Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: The First Novel By Quentin Tarantino

I'm not a fan of Quentin Tarantino in the traditional sense. I've never seen a Quentin Tarantino movie. But I like the guy and I was intrigued by the project: a novelization of a movie delivered in packaging consistent with the era. Publishing a book as a cheap trade paperback was genius and Harper Collins should be commended for going along with Tarantino's inspiration. It works. The book is a good read with several parallel (ultimately intersecting) storylines that arrive at what I can only assume is essentially the beginning of the movie. And, with some knowledge of history, the reader knows what happens after The Last Chapter. Tarantino adeptly weaves history and story together in a way that leaves you wondering on every page, "did that really happen?" You are definitely going to ask, "Is that how the military teaches people to kill other people in hand to hand combat?" and "Was Bruce Lee really like that?" The reader learns insider lingo and gets on-set access to spaces and places, personalities and moments in history known only to the most insider of Hollywood insiders. It's probably good that most of the people featured in the book are dead. I suspect they'd have some things to say about how they are portrayed. Tarantino grants some VERY personal nods in this novel - to his step dad, to the guy who gave him his first dog, and to the fact that The Fourteen Fists of McCluskey (aka Hell River 1974) was his favorite movie when he was very young. There's a personal storyline running through the novel for the author. The Hollywood featured in the novel is Tarantino's Hollywood, the Hollywood of intersecting lives and disposable people. And if the author can be known by the world he creates on the page, reading this gives you a view into the mind of Quentin Tarantino you would not otherwise have. I think I understand why all his movies are shot from one camera: it's literally the way HE sees the story. His admiration of Roman Polansky is clear (230-231) and any question about why Tarantino bought The New Beverly is answered (217) as are a million other questions you would have asked about Hollywood if you'd known to ask them. Three criticisms: the break in the narrative from pages 110-116 might have been handled differently; the backstory of Pussycat is unnecessarily repeated; and Jesus never wrote poetry (163). I saw one typo on page 151 should end with "they call that acting." Also, if you have ANY sensitivity to language, this book is NOT for you. If you have sensitivity to derogatory descriptive language of people (women, gay men, people from Japan, etc), sex, parts of the male and female anatomy...this book is NOT for you. I suspect that only Quentin Tarantino could get away with saying many of the things said in this book. That said, ethical questions are raised in the subtext of this novel on nearly every page. The character and story development are masterful and the book leaves you wanting to know more about what happens next. Which is exactly what a 1978 novelization of a movie is designed to deliver.

This is not a novelization of Tarantino's film Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. There are scenes from the movie depicted here, greatly expanded with much more background material about the characters, their thoughts, and in some cases what happened as a result of those scenes (sometimes years later). But there are also many scenes that weren't in the movie, and some key scenes from the movie are treated as unimportant side scenes here. The book roughly follows the movie's structure, but with a few major changes. The result is a completely different experience, but an enjoyable and entertaining one. Essentially, this is Tarantino writing down and fictionalizing the many stories he's heard about 1960s Hollywood from people like David Carradine, Kurt Russell, Robert Forester and others. (He acknowledges this on the dedication page.) There's a lot about how Hollywood worked in the 1960s in terms of how actors were cast, how stuntmen were treated, and so on. It's a fascinating look at a world long gone by, with references to actors, places, radio stations, TV shows and more that will mean little to someone not steeped in Hollywood history, but he still makes it interesting. He has his fictional characters interact with real people (Sharon Tate, Roman Polanski, Charles Manson), which gives him license to take us into the minds of those people. It's a bit of a tightrope walk, but he pulls it off, I think. He also goes off on tangents, telling stories about real people (like the actor Aldo Ray) that could have happened but didn't really. In some cases these tangents really do nothing to advance the plot, but they're fun to read nonetheless. It's an era of Hollywood that Tarantino clearly knows a lot about, and his insights have some validity, even as fiction. The book also allows him to write mini-essays on various filmmakers and genres, putting his thoughts (we assume) in the minds of his fictional characters. These are also fascinating to read. All in all, this is a great book for fans of Quentin Tarantino, old Hollywood, or show business stories in general.

