles or at least balanced by praise for more attractive traits. Yet Simon seems honest, about himself as well as others.
Along with Simon's talent for humourous story-telling and the fascinating behind-the-scenes exploration of play evolution, part of this book's charm is Simon's awareness of his luck, his joy in his family and his career. But all this comes to a crashing halt with his wife's illness and death at age 40 which ends the book.
The last 50 or so pages are dark, confused and desperate, such a drastic change in tone, it leaves the reader floundering. Simon obviously felt this was a natural place to conclude but many readers will wish he had gone on to show how he emerged from that bleak time, how he healed and went on to forge a renewed life for himself and his young daughters.
Rating: 
Summary: Honest and funny autobigraphy
Review: I enjoyed reading Neil Simon's account of his early successes as a writer. His story is one of a man who seems to have everything fall into place almost too easily until late in the book when personal tragedy strikes and he writes of his wife's illness and death.
As one would expect from such a prominent figure in the theater his book is filled with entertaining anecdotes regarding various actors and theater people. Simon comes across as a sincere and very regular guy who has the talent to take what he observes in himself and others and transform it into priceless comic material.
This is an enjoyable read for anyone who is even a casual fan of his work.
Rating: 
Summary: Only Plays and His Wife and Not His Early Life
Review: Neil Simon primarily writes about his plays, i.e. from his first play, "Come Blow Your Horn" from 1960 to "The Sunshine Boys" from 1973. For each play, he relates how quickly he wrote it (except for his first one which was almost impossible to get produced), showed it to his producer Saint Subber, worked with the director (who more often than not was Mike Nichols), hired the cast, went into out-of-town tryouts, had the opening in New York, and heard the critics' reviews while rewriting almost the entire time. He tells us little about his life before then. It's as if his life didn't begin until he started playwriting which he did primarily because he wanted to stay in New York and not move to the West Coast to continue writing for television. Unfortunately, he doesn't tell us anything about those days which included writing for Sid Caesar and Phil Silvers as Sgt. Bilko. He tells us a little about his poor and lonely childhood and talks quite a bit about his dad who wasn't home often and eventually left his mother. His brother Danny taught Neil to write but he says little about him. He mostly talks about his beloved wife Joan and ends the book with her death from cancer. Obviously, Neil Simon only writes about what was important to him, primarily his plays and his wife. I wish he would have written about the creative process of writing a play and what it was like writing comedy sketches at the resort Tamiment and for early television with Danny and how writing screenplays differ from writing plays. But I enjoyed the stories he did tell especially about the people some of his characters were based on, for instance, his brother Danny and his roommate Roy who inspired, "The Odd Couple."
Rating:
Summary: I'll Reread Rewrites
Review: Rewrites was a fabulous book by Neil Simmon about his life as a playwrite, a father and a husband. It is extremely entertaining and a very easy read. He uses a very fast paced writing style and a great deal of humor to describe the events of his life. Although he is a very public figure, he describes the events of his life in a way that everyone can relate and feel comfortable with.He tells things in a way which makes everyone think about their own life experiances and learn alot about themselves. I agree with Steve Martin when he said " It's funny and moving work. I cried till I laughed." I could not have said it better myself, and I think any one who reads "Rewrites" will have the same reaction.As some one who loves theater and Broadway, this was a great book and I enjoyed every minute of.
Rating:
Summary: rewrites reflection
Review: Simon starts out explaining how he started to write his first play. What led to the decision, where he lived, and with whom? He lives with his first wife, who he was deeply in love with. As he observes the people and events surrounding Come Blow Your Horn, he links childhood memories that influenced the story. Then he goes back to the present. Barefoot is based on the early years of his marriage, and from Barefoot he goes into the summers at Tamiment, where he and his brother Danny wrote special material, and where he and Joan first met.
It seems like it's not only a memoir of his theatre but also of his marriage. Joan is there and each time Simon returns to his theatrical career, she is always there.
By the last third of the book, Joan has takes over the story. The plays are discussed in less and less detail (the work process, it seems, remains pretty much the same--it is the marriage that grows and changes). And by the time you read about Joan being diagnosed with terminal cancer it was really shocking. The moment in which he is losing Joan is really moving. I started off hating this book, but as I read along I got more and more involved in it. If I had a choice of reading that book or another book, I would have chosen another book.
