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As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales From the Making of the Princess Bride
Hardcover | Kindle Edition | Audiobook
Written by Cary Elwes with Joe Layden
Forward by Rob Reiner
Simon & Schuster/Touchstone Books
Release Date: October 14, 2014
This is a fan book — a book from a fan to the fans. Actor Cary Elwes is the ultimate Princess Bride fan. His book, As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales From the Making of the Princess Bride, written with some help from Joe Layden, and including a forward from director Rob Reiner, tells the tale of this fairytale, as a fairytale. This is not a negative criticism. It comes from a magical place. Elwes, who starred in the film, gushes about that experience from the first page to the last, and the rest of the cast, Reiner, Andy Scheinmen, Norman Lear, and William Goldsmith, author of the book and screenplay, contribute many first-person accounts of their experiences, echoing Cary’s sentiments. The Princess Bride was the first major acting job of Elwes’s career, and the one that he will be remembered for, for the rest of his life and beyond.
Elwes mentions multiple times that he and the rest of the cast are often asked to say their famous lines (see his below), that these lines will be in their obituaries. From Wallace Shawn’s “Inconceivable!” to Mandy Patankin’s “Hello. My name is….”, The Princess Bride is “one of the most often quoted films in cinema history.” He lists many of them in the very first chapter. Some others are:
“Have fun storming the castle!”
“This is true love. You think this happens every day?” (Used in my wedding vows).
“Anybody want a peanut?”
“Rest well, and dream of large women.”
One of the most touching aspects of the book is how much they all loved and admired Andre the Giant, and they all have wonderful stories about him. Patankin shares that he asked Andre once, “So this wrestling thing, it’s obviously all fake, right?” And Andre replied, “Nooooo boss,” sincere and proud.
This book is a must-have for any fan of The Princess Bride.
Elwes recently spoke at New York Comic-Con promoting his new book. For coverage of that panel, click here.
Cary Elwes at the NYCC panel:
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“As You Wish” at NYCC:
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