It’s legitimately a little hard to know how to review Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Quentin Tarantino’s first ever novel and, theoretically, a novelization of his film of the same title, because more than anything, I’m not sure the book works at all except as a companion piece to the film. This isn’t simply a transcription of the film (although there are some chapters which basically serve as that, and they’re undeniably the weakest points of the book). Indeed, the book seems to have a perverse lack of interest in retelling the story of the movie; take, for example, the way that the film’s climax never occurs in these pages, only being addressed in a passing conversation during a longer section in which Tarantino is exploring what happened to his characters after the film ended. (That this happens a quarter of the way through the book, instead of the end, is equally fascinating.) What that means is that anyone looking for a conventional retelling of the film, or a novelization that maybe just peppers in some deleted scenes, is going to come away disappointed. Instead, what you get is far shaggier and looser, following the very loose arc of Rick Dalton’s time shooting the pilot of Lancer even as Tarantino jumps back and forth in time and through different perspectives. We get a lot of background on Brad Pitt’s Cliff Booth, as Tarantino puts into words all of the subtext that often orbited around the character (and often makes it a bit harder to reconcile with Pitt’s laconic, charismatic performance – or maybe just more troubling). We get more depth on Dalton’s career, with film stories a plenty, and a sense of what happened to him outside the boundaries of the film. We see Sharon Tate hitchhiking to Hollywood, and we see some of Pussycat’s earlier experiences with the Manson family. In other words, what you’re almost getting here is a sense of the larger world and background that Tarantino had in mind before he started to film, which allows you a window into how he creates characters, how he conceives of his story, and so forth. This isn’t really a novel, in other words; or, rather, it’s one that’s fairly aimless and loose, wandering down rabbit holes and drifting through time in an incredibly loose sense. That emphasizes some issues along the way (it makes the Manson family thread of the plot feel even more extraneous than it did in the film, and while some of the glimpses of Sharon Tate are interesting, she too feels like a storyline that never grips Tarantino the way that Rick and Cliff do), but it also plays into the biggest strength of the film: that desire to simply hang out in a Hollywood era that came and went, one that was already fading by this point but got pushed even further by a horrific series of events. That desire to hang out in the era is what Once Upon a Time in Hollywood best succeeds at, as Cliff wanders through his first exposures to Japanese cinema, or as Rick grapples with the explosion of spaghetti westerns, or old actors trade stories about the legends they once knew. Tarantino allows himself to drop names and figures from history in here, but also allows himself to do so in ways that acknowledge some realities, like the painful fall from grace of Aldo Ray or the realities of what it’s like to be best known for the roles you didn’t get. There’s more heart here than you might expect from Tarantino, down to the unexpected final chapter of the book, which involves nothing more than a conversation and a scene between peers, and feels like a love letter to the power of film and the craft of acting. Are there loose ends aplenty? Undeniably. Tarantino’s choice to basically novelize the plot of Lancer is a neat idea, but one that probably isn’t necessary in the least; the Manson scenes, as I already mention, feel entirely tacked on and unneeded, a fact that’s only exacerbated by the (good) choice to barely acknowledge the film’s ending. More than that, any time Tarantino is basically transcribing his action or his scenes, you’re more than aware of his weaknesses as a writer – his dialogue attributions are flat, his descriptions rocky, his prose…functional. Once he’s describing the minds of his character, or looking out at a movie theater, or letting his creations banter, you can feel his gifts shining through, but it’s hard to imagine novelist being a full-time career for him. Even so, I really enjoyed Once Upon a Time in Hollywood a lot. It’s rocky and it’s shaggy and it’s got some weaknesses. But it’s also a labor of love, and when you’re lost in Hollywood 1969 politics and screen rules, or being reminded of how great pulp Westerns could be, or seeing characters like Cliff and Rick get more fleshed out and brought to life (particularly Cliff, warts and all), it’s hard not to feel Tarantino’s excitement pulling you along. “Come hang out with me,” he seems to be saying – sometimes almost literally. Is the book essential? Does it replace the film? Is it even capable of standing on its own? I’d say “no” to all of those. But as a companion piece, it’s compelling and brings out the love of cinema and storytelling that Tarantino has always displayed, and I loved that about it.

