Neil Simon Rewrites
A Memoir

By Neil Simon
Simon & Schuster Audio, $25

ISBN 0671573780

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Sukey's Favorite

Review by Sukey Howard

Simon says. Neil Simon's Rewrites: A Memoir is the kind of audio presentation that will keep you tuned in -- the kind that makes you want to keep on driving or walking, or running, or doing whatever you do while listening. I think, too, that this may be a better listen than a read, because here you have Neil Simon reading and talking, and it seems that he's talking just to you.

The memoir begins with Simon's first play, which went through 22 rewrites and was a moderate success. That was in 1957, and the book continues through great Broadway success after success and rewrite after rewrite and closes in 1973 with the death of his beloved wife, Joan. He's funny and candid and keenly observant about situations and colleagues -- Mike Nichols, Walter Matthau, Jerry Lewis, Bob Fosse, Maureen Stapleton, George C. Scott, among them. I hope Simon can turn out the next volume of memoirs as fast as he turns out Broadway blockbusters.

Sukey Howard reports on spoken word audio each month. Don't miss her audio book reviews on CNN's Sunday Morning.

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