Rating:
Summary: The Creative Process of Becoming a Playwright
Review: The insights in this book about becoming a successful playwright make the book more than a five star work. I do not remember reading or hearing a better discussion of what comedy is and should be about. The book also has many beautiful insights into how to be and have a wonderful spouse. Those scenes from a marriage are often well worth restaging in your life. This book is a fascinating series of skits, sketches, and one liners masquerading as a memoir. Although Mr. Simon was (with difficulty) able to transcend his training as a gag and sketch writer to learn playwriting, he made little attempt to learn autobiography for this book. Instead, he fell back on his most natural way of communicating, the humorous story. That approach provides the reader with the unexpected bonus of many funny stories and good laughs. The time period covered is Mr. Simon's life from age 30 to 46, with occasional visits to his earlier years. You will never read or watch a Neil Simon play in the same way after reading this memoir. You will find yourself in closer touch with the bittersweet parts of these comedies as a result . . . and with your own innermost self. If you have seen or read Chapter Two, you already knew that Mr. Simon had lost his first wife to cancer at a young age. What I did not realize is what an overwhelmingly tragic event this was for him. The marriage had been a magnificent one for two people who were deeply devoted to and supportive of one another. In a sense, the comedy in this book is simply there to heighten your ability to appreciate the real subject, the tragic loss. The jokes are like the gravediggers' scene in Hamlet, to relieve the heaviness of the ultimate atmosphere. Mr. Simon is very candid in this memoir. He describes having his brother help him hire a lady who rented by the hour for his first sexual experience, having once asked his wife for his freedom (and then changing his mind 5 minutes later as she calmly went along), and a lot of very bad business decisions. He also describes the psychological problems that could plague him and others on Broadway. He also describes things using the "f" word a lot that offends many people. Perhaps the most revealing parts are the ways that he mines every memorable encounter in his life into a play. It is as though playwriting is his way to get control over his fear of life. As a writer, I was riveted by his detailed description of how he came to write Come Blow Your Horn as his first play, and to learn his craft through many painful rewrites. No one would ever have gone through what he did if you knew what was coming. Mr. Simon's very great dislike of Hollywood was a powerful spur into playwriting that drove him relentlessly. In the process, he brilliantly describes the insights that others shared with him, and that he learned. He became addicted to having people read the material aloud, so that he could hear their reactions. As soon as that occurred, he could ruthlessly edit and rewrite material -- even "forgetting" what he had written originally to write something better rather than trying to fix flawed approaches. Apparently, Mr. Simon's genius is that he rewrites much better than he writes. Interesting. After you finish enjoying this book and giving it a symbolic standing ovation, I suggest that you create a similar outline of your life as a memoir that focuses on your most formative period. How did you get where you are today (for better or worse)? What does that mean? How could someone (including you) learn from this experience? Mr. Simon had few regrets in his life. The deepest one was not telling his younger daughter, Nancy, that her mother was dying. What are you holding back now that you will regret someday?
Rating:
Summary: The Creative Process of Becoming a Playwright
Review: The insights in this book about becoming a successful playwright make the book more than a five star work. I do not remember reading or hearing a better discussion of what comedy is and should be about. The book also has many beautiful insights into how to be and have a wonderful spouse. Those scenes from a marriage are often well worth restaging in your life. This book is a fascinating series of skits, sketches, and one liners masquerading as a memoir. Although Mr. Simon was (with difficulty) able to transcend his training as a gag and sketch writer to learn playwriting, he made little attempt to learn autobiography for this book. Instead, he fell back on his most natural way of communicating, the humorous story. That approach provides the reader with the unexpected bonus of many funny stories and good laughs. The time period covered is Mr. Simon's life from age 30 to 46, with occasional visits to his earlier years. You will never read or watch a Neil Simon play in the same way after reading this memoir. You will find yourself in closer touch with the bittersweet parts of these comedies as a result . . . and with your own innermost self. If you have seen or read Chapter Two, you already knew that Mr. Simon had lost his first wife to cancer at a young age. What I did not realize is what an overwhelmingly tragic event this was for him. The marriage had been a magnificent one for two people who were deeply devoted to and supportive of one another. In a sense, the comedy in this book is simply there to heighten your ability to appreciate the real subject, the tragic loss. The jokes are like the gravediggers' scene in Hamlet, to relieve the heaviness of the ultimate atmosphere. Mr. Simon is very candid in this memoir. He describes having his brother help him hire a lady who rented by the hour for his first sexual experience, having once asked his wife for his freedom (and then changing his mind 5 minutes later as she calmly went along), and a lot of very bad business decisions. He also describes the psychological problems that could plague him and others on Broadway. He also describes things using the "f" word a lot that offends many people. Perhaps the most revealing parts are the ways that he mines every memorable encounter in his life into a play. It is as though playwriting is his way to get control over his fear of life. As a writer, I was riveted by his detailed description of how he came to write Come Blow Your Horn as his first play, and to learn his craft through many painful rewrites. No one would ever have gone through what he did if you knew what was coming. Mr. Simon's very great dislike of Hollywood was a powerful spur into playwriting that drove him relentlessly. In the process, he brilliantly describes the insights that others shared with him, and that he learned. He became addicted to having people read the material aloud, so that he could hear their reactions. As soon as that occurred, he could ruthlessly edit and rewrite material -- even "forgetting" what he had written originally to write something better rather than trying to fix flawed approaches. Apparently, Mr. Simon's genius is that he rewrites much better than he writes. Interesting. After you finish enjoying this book and giving it a symbolic standing ovation, I suggest that you create a similar outline of your life as a memoir that focuses on your most formative period. How did you get where you are today (for better or worse)? What does that mean? How could someone (including you) learn from this experience? Mr. Simon had few regrets in his life. The deepest one was not telling his younger daughter, Nancy, that her mother was dying. What are you holding back now that you will regret someday?
