OSCAR WARS: Listening to Michael Schulman’s Hollywood History

“Oscar Wars” by Michael Schulman seeks to explore the history of the Academy Awards, shining light on the stories of triumph and turmoil that have shaped both Hollywood and American culture.

Schulman starts by transporting his reader back to 1929, the birth of the Academy Awards. What started as a small celebration of industry feats has, over the past nine decades, evolved into a sacred ceremony that it is today. Each chapter undertakes an exploration of a specific year, conflict, or category.

At the start of the book, I found myself somewhat disengaged—likely due to Schulman’s focus on a side of Hollywood history that preceded my own time and familiarity. While the evolution of the Academy Awards was interesting to learn about, I found myself zoning out during the details of the more obscure incidents; the early chapters of “Oscar Wars” explored a Hollywood landscape that felt distant and foreign to me.

However, as I persevered through these early chapters, Schulman began covering the sides of Hollywood history that I remember. These stories triggered hazy memories from my past, and I found myself becoming invested in understand the truth of what had transpired.

I listened to this one on audiobook; a whopping 608 pages of Oscar history seemed daunting to me, and although I was interested in reading the book, I thought I would try a different method of doing so.

I think this was a good book to listen to. As I mentioned earlier, some of the chapters did not always hold my interest, so it was nice to listen to them almost as background noise while I did a few errands. Plus, because it was so long, I think this format made it much easier to be engaged rather than glazing over chapters or putting the book down and never returning.

Overall, I think movie lovers will enjoy this book. Schulman has done an incredible amount of research and made these moments in history captivating and engaging.

You can read more about Michael Schulman on his website here.