William Goldman

William Goldman (1931–2018) was an American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter. Born in Chicago, he studied at Oberlin College and earned a master’s degree from Columbia University. His first novel, The Temple of Gold, appeared in 1957, before his career expanded into theatre and film.

Goldman moved easily among adventure, comedy, suspense, and horror. His novels include Marathon Man and Magic, both of which he adapted for the screen. The Princess Bride is his most playful book: a romantic adventure framed as an abridgment of a supposedly older work by the invented S. Morgenstern. Sword fights, revenge, giants, and true love share the page with interruptions that question how stories are edited and remembered.

His original screenplay for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and his adaptation of All the President’s Men each won an Academy Award. He also adapted The Princess Bride for Rob Reiner’s 1987 film and wrote the screenplay for Misery. Beyond fiction and film, Adventures in the Screen Trade became a notable account of Hollywood from a working screenwriter’s perspective.

Start with The Princess Bride. Readers who know the film will recognize Westley, Buttercup, and Inigo Montoya, but the novel adds a mischievous narrator and an elaborate literary joke that the screen version necessarily trims. For a darker second choice, try Marathon Man.