Rating:
Summary: A "must read" for playwrights
Review: This book is more than the interesting story of the first part of Neil Simon's life. It's also a very practical guide to being a playwright. Simon discusses creating his first success, "Come Blow Your Horn." He had eighteen rewrites before he showed it to anybody but his wife! He also discusses the lucky breaks he got when the play first opened. But the real meat of the book for the working playwright is the play writing tips he sprinkles throughout the book. "If somebody leaves the room, where does he go?" "Character is the foundation of the play." "An audience won't believe what you don't believe." "We need to see a character change, not just know that he's changed." "Adversaries need to be equal." Be alert as you read--Simon usually drops these gems in a discussion of problems he had working on a specific script. Face it, if you pay attention, there's a lot you can learn from the most successful playwright since Shakespeare.
Rating:
Summary: Dull, but....................
Review: This book is the memoir of playwright Neil Simon. It is his own story as told by him through his own shade of humor. He recounts his playwriting career and his life story with all its frustrations and joys.
Yet, I did not enjoy the book as much as I would have liked to. I love theatre and I am interested in writing my own plays. So, it seemed perfect when a book like this came up as an option to be read for my 10th grade class.
Then, I began to read. My initial reaction was this is boring. The writing was not funny, and I simply wasn't interested. I believe my lack of interest grew from my lack of knowledge. I knew nothing about Neil Simon. I had never read any of his plays, seen any of his television work, in fact I didn't even know who he was until I picked up this book. Reading becomes very difficult when you can't paint pictures of people in your mind or understand the concepts. That is what happened to me. Neil Simon began writing about Sid Caesar Bob Fosse, Gwen Verdon; I didn't know any of these people. He wrote about Come Blow Your Horn, The Odd Couple, or Goodbye Girl, plays I had never read. I became lost and frustrated and I just didn't want to read anymore.
Further on I found the most entertaining part of the book was when Neil spoke about his personal life. Here, I didn't have to know any background information. I could just read find out a little about who he was. I agree with some of the other reviews of this book, that Neil Simon gives a great perspective of a good marriage. Him and his wife (Joan) seem very connected in that he lets her read his plays first before he sends them to anyone else. This is a symbol of their trust which, I believe is an essential part of a healthy relationship.
Joan is my favorite person in the book. She seems sensible but free spirited. She is someone I would have liked to meet. I love the life style she leads with her husband. It is very carefree. Their life is a lot like mine in that they move a round a lot.
The only play I liked, that he wrote about was Barefoot In the Park. I liked it because it is a play about his wife. I understood better the concept of that play, because I had understood the relationship he had with his wife. Simon helps readers identify with his experiences through his candid and humorous voice. Though, throughout most of the book I was not humored, his telling of writing Barefoot in the Park was easier to relate to. The reason for this was because I could relate to his life with Joan, which made the play understandable.
I think that if I went and read a few of plays and saw some of the TV shows he has written, I would enjoy Neil's memoir more. It would probably be a more profound experience that way. So, I urge anyone who is familiar with or enjoys Neil Simon's work to read this book. It's a good source for background information on how he came to write his plays. Don't let my review turn you away from what might be a rewarding experience for you!
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