As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes
Reviewed by: Susie Rivera, Reference Specialist
Genre: Nonfiction
Suggested Age: Adults
What is the book about?: Cary Elwes narrates this audio book about the making of the classic film, The Princess Bride. He focuses on his experience playing Westley, but also features interviews with others involved with the film including Robin Wright, Wallace Shawn, Billy Crystal, Christopher Guest, and Mandy Patinkin, as well as author and screenwriter William Goldman, producer Norman Lear, and director Rob Reiner. The cast and crew share behind-the-scenes anecdotes and tidbits about making the iconic film. The Princess Bride’s screenplay had been circulating in Hollywood for several years before it finally went into production under Rob Reiner. Reiner was a big fan of the novel since he was a kid and was determined to make a great swashbuckling fantasy that would appeal to both children and adults. The resulting movie wasn’t received well at the box office, but gained most of it’s popularity and fans when it was released on VHS several years later. Now, after The Princess Bride celebrated it’s 30 year anniversary, it is ranked by the American Film Institute as one of the top 100 Greatest Love Stories and by the Writers Guild of America as one of the top 100 screenplays of all time.
My Review: The Princess Bride has been my favorite film since I was very young. I dreamed of being Buttercup as I played dress up at home. Listening to this audio book brought back a lot of those memories and feel-good nostalgia. Cary Elwes has an awesome voice for narration and is very talented at impressions of other celebs, including his co-star Andre the Giant, who is lovingly remembered by many of the cast and crew. I enjoyed the amusing stories about production. For example, Rob Reiner laughed so hard that he could not remain on set during Billy Crystal’s scenes as Miracle Max, and Cary Elwes broke is toe off screen and was certain he would be fired on set. He really was in excruciating pain when he delivered the line, “Life is pain, Highness!” Though he doesn’t throw any of his co-stars under the bus with embarrassing secrets, Elwes does offer fans plenty of behind-the-scenes tales that were interesting, humorous, or touching.
Three Words That Describe This Book: Humorous, interesting, nostalgic
Give This a Try if You Like… The Princess Bride (film or book), books about films, audio books read by the author
Rating: 5/5
About FDL Reads
FDL Reads is a series of weekly book reviews from Fondulac District Library.