In the first two decades of the talkie era, Ben Hecht (1894-1964) was considered the Hollywood screenwriter, penning such classics as Wuthering Heights, Spellbound, and Notorious even as he did uncredited work on dozens of other films. First published in 1954, Hecht's memoir reawakened interest in this literary jack-of-all-trades, who shares his impressions of big-city newsrooms, postwar Germany, 1920s New York intellectuals and artists, and golden-age Hollywood. Here too are Hecht's anecdotes from his days working with the Marx Brothers, authors Sherwood Anderson and Dorothy Parker, actress Fanny Brice, and producer David O. Selznick.