It’s Oscar time again. The 81st Annual Academy Awards will be held in Los Angeles on February 22, 2009. As usual, Hollywood once again went to the bookshelves this year for source material. Many of this year’s nominated films are adapted from books and stage plays, including four of the five films nominated for Best Picture. So as you head off to the theater, cast your ballots, and plan your Oscar parties, why not check out some of the books that started it all? Among the nominees are:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was originally a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, written in 1921. It can be found in Fitzgerald’s short story collection. The film’s Oscar nominations include: Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Picture.
Doubt was a 2004 off-Broadway play by John Patrick Shanley. The film’s Oscar nominations include: Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, two Best Supporting Actress nominations, and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Frost/Nixon was also a play, written in 2006 by the British dramatist and screenwriter Peter Morgan. The Film’s Oscar nominations include: Best Actor, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Picture.
The Reader was a 1995 novel written in German by the writer Bernhard Schlink. It has since been translated into 39 languages, and was a bestseller in Germany and the United States. The film’s Oscar nominations include: Best Actress, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Picture.
Revolutionary Road was the first novel by Richard Yates. It was a finalist for the National Book Award in 1962. The film’s Oscar nominations include: Best Supporting Actor.
Vikas Swarup is a diplomat and an author. His first novel, 2005’s Q and A was the basis for the film Slumdog Millioniaire. In addition to the film, the book has also been turned into a radio play and a stage adaptation, and has been translated into 36 languages. The film’s Oscar nominations include: Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Picture.
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Bruce Norris’ s 2011 Pulitzer Prize- winning drama Clybourne Park will have its Chicago premiere this fall, opening the Steppenwolf season from September 8 through October 6. Set in a Chicago bungalow, the first act takes place in 1959 and flashes forward to 2009 in Act 2. The Pulitzer Prize committee’s citation described Norris’ play as “a powerful work whose memorable characters speak in witty and perceptive ways to America’s sometimes toxic struggle with race and class consciousness.” Read more about the play in this Chicago Sun-Times article — and make plans to see it at Steppenwolf.
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