But there was lots of stuff in here I didn’t know, and hearing the whole thing from Cary’s point of view had its own charms. I already knew quite a bit of behind the scenes information because I went through a period about 10-15 years ago where I tracked down all the behind the scenes features and interviews I could for my favorite movies. I did the audio version, and it was great fun not only having Cary Elwes read it himself, but for the parts that were “oral histories” from his fellow cast and crew members, many of them read as well (Billy Crystal, Carol Kane, Rob Reiner, Chris Sarandon, Christopher Guest). If you're a fan of The Princess Bride, Cary's book is well worth your time.Just a feel good read, talking all about one of my favorite movies. Since finishing the book, I've gone back through it, just to read all these asides again they really are wonderful. These snippets have some real gems, such as the one above, which explains how The Princess Bride book came to be. But by separating them, you can read them when you like. Instead, they're presented as asides, like this one:Įach appears near relevant content, so they're applicable to what you're reading. They aren't shown inline, which would interrupt the story flow. These are present throughout the book, and you seldom need read more than a page before encountering one.

It's a great read, and very interesting on its own.īut what really made the book for me were all the quotes that Cary secured from others involved in the production. The book is well written (with some credit to Joe Layden, noted as the 'with' on the cover), and details Carey's experiences with the film starting with the original casting call (actually a note under his hotel room door) up through the release and some detail on the inept marketing behind the movie. And in the interest of thoroughness, the book's full title isn't As You Wish, it's As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride. It's about a book about the making of the movie, written by Cary Elwes, who starred as Westley, aka The Man in Black.

Well worth the time.īut this post isn't about the movie. It's not only full of quotable quotes ('Inconceivable!'), the story is enjoyable, the acting campy and perfect, and certain characters are just incredibly memorable. If you haven't seen it yet, well, see it. The movie turns 30 this year (special anniversary super-duper Blu-ray extended mega cut, please?), and it stands up well to the test of time. Like 95% of the audience and 97% of the critics, I'm a big fan of The Princess Bride.

Cary elwes book as you wish