The Princess Bride Notes

Notes about Goldman's book

Introduction

Intriguing introduction in the 25 year anniversary edition - William Goldman wrote about the birth of the film. How he was read the Princess Bride as a child suffering from Pneumonea, wrote his retelling novel ofThe Princess Bride, sent a copy to Carl Reiner who past it along to his son Rob, and the decades long struggle to have the screen play produced into a movie. How he sold the rights of the book to Fox, writing a screen play for it, being accepted and then rejected by Fox's management, reading of the screen play while in the hospital with another possible pneumonea bout, buying back the book rights from Fox, years later meeting Rob, getting money from Norman Lear, and having the first script reading in London in the spring of 1986 with Andy Scheinman, (producer) Cary Elwes (Butercup), Robin Wright (Westley), Chris Sarandon (Prince Humperdinck), Chris Guest (Count Rugen), Wally Shawn (Vizzini), Mandy Patinkin (Indigo), and A.R. Roussimoff (Fezzik). It was at this reading that they knew they had it. He says that he has only loved two of his movies: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Princess Bride.

And he is sorry that "the Cliffs of Insanity have now become the biggest tourist attraction in Florin, making life hell for their forest rangers."
Insane...

The second introductionis the story about Billy and how he came to know the Princess Bride. Recovering from pheumonea at home his father read and translated from Italian Morgenstern's classic tale. He tells how the story has affected his life from a sports loving non-reading ten year old to an avid reader of adventure, writter, and playwrite. His teacher Miss Roginski who told him he was a late bloomer, how he searched for a copy to give to his son on his tenth birthday. When he actually looks into the book for the first time after his stopped reading it he realizes that the story his father told him had been edited by removing all the historical references of to the families of Florin. when realizing this he called his editor, asked for a postponement of the Stepford Wives and wrote the abridgement. The Princess Bride by William Goldman.