This is a movie novelization of Quentin Tarantino’s film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. He also directed and wrote the original screenplay. Another term is ‘movie tie-in’ which I always associated more with a book that is based upon a screenplay, often not the final shooting script, and is fleshed out into a novel format. The types of writers who usually were assigned this task were often capable writers who could adapt the material in a brief period of time. So, the major studios all had a go-to list of writers they could rely on. I became interested in movie tie-in books around age 10, tracking down the source material used to create Twilight Zone episodes and various sci-fi, horror and fantasy writers who often had their work turned into TV shows or movies. Perfect examples would be Richard Matheson short stories and several of the writers who wrote Star Trek TOS episodes like Harlan Ellison. Movie tie-ins would appear on round paperback spindles in drug stores and supermarkets often weeks before a movie opened nationwide. Some were great, and most were stilted, barely covering basic scenes, and not providing much else. A typical movie tie-in book would be something like “The Towering Inferno” or “Cannonball Run.” Timothy Zahn famously ghosted the first Star Wars novelization, however, on the Ballentine paperback cover which came out months before the movie hit screens it listed George Lucas as author. Many of these books are now collectors’ items if they had additional scenes, or the final script was significantly changed for actual filming or other reasons like limited press runs. Alan Dean Foster’s “Alien” paperback is highly collectible now for many of those reasons. The movie tie-in for “The Omen” was extremely popular, even today; however, the final chapters were lame, disappointing horror fans because the book was so uneven. Philip K. Dick absolutely refused to write a movie tie-in for Blade Runner, forcing the studio to hire a hack writer to bang out a super crappy book. With Blade Runner sequels the original novella by PKD appeared with the original title and Blade Runner graphics. Used bookstores will often have a movie tie-in section so you might find good ones if you look around. Another way is simply finding the source material for a film that you like. Was the movie an original screenplay or based upon a published work like a novel or short story? Usually, movie tie-ins will be published the same year as the movie appears. If the story writer and /or screenplay author and the novelization author are the same person it does get weird because there isn’t any need to give credit to yourself, it has a copywrite for publication. This book is entertaining and provides lots of back stories to the main characters. Additional scenes, thoughts and memories of characters, and descriptions of places and even sights and sounds emanating from TV and radios are throughout the narrative. Scenes of the film are altered or missing. So, when you reflect on the film and after having read this book, you can appreciate both for what you find. Both are complete in their own ways, and they compliment each other very well. The ending of the book is substantially abbreviated, allowing the reader to compare the book ending to the movie ending. If the main characters in this film resonate with you. If the theme and purpose (of the film) had you thinking and you really want to know more about those characters and this time, then check out this book. Another aspect of this book is that the characters have opinions about music and films based upon what the characters like, so you could make the mistake of saying “Tarantino likes blah blah blah film or music” – it is obvious that Tarantino is clueing you in to the character by those things. He personally might have his own set of likes and dislikes. I think one should not compare this book with a Pulitzer Prize winning novel but compare it with other movie tie-in books – on that level, it is a good book and fun to read. The whole ‘Cowboys vs. Hippies’ aspect of the film is less overt in the book, but it’s there if you look for it. The main theme of a love affair with movies during this pivotal moment of course runs through the whole novel and film.

This book is the Perfect Partner to the film, every character, location, object, vehicle and any other aspect from the film and this book compliments each other perfectly. I have not been interested in reading book of this caliber for years. This novelization of one of my favorite movies, literally got me back into reading novels in my free time. The way this book reads, you can tell that QT built a fantastic world in this novel that inspired his film, and you can tell. Plus the bonus material and set photos are such a help to have to refer too to keep you grounded to the story and characters. The only way to read this is to have Kurt Russel’s Character Randy Loyd, as the Narrator, the extra story from the movie will find its way into your head. Thanks QT for writing this up, it’s a fantastic read !! -The Books arrived in perfect condition, aside from the slight bend in the paperback copy, other than that they both arrived unharmed !

...if you're a fan of Tarantino. Almost reads like fiction. So much pop culture history.

