The Big Show: High Times and Dirty Dealings Backstage at the Academy Awards

When it comes to the Academy Awards , movie buffs usually have two settings: Oscar fever, and Oscar fatigue. Journalist Steve Pond's book, The Big Show: High Times and Dirty Dealings Backstage at the Academy Awards, is a triumph in that it manages to feed the former while keeping the latter at bay. Pond, a writer for Premiere magazine, was granted unfettered access to the creation and behind-the-curtain world of a decade's worth of Oscar ceremonies (years 1994 to 2004). Until some brilliant reality show producer manages to sneak a camera into the green room, this is as close to an all-access backstage pass as most of us are going to get.

So getting down to brass tacks: the gossip is sort of juicy, though not particularly surprising. Russell Crowe is kind of grumpy. Madonna, told of a last minute change to her musical number, shows that a good diva never takes bad news lying down. Hoop Dreams was robbed (seriously). And ironically, a ceremony that is considered Hollywood's premiere occasion for self-aggrandizement has also tripped up certain careers. (The Uma, Oprah fallout may still be haunting Letterman.) Most of all, The Big Show is a model of efficiency; it summarizes 10 ceremonies in the time it usually takes you to sit through one. --Leah Weathersby