The Way We Work presents a unique insider’s view to the showbusiness industry. The book consists of several short stories written by people who work in Hollywood, from famous stars to the people behind the scenes who make the magic happen. Since the book is a collection of pieces by different authors, neither the topics nor the styles are consistent throughout the book. Some stories are highly entertaining, and others are informative. Each story has something that sets it apart. One may impart a tidbit about the technical side of making movies and what tasks are performed by certain members of the crew. Another may tell a humorous story about a famous actor.

The only criticism of this book is that some of the stories are written more skillfully than others and are easy to read, while some have a plodding pace. A few even sound like the writer was given a list of prompts and was dutifully following it. This makes the book drag in some places, but the stories are all relatively short, so if the reader doesn’t like the style of one story, they don’t need to read for long to get to the next one.

Overall, this book is an intriguing peek behind the curtain of the movie and television industry. For anyone who is interested in that topic, it is a good read, but for someone who is a movie enthusiast, it would be even better. Several of the stories offer advice for aspiring actors and crew members, so this is a particularly useful book to anyone who is considering a career in the field.

Review of an E-version

This book was sent to Compass Book Ratings for review by Rare Bird Books

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language:  4 religious exclamations; 25 mild obscenities; 2 relgious profanities; 2 derogatory names; 26 scatological words; 13 anatomical terms; 6 f-word derivatives.

Violence/Gore:  Report of a character injured in war; report of historical kidnapping and police response resulting in destroyed buildings and deaths; fictional script includes “tearing people’s heads off” (the script is a major aspect of one story with “tearing heads” being mentioned a few times); report of a historical murder; report of a shooting with injury; a joke about murder/suicide; a character strangles another and threatens to beat them; report of a fire destroying buildings.

Sex/Nudity:  Characters go on a date; report of characters spending a day without pants; report of a streaker;use of the term “wet dream” as a metaphor for something someone really likes; mention of “getting laid”; a character mimes “feeling up” others; brief discussion of homosexuality and coming out; character has a job that involves choosing attractive women from a group, and they flirt with him to be chosen; discussion of what sort of men women want to have sex with; joke involving a fake latex penis; mention of twerking; brief, non-graphic discussion of a man shot and injured in his genitals;report that a man has a mistress; report of a naked woman used as a human sushi tray; a few reports of extramarital relationships at parties and the workplace;mention of pornography; mention of porn found on a computer (but no details given); a man insists that women remove their shirts as part of a job interview; one story focusses on prostitutes and the prostitution industry, but with no explicit or graphic descriptions; mention of filming pornography, including a mention of “boobs” and sex toys.

Mature Subject Matter:

Kidnapping (mention); suicide (briefly contemplated); racism is mentioned several times and is a major theme of one story; religious, gender, and age discrimination; embezzlement; mention of several topics on the news such as religious extremism, bullying, HIV/AIDS, famine, domestic abuse, and drug/alcohol abuse; homosexuality (mention); religious meditation is a major theme of one story; mental illness (brief discussion); child abuse (mention); transgenderism; mention of Cold War/nuclear threat; mention of riots; mention of war; mention of assassinations; brief discussion of terrorism, suicide bombings, and child soldiers; a joke about suicide; animal exploitation (mention); gambling; abortion (mention); brief discussion of mental disability; death (spouse); terminal illness.

Alcohol / Drug Use:

Mention of tequila; adults smoke cigars; a man requests alcohol and cocaine as payment or work; adults drink alcohol; underage drinking (mention); mention of marijuana farms; brief description of an opium den; character smokes cigars.