Liked the movie. Loved the book. The whole actor life in Hollywood is interesting and Rick and Cliff are great characters. I liked the movie overall esp the Lancer and Spahn ranch sequences. Right up there with the top QT scenes. I could have done with less Sharon bopping around her life. Thought it was, we have beautiful Margot Robbie’s face to sell tickets. I liked it and I bought the movie, but I’d rather they had shot this book. The book is a collection of scenes from the movie, combined with scenes not in the movie, with all kinds of intricate actor/director/movie trivia going back to the 40s. I even found all those interesting. You may not have the same passion for movies and fifties TV that QT has. Probably nobody does! But listening to a true geek go off in ridiculous detail on their subject is enjoyable. There’s a bar scene with Cliff, Rick, and Jim Stacy from Lancer. I would have loved to see that on film. The book describes the whole Lancer pilot story, and Gunsmoke story that Jim Stacy starred in to get the part on Lancer! Both great. Cliff and his wife on the boat is explained. A scene with a pimp explaining the pimping trade to Cliff is the funniest part of the book! Even Charley Manson as an opportunistic, desperate for fame, songwriter, only running his “family” as a means to provide young girls to stars, is an interesting take as the only take you ever get on Manson is the same old story. This would have been interesting to see on film as it parallels Rick’s desperation to have success in Hollywood. Sure, you can’t have a 5 hour movie. But I mean, Sharon goes to pick up a book for Roman, that made the movie! Also a great scene with Rick and Trudy that supposedly was shot and had to be cut from the film. Most people getting this book are probably QT fans and probably seen the movie. I think you’ll be pleased with the book it’s full of QT storytelling.

First off, I loved the movie and saw it 5 times in the theater. I bought the digital 4k copy the day it came out and watched it again at home. I will say, in the movie, the extended LANCER scenes are the weakest part of the movie for me. That whole scene they play and repeat where Rick is in his role and screws up then nails it, it drags on a bit too long for me. I also am not a fan of westerns, so this might play into it. This extended part of the book, where Rick is on set in Lancer is also the weakest part of the book, and sadly Rick spends most of the time in the entire book in this scene. The biggest issue here is there is often very little dialogue and often very little present day action. Instead, the book, in far too many places, is packed with dense, long paragraphs of backstory or worse- lists of actors, movies, bands, most of whom I barely recognize. Then, Tarantino goes into 5 or 6 pages of backstory for a tertiary character like the other actor from Lancer. Why do I care that this character, who I barely can remember his name, went to high school, wanted to be an actor, then I have to read 5 pages of his own backstory that is littered with name drops of directors, actors, movies, etc? I found myself skipping entire paragraphs, it got so old. When Tarantino creates the world in the present day (1960s), it's fascinating. When it's your regular old novel filled with fun dialogue, it's great. He creates a fun world of Hollywood in 1969, and even the Sharon Tate stuff is more fun here than in the movie. You get so much more of a glimpse into who she is as a person, who she wants to be, her joys, her fears, etc. You also get the same from Cliff and Rick. But then, Tarantino destroys the world he has created for you to sink into by dropping the names of 37 actors, 27 movies, 14 directors, going into random asides about all of those, and you feel like you are watching a great movie that is filled with great world-building, but it's interrupted over and over by 10 min blocks of commercials. It got real damned tedious real fast. Stop creating this wonderful Hollywood of 1969 then dismantling it with 5 pages of movie trivia that does absolutely nothing to propel the story forward. I hated that aspect of the book and was very disappointed by it. Also, kind of odd is the fact that the movie's epic finale is condensed into basically 1 paragraph and quickly inserted, out of place, into the first 100 or so pages of the book, and the ending of the book itself is yawn, just "meh." It does not build to anything at all, let alone build to the epic conclusion the movie does. Rick and Cliff are both despicable humans in the book, whereas in the movie, there was some room for moral confusion. With a deeper backstory, you see both men are deplorable in nearly every way, which is a bummer, as I liked the characters from the movie, so to completely subvert my expectations by basically changing both characters into very different people for the book was an odd choice. Film and literature are, obviously, very different mediums, and you can show so much in a movie that isn't easily told in a book form, but some of it comes off really well here. When Pussycat is doing her creepy crawl in the random house the Family chooses for her, you can envision the scene as if it were in the movie. When Cliff thinks of the story of shooting his wife with the shark gun (or whatever it was), Tarantino paints the scene nicely, and it feels like you can see it. But, then he devolves back into endless lists of movies, actors, directors, etc. and you are immediately taken out of the story and plunged into something totally different that is nowhere near as fun. I wish this had skipped all the name-dropping and the endless lists, names, movies, and such, and this would have been a 5 out of 5 for sure. I would put is closer, as it is, to a 2.5 out of 5...maybe a bit closer to a 3, and I loved the first half of the book, but as you go on and the endless lists keep interrupting the wonderful world-building, it gets tireseome and more annoying each time. 300 pages in, and I just could not wait to be finished. That is not a good sign for any novel.