As You Wish. Finished audio 3-12-15, rating 3.5/5, memoir, pub. 2014
Unabridged audio read by Cary Elwes, Christopher Guest, Carol Kane, Norman Lear, Rob Reiner, Chris Sarandon, Andy Scheinman, Wallace Shawn, Robin Wright.
From actor Cary Elwes, who played the iconic role of Westley in The Princess Bride, comes a first-person account and behind-the-scenes look at the making of the cult classic film filled with never-before-told stories and interviews with costars Robin Wright, Wallace Shawn, Billy Crystal, Christopher Guest, and Mandy Patinkin, as well as author and screenwriter William Goldman, producer Norman Lear, and director Rob Reiner.
The Princess Bride has been a family favorite for close to three decades. Ranked by the American Film Institute as one of the top 100 Greatest Love Stories and by the Writers Guild of America as one of the top 100 screenplays of all time, The Princess Bride will continue to resonate with audiences for years to come.
Cary Elwes was inspired to share his memories and give fans an unprecedented look into the creation of the film while participating in the twenty-fifth anniversary cast reunion. In As You Wish he has created an enchanting experience; in addition to interviews with his fellow cast mates, there are plenty of set secrets and backstage stories.
With a foreword by Rob Reiner, As You Wish is a must-have for all fans of this beloved film.
from Goodreads
My husband loves The Princess Bride (most people do) and he regaled me with stories from the book since he listened to it first. I think because of the fact that he loved it so much, my expectations were just a bit too high. There are excellent stories here, but I also found much of the storytelling repetitive.
The listening experience was great. Cary’s charm came though loud and clear and it felt like I was listening to him sitting around reminiscing about his first summer at camp with kids who became like family (well, except that one of the campers drank beer and wine and liquor pretty much constantly). It was nice and there was not a bad word to be found. It was refreshing. Actors and others associated with the movie also came in to read their contributions to the book. Seriously, Rob Reiner seemed liked the only person that was capable of pulling this off. I have newfound respect for him.
As for the movie making stories, any fan of the movie or even of the movie-making business, is going to love them. I was cleaning out a cabinet after Jason had gone ga-ga over the book and he was thrilled that I pulled out an actual VHS tape of The Princess Bride, which is funny because it’s these VHS tapes that Elwes credits with success of the film. Needless to say Jason found our long-forgotten VHS player and watched it 😉 I admit that I’m tempted to do the same.
This is a fun listen for fans.
Stacy's Books 
I felt this way about the actual novel The Princess Bride. As one who absolutely adores the movie, I felt the book on which the movie is based was a major letdown. Cary’s behind-the-scenes look at the making of the movie was so much fun though. I did pull out my copy and made my kids watch it with me, pointing out certain things learned from the book and taking a greater appreciation for the whole thing now that I know the labor of love it was.
I haven’t read the novel yet, but do want to watch it again, if only to watch Cary get knocked out 🙂 Cool to watch it with your kids, I wonder ig Gage might like it? Hm.
I haven’t read this or The Princess Bride, but did watch the Princess Bride movie and loved it.
If you loved the movie you’d probably like this behind the scenes look.
We took 2 of our grandkids to a talk-along of The Princess Bride. It was great fun. I do love the movie, but I couldn’t come up with the oft-repeated words as much as my (at the time) 9-year old granddaughter and 6-year old grandson did.
I would love to do that! Such a cool event. Until a few of the comments on this post I hadn’t really thought of it as something that Gage might enjoy. I’m thinking he may like it!
I think that being a mega-fan of the movie is helpful in listening to the book. I know that I just basked in “Wesley’s” voice. LOL
Oh yes, his voice made the listening so much fun 🙂
I’m kind of embarrassed to admit I’ve never read nor seen The Princess Bride.
Well, now Kathy, that is a little embarrassing 😉 You should watch it with Vance!
KATHY! YOU MUST!!!! HOW COULD YOU EVEN ADMIT THAT IN PUBLIC!!?!??!?!?!?!??! (you’ll be charmed, pretty sure.)
I ADORE this movie–for as long as I can remember. As in jumping behind the couch when the ROUSes came on screen because I was so scared. I haven’t wanted to read The Princess Bride because I’m not sure it can live up to my expectations, but I do have a copy of this…just wish my copy was audio!
Yeah, I’m afraid to rad the book too! I checked it out of the library so that’s always an option 🙂
I can’t make up my mind about listening to this one. I loved Tina Fey’s Bossy Pants and I’m considering downloading Amy Poehler’s book, but I generally do not care for celebrity memoirs. I did love the book of The Princess Bride and enjoy the movie though.
I think this is one that is best listened to just because Cary’s English accent and the others adding their own voices made it come alive. I don’t know if I would have make it throught the print copy!
OK, I’m confused. Have YOU ever seen the movie? I can’t tell much about your own thinking on this. I can tell you that I’ve seen the movie countless times and find it ‘cute’ and ‘adorable’ and I actually read the book which I thought ‘dull’ comparatively. Which means: “MOVIE IS BETTER THAN THE BOOK!!!” and I always love when that happens because it is usually a rare thing. But this talk-about-the-making-of-the-movie-audio? I would LOVE LOVE LOVE. I know I would.
I have fondness for these actors BECAUSE of this movie!
If you love the movie, you need to listen to this book. It’s the voices of Wesley and Buttercup and Miracle Max and Valerie – well the actors. It’s a gossipy kind of book, but it’s fun. And to hear Rob Reiner talk about it and realize how young Cary Elwes and Robin Wright were.
Sorry to butt in here, but really, listen to this book! LOL
Chime right in Kay! 🙂 I wasn’t planning on listening to it but Jason told me I should so I was probably expecting to much. I did appreciate the kidness with which Cary talked about the film. He seems like such a great guy. And he Wesley after all 😉
I have seen the movie, or parts of it, probably a dozen times. I enjoyed it avery time, sometimes more than others depending on my mood. Up to this point I wouldn’t consider myself a fan as big as my husband, but I am curious, now that I’ve listened to this if it will add an extra layer of enjoyment the next time I watch it. I’ll let you know since I’m sure it will be soon.
When DVDs started coming out with commentary options – I always want to watch and listen to that, but I rarely RARELY ever have. And now my movie watching days seem to be getting few and fewer. #sadface#. I did find a new-to-be instagram account that is getting me back to thinking more abt movies; @movieaday2015 – it’s been fun to view her choices.