William Goldman
William Goldman (August 12, 1931 – November 16, 2018) was an American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter. He first came to prominence in the 1950s as a novelist before turning to screenwriting. He won Academy Awards for his screenplays '' ...
. The title is taken from lyrics in the song, "
The Sidewalks of New York
"The Sidewalks of New York" is a popular song about life in New York City during the 1890s. It was composed in 1894 by vaudeville actor and singer Charles B. Lawlor (June 2, 1852 – May 31, 1925) with lyrics by James W. Blake (September 23, ...
".
Background
Goldman says his creative impulse behind the book was his desire to write a long novel:
At the time, all of my friends were screwing up in New York, it seemed. It was going badly for everybody. The city was... affecting all of us, and I wanted to get that down. But writing that novel was a tremendous experience. It was three years of my life on and off.
He later said "the pulse of the book... was the fact that nobody ut of his friendswas making it as I was and I knew I was fraudulent and I knew I'd be found out. It was very hard in those years. It was hard to be 25 or 7 or 8 and to be published when all of your other friends who were writers weren't."
After writing 300 pages, Goldman took some time off to work on Broadway, and when he returned to the book he experienced
writer's block
Writer's block is a condition, primarily associated with writing, in which an author is either unable to produce new work or experiences a creative slowdown. Mike Rose found that this creative stall is not a result of commitment problems or th ...
, so he wrote another novel instead, '' No Way to Treat a Lady'' (1968). Goldman then returned to the novel and eventually finished it, despite being in great physical pain much of the time.
Reception
Commercial
When Goldman completed his novel, there was a great demand for it among publishers. Goldman says for his first novels he received an advance of $10,000, then $5,000, then $5,000. For ''Boys and Girls Together'', his fourth novel published under his name, he received an advance of $100,000. "I don't know if ''Soldier in the Rain'' had sold to the movies or whatever happened, but there were a bunch of people ublisherswho wanted ''Boys and Girls Together''", he said.
The novel was a best seller. "That summer, ''Boys and Girls Together'' was ''the'' beach book in paperback", says Goldman."
Critical
William Goldman says his editor,
Hiram Haydn Hiram Collins Haydn (November 3, 1907 – December 2, 1973)''Boys and Girls Together'' was three years of my life and I thought it was not what I meant. It was depressing, and not at all what I had meant when I started. It's so hard to fill that many pages, and I thought, "Well, it's not what I meant, but at least they'll have to think I'm serious. Nobody would write this depressing a book, in which nobody gets what they want and everybody fails, if you're trying to be
Harold Robbins
Harold Robbins (May 21, 1916 – October 14, 1997) was an American author of popular novels. One of the best-selling writers of all time, he wrote over 25 best-sellers, selling over 750 million copies in 32 languages.
Early life
Robbins was b ...
." There was a review of ''Boys and Girls Together'' that I remember very clearly. It was one of the most painful reviews of my life by a critic from ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' called Conrad Knickerbocker...
hich
Ij ( fa, ايج, also Romanized as Īj; also known as Hich and Īch) is a village in Golabar Rural District, in the Central District of Ijrud County, Zanjan Province, Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also ...
compared me with Harold Robbins, and I thought, "You never read Harold Robbins. They get what they want in that world, and this is basically a cold, unpleasant book." I remember for a month I was on the verge of tears.
Richard Andersen wrote of the novel:
Seeing all their energies leading to death and betrayal, the characters of ''Boys and Girls Together'' conclude that there are no satisfactory alternatives. Life is hopeless. Nevertheless, suicide is not the answer; man must find a way to affirm life over death whenever his identities fail him. One way of achieving affirmation in the wasteland, Goldman seems to be saying, is through endurance.
Jerry Gershwin
Jerome "Jerry" Gershwin (April 20, 1926 – September 17, 1997) was an American film producer. He was best known for his long collaboration with Elliott Kastner. His credits include '' Where Eagles Dare'' (1968) and ''Harper'' (1966). He was ...
. In June 1966 it was reported director
Sydney Pollack
Sydney Irwin Pollack (July 1, 1934 – May 26, 2008) was an American film director, producer and actor. Pollack directed more than 20 films and 10 television shows, acted in over 30 movies or shows and produced over 44 films. For his film ''Out ...
was attached and
David Rayfiel
David Rayfiel (September 9, 1923 – June 22, 2011) was an American screenwriter and frequent collaborator of director Sydney Pollack.
Life
Rayfiel was born in Brooklyn, New York and educated at Brooklyn College. His father was congressman Leo ...
was writing a script. However a film was never made.
Goldman worked on a musical version of the story, called ''Magic Town'', which remains unproduced.
In 1976, it was announced the novel would be turned into a mini-series, but this did not happen.