{"product_id":"cocktails-with-george-and-martha-movies-marriage-and-the-making-of-whos-afraid-of-virginia-woolf-9781639736676","title":"Cocktails with George and Martha: Movies, Marriage, and the Making of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Smart and entertaining . . . Gefter shows why \u003ci\u003eWho's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?\u003c\/i\u003e hit the '60s like a torpedo.\" \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e-\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eNPR, Fresh Air\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Delicious\u003c\/b\u003e.\" \u003cb\u003e-\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe behind-the-scenes story of a provocative play, the groundbreaking film it became, and how two iconic stars changed the image of marriage forever.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFrom its debut in 1962, Edward Albee's \u003ci\u003eWho's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?\u003c\/i\u003e was a wild success and a cultural lightning rod. It scandalized critics but magnetized audiences. Across 644 sold-out Broadway performances, the drama demolished the wall between what could and couldn't be said on the American stage and marked a definitive end to the \u003ci\u003eI Love Lucy \u003c\/i\u003e1950s. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Then, Hollywood took a colossal gamble on Albee's sophisticated play-and won. Costarring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, the sensational 1966 film minted first-time director Mike Nichols as industry royalty and won five Oscars. How this scorching play became a movie classic-surviving censorship attempts, its director's inexperience, and its stars' own tumultuous marriage-is one of the most riveting stories in all of cinema. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Marfield Prizewinner Philip Gefter tells that deliciously entertaining story in full for the first time, tracing \u003ci\u003eWoolf\u003c\/i\u003e from its hushed origins in Greenwich Village's bohemian enclave, through its tormented production process, to its explosion onto screens and its permanent place in the canon of American cinema. This deliciously entertaining book explores how two couples-one fictional, one all too real-forced a nation to confront its most deeply held myths about relationships, sex, family, and, against all odds, love.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePhilip Gefter \u003c\/b\u003eis the author of \u003ci\u003eWhat Becomes a Legend Most: The Biography of Richard Avedon\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eWagstaff: Before and After Mapplethorpe\u003c\/i\u003e, which received the Marfield Prize for arts writing; and an essay collection, \u003ci\u003ePhotography After Frank\u003c\/i\u003e. He is a regular contributor to the\u003ci\u003e New Yorker's \u003c\/i\u003ePhotobooth, \u003ci\u003eAperture\u003c\/i\u003e, and the\u003ci\u003e New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e, where he was an editor and photography critic for over fifteen years. Gefter produced the award-winning documentary, \u003ci\u003eBill Cunningham: New York. \u003c\/i\u003eHe lives in New York City.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Bloomsbury Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51589847417106,"sku":"9781639736676","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_8a4b230d-84b7-4ed1-a4f6-72d64bc29e79.jpg?v=1756810151","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/cocktails-with-george-and-martha-movies-marriage-and-the-making-of-whos-afraid-of-virginia-woolf-9781639736676","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}