Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The last tycoon, London : Penguin, 2010.

One of the 20th century's greatest unfinished novels, The Last Tycoon, is heartbreaking in its unrealised potential.  The book presents a portrait of Hollywood studio czar Monroe Stahr and is based on Fitzgerald's experience of working as a screenwriter for producer Irving Thalberg at MGM, the premier Hollywood studio.  The esteemed critic and editor, Edmund Wilson writes in the Foreword, "Scott Fitzgerald died suddenly of a heart attack (21 December 1940) the day after he had written the first episode of Chapter 6 of his novel."

What Wilson did publish is roughly a third of the novel, which Fitzgerald had revised to certain extent, before his untimely death.  Aside from its elegant prose style, the book's appeal lies in the nascent romance between Stahr and the young screenwriter Kathleen. The glamour of Hollywood is given its due, as well as an  insider's "take" of the movie industry; and the machinations peculiar to a studio conglomerate.

Eventually, The Last Tycoon was adapted for the movies, in 1973 with Robert de Niro as Stahr, amongst an illustrious cast.  However, the film proved to be a box-office flop.  

VIDEO: the glamour of Hollywood at night

Tolkin, Michael. The player, New York : Atlantic Monthly, 1988.

This satiric novel is essentially an exploration into a man's skewered psyche.  Along the way author Michael Tolkin enjoys taking Hollywood apart...folly by folly.  A portrait of Tinseltown emerges and one that is very dark.  Griffin Mills, a top studio executive - a player indeed - finds himself stalked by a disgruntled screenwriter and is soon caught in a web that results in murder.

The noir aspect of The Player is defined by interior monologues, a staple of Hollywood B-movies.  But this book is all class with an intriguing plot and well drawn characters. 

As so often happens, Tolkin was invited to adapt The Player for the screen.  Robert Altman directed and a who's-who's cast of stars ensured a world-wide hit in 1992.

Tolkin continues to write.  A sequel, Return of the Player, was published in 2006.  It has yet to be filmed.

Schulberg, Budd. What makes Sammy run?, New York : Random House, 1952.

This novel written in 1941 is generally considered to be the Novel about Hollywood, and by extension Los Angeles.  After all Hollywood is a factory town and its product...cinema and television.

Schulberg was born into the movie business.  His father was a film producer.  It has been suggested that the Sammy of the novel (Sammy Glick) is a portrait of Schulberg's father.  Either way, there is a deeply felt tone to the writing of this very serious novel. 

The reason for its enduring fame rests on gripping story elements and a no-holds approach to revealing the pitfalls of the studio system.  The book has had a number of television adaptations, and was turned into a musical.

VIDEO: Bette Davis refers to the the best book ever written about Hollywood...amongst other things..

Isherwood, Christopher. Bucknell, Katherine (ed.) Liberation Dairies volume three: 1970 - 1983, London : Chatto and Windus, 2012.

The final instalment in the trilogy that is the Isherwood dairies.

The three volumes in toto add up to roughly 2,500 pages. 

The triumph of these fascinating memoirs, aside from their emotional honesty, wit and historical interest, lies as much with Katherine Bucknell - as with the author himself.  For Bucknell proves to be an empathetic editor as well as a painstaking one.  Her introductions to each volume are a joy to read.

We follow Isherwood through the years, and become intimate eavesdroppers into his life as a screenwriter.  We are also witness to his enduring relationship with Don Bachardy and his many Hollywood friends.  Isherwood realised that the Diaries would be published after his death.  Indeed they do tell-all.  Yet some identities remain censored, thirty years on. 

VIDEO: Christoper and Don (trailer)

Lambert, Gavin. The slide area: scenes of a Hollywood life, London : Serpent's Tail, 1997.

Gavin Lambert was ideally placed to delve into Hollywood's less public face, for he was a major force in the "dream factory",as a screen writer.  In his later years, Lambert moved into non-fiction and produced biographies such as Oh Cukor (a study of film director George Cukor) and film stars Norma Shearer and Natalie wood

He also wrote fiction - producing seven novels. The first of which was The Slide Area: Scenes of a Hollywood Life (1959), in fact more a collection of episodes than a novel.  It comprises 20 scenes of contemporary Los Angeles life in all manner of locations.  It is indeed a road map to fiction!

Lambert is unafraid of delving into the seedy side and his cast of characters feature the rejects of Hollywood, those who are in some way casualties of the fame game - or just life in general.  This work will to film students who seek inspiration in different forms of story-telling.  The language used is frank, original and often very funny.