The Academy and the Award, Bruce Davis
The Academy and the Award, Bruce Davis
List: $24.95 | Sale: $17.47
Club: $12.47

The Academy and the Award
The Coming of Age of Oscar and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Author: Bruce Davis

Narrator: Jim Meskimen

Unabridged: 17 hr 44 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/11/2022

Synopsis

The first behind-the-scenes history of the organization behind the Academy AwardsFor all the near-fanatic attention brought each year to the Academy Awards, the organization that dispenses those awards—the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences—has yet to be understood. To date, no one has ever produced a thorough account of the Academy’s birth and its awkward adolescence, and the few reports on those periods from outside have always had a glancing, cursory quality. Yet the story of the Academy’s creation and development is a critical piece of Hollywood’s history.Now that story is finally being told. Bruce Davis, executive director of the Academy for over twenty years, was given unprecedented access to its archives, and the result is a revealing and compelling story of the men and women, famous and infamous, who shaped one of the best-known organizations in the world.Davis writes about the Academy with as intimate a view of its workings, its awards, and its world-famous membership. Thorough and long overdue, The Academy and the Award fills a crucial gap in Hollywood history.

About Bruce Davis

Bruce Davis joined the staff of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1981, after serving as chairperson of the theater department at Juniata College. He was the organization’s executive director for twenty years, overseeing the establishment of one of the world’s great film archives and finding handsome new quarters for the Academy’s Herrick Library. He has described his tenure as “thirty years among the masters of an art form.”

About Jim Meskimen

Jim Meskimen is a stage, film, and television actor who has appeared in many well-known movies and television shows. He acted in Apollo 13 and Frost/Nixon for director Ron Howard, both of which were nominated for Best Picture Oscars. His television appearances include The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Friends, Lie to Me, Criminal Minds, and Parks and Recreation. He is also a painter, award-winning audiobook narrator, and audiobook director for Galaxy Audio.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Dave on September 24, 2022

A fascinating and exhaustive history of the first fifty years of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences by long-time AMPAS executive director Bruce Davis. Unfortunately, at times, exhaustive proves the operative word, with so much detail about the political infighting and impact of external......more

Goodreads review by David on November 09, 2022

Actually 4.5 stars. I never have had more than a passing interest in the Academy Awards and had only the dimmest of ideas about where they came from and, absent a pretty big nudge, would not have thought about picking up a hefty book about this stuff. But I enjoy history in general and really like g......more

Goodreads review by Ali on November 08, 2022

This history of the early years of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences looks academic, but it's written by an Academy insider (former executive director) who clearly loves old Hollywood. It has all the precision of an academic book, but also some of the most hilarious, juicy footnotes I'......more

Goodreads review by Jeremy on October 30, 2024

Did you know that the Academy Awards were an afterthought? Or that the statuette itself was originally by sand casting? Or that there are Bulova branded Academy Award watches out there? Now you do. All this and more are detailed in The Academy and the Award by Bruce Davis, a former executive directo......more

Goodreads review by Michael on December 23, 2024

This will be viewed as a definitive book in Academy Award history – Davis compiles an aggressively exhaustive recount of the Academy's origins and evolution over the subsequent decades, packed with details and historical correlations. It's nearly akin to reading a text book, so depending on the topi......more

Quotes

“A tremendously in-depth history.” Hollywood Reporter

“[Davis’s] academic background and years at the Academy made him the ideal writer for this invaluable book.” Variety

“This engrossing behind-the-scenes look at…how the Hollywood machine works is explained in insightful and sometimes deliciously dishy detail.” Town & Country

“Consistently colorful and often novelistic in its vivid scene-setting and descriptive detail.” Washington Examiner

“How did the Oscar get its name?…Almost as intriguing are the sections about the extremely short presidential term of Bette Davis and an explanation of how the Oscar statuette was designed.” Seattle Book Review

“Film historians and others digging for a deeper vein of Oscar knowledge than mere trivia will turn up many nuggets in The Academy and the Award.” US News & World Report

“Not the usual breezy picture book, this is a meticulously researched and eye-opening account…Surprisingly this is only the first truly in-depth history.” Boston Herald

“Focuses on the organization’s formative years, ‘an early life that deserves a bildungsroman.’”  New York Times

Add to Cart
Add to Wish List