Sam Wasson discusses and signs his book ‘Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.,’ subtitled Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany’s and the Dawn of the Modern Woman,’ on Friday, September 3, at 7:30 p.m. in Village Books, 1049 Swarthmore. Published by HarperCollins, the book details the making of the movie ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s,’ starting with Truman Capote’s novel upon which the screenplay was based. Unlike many tedious Hollywood books, Wasson’s book flows, carefully intertwining the development of the movie with insights into flawed real-life characters that were larger than life. The 1961 movie, directed by Blake Edwards, starred Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard and Patricia Neal, with fashions by Edith Head and Hubert de Givenchy, and music (‘Moon River’) by Henry Mancini. Critics across the country have rewarded Wasson, a 28-year-old Brentwood native who graduated from Harvard-Westlake, with well-deserved accolades, and his book made the New York Times bestseller list. Yet why would Wasson, who graduated from Wesleyan University in 2003 and the USC School of Cinematic Arts 2006, be interested in this ‘old’ movie? ’Two years ago, I wrote about Blake Edwards (‘A Splurch in the Kisser: The Movies of Blake Edwards’),’ Wasson told the Palisadian-Post. ‘There wasn’t a lot about ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ out there, so I thought it would be easy to write about.’ He started to retrace the steps of the production and interview as many people as he could, and suddenly, ‘there I was in the middle of the book.’ The movie took Capote’s book, which was deemed too racy to serialize in magazines, and recast its main character, Holly Golightly, who was a call girl in the novel, as a likeable free spirit. During the ’50s, young women in movies were clearly delineated as good (virgins) or as bad (those who weren’t). ’There was something in the movie that appealed to women,’ Wasson said. ‘I had a suspicion but didn’t quite know what I was looking for. ‘ Capote had originally wanted Marilyn Monroe to play the lead role, but Wasson reasons that if Monroe had starred, the movie would not have had the same effect as using Hepburn, who was all wide-eyed innocence (portraying the good/bad girl). Wasson argues that the film is significant because it was at a time in the nation when sexual liberation for woman was in its infancy. Wasson’s book is a fun read that takes all of the players and recounts their part in the making of the movie. One reviewer wrote, ‘Recapturing an era, this evocative ‘factual re-creation’ reads like carefully crafted fiction.’ Thanks to his book’s critical acclaim, Wasson has been interviewed on numerous radio shows and by national media, but he made a point to appear at Village Books. ’Many of my friends grew up in the Palisades,’ he said. ‘My bookstore growing up was Dutton’s [now closed]. I believe in supporting independent book stores.’ He was thrilled when ‘Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.’ made the best-seller list, admitting, ‘I was anxious to get onto the next project, but was so grateful that this book was well received.’ Wasson’s next book, on director Paul Mazursky (‘An Unmarried Woman’), is set to come out next year. ‘His movies are undervalued and should be reconsidered and reappraised,’ said Wasson, who lives in Venice and New York, and is currently working on a biography of Bob Fosse. ’I love Fosse as a man, an artist, and his philosophy of life. I wanted to meet everyone who worked with him.’
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