He was the theater’s most revered and influential composer-lyricist of the last half of the 20th century and the driving force behind some of Broadway’s most beloved and celebrated shows.
Many writers struggle to discern the beginning of a story. For novelist Leslie D. Epstein’s latest project, this challenge takes on added significance. Though much of his work has dealt extensively with the tribulations of history, Epstein’s newest story takes that exploration to another level. In his novel “Hill of Beans: A Novel of War and Celluloid,” Epstein is not merely examining a national history he is also examining his very own. “I think I’ve been working on this for ten years and in some ways, all my life,” he says.
“Hill of Beans” weaves multiple voices many of which are those of historical figures including Stalin, Hitler, and former Warner Bros. Vice President Jack L. Warner to craft a nuanced portrayal of Hollywood’s movers and shakers on the eve of World War II. Epstein calls the novel a “combination of dual themes” that run through his literary body World War II and the Holocaust, and Hollywood.
The climactic scene from the 1942 Oscar-winning film
Casablanca: Conrad Veidt (from left) Claude Rains, Paul Henreid, Humphrey Bogart, and Ingrid Bergman. Photo by FilmPublicityArchive/United Archives via Getty Images Books
BU prof, whose father and uncle wrote the Oscar-winning
Casablanca, takes a fictional look behind the scenes
March 1, 2021 Twitter Facebook
Leslie Epstein’s new novel is a behind-the-scenes Hollywood comedy involving his father and uncle, real-life Hollywood screenwriters. It’s also a scathing look at 1940s global realpolitik, from the terrible machinations inside Hitler’s Third Reich to scenes of FDR, Churchill, and Stalin mixing wisecracks and threats in summits and screenings alike.
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