But Have You Read the Book? Romance Edition: 40 Love Stories That Inspired Our Favorite Films

Essayist Lopez follows up But Have You Read the Book?: 52 Literary Gems That Inspired Our Favorite Films with an enjoyable, straightforward look at how some of the most quintessential love stories have been adapted to film. Stretching from 1921 to 2015, she covers Margaret Mitchell’s 1936 novel Gone with the Wind, which “every studio in town” turned down until Darryl Zanuck of Twentieth Century Fox agreed to make the movie, which required paring down the 1,000-plus-page novel by cutting character backstories; the adaptation of Truman Capote’s Breakast at Tiffany’s into the 1961 film, which refashioned the book’s nebulous conclusion—protagonist Holly moves to Brazil and is never heard from again—into a more traditional happy ending; and 2001’s Bridget Jones’s Diary, which “cleans up” the messier, more vapid protagonist of Helen Fielding’s 1996 novel, in which Bridget spends more time counting calories and hunting for a man than growing as a person. Lopez’s brief summaries are entertaining and energetic, though the trivia—especially for the more recent movies—will feel familiar to cinephiles. Still, this has plenty of fun moments. (July)