I enjoyed this book and even though our lives have been and are very different, I related to Mike Nichols so much. Mark Harris is a great writer. This is the third book of his I’ve read (the first being Pictures At A Revolution, about the 1967 Oscar best picture nominees; and Five Came Back, which follows the cadre of directors who joined the armed forces during WWII). I hope there are many more where this came from.
It’s instructive to note that as Nichols’ career went on, he would have a success only to then not follow the same work process that led to that success, which resulted in what he considered failures. There’s always a “good” reason (money, pride, ego, owning too many Arabian racehorses, smoking crack, studio silliness, etc), but it boggles the mind why these rich people let that stop them. Reminds me much of Coppola in that regard. For example, if rehearsals for two or three weeks prior to shooting has helped you make classics, maybe keep doing it? Or if working with smaller budgets has resulted in genius and acclaim, maybe don’t stop? Also, don’t do drugs.
I dog-eared probably every other page to come back to and study, so that says something about the value of this book. The most important lesson I gleaned though, is just to start. The amazing thing is that all of Mike Nichols' success came from trying one thing after another. I don’t think anyone who saw Nichols and May in 1960 would have thought, “That guy is going to win a best director Oscar.” But he did. And if he hadn’t figured out (by trying other stuff such as attempting to be a method actor under Strasburg in New York) that he was best with Elaine May next to him, doing improv until they got it perfect, he couldn’t have gone on to win Tonys, an Oscar, Emmy awards, and a Grammy. As I type this out, I realize that the book covers all those wins, but never uses the term EGOT. That’s just classy.
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