Rating: 
Summary: excellent
Review: A really wonderful book, filled with endless offerings of wisdom, clear and original insights, not to mention lots of juicy tidbits from a real player. Bravo, write another please!
Rating: 
Summary: Flawed but Important
Review: Anyone not new to or about to enter the industrial bone-crusher of Hollywood should probably take a pass on this book. But anyone looking to make Hollywood a career that hasn't grown up with or in the business needs all the help possible, and this book is a must for anyone in that category. Mind you, it's not the first or last word on building a career in film. What Obst does is tell her story and at the same time attempt to impart what wisdom she picked up along the way. Think of it as a long lunch at The Ivy listening to someone who has been there and done that, and you will find Hello, He Lied as an important, insightful part of your film education.
Rating: 
Summary: Industry knowledge minus self knowledge equals this book.
Review: As this book proves, Linda Obst is obviously intelligent and well-educated. She must have gotten A's on all of her term papers in school. Yet her technical skills as a writer expose her complete lack of emotional depth and put "Hello, He Lied" right up there with "The Kid Stays in the Picture" as two of the most self-serving autobiographical whine-a-thons ever written. At least Robert Evans had some interesting war stories to tell. Obst droning on about "One Fine Day" just gets tedious. This book also bears a strong resemblance to "You'll Never Eat Lunch in This Town Again," in that Obst lets her confessional veer into vagueness whenever details might cast her performance as a producer (or human being) in a bad light. This book's primary function seems to be to deflect blame. Most of the stories here have been told before, the ones that haven't aren't all that interesting and, as other reviewers have mentioned, there are better books on producing out there. Pass.
Rating: 
Summary: Learn to manuver like Obst, and world will be yours.
Review: I bought the book to learn how Hollywood works. But I learned more than I bargained for. Obst gives a practical guide for dealing with the most nasty, egomaniacal, bitchy, insecure fools on the planet. If we treat everyone with as much undue respect and courtesy as Obst, we will surely succeed at whatever we pursue. Seriously. Good luck, Lynda, and thanks for the advice.
Rating:
Summary: ... Or How to Make It in Hollywood as a Woman
Review: I happened across Hello, He Lied in a used bookstore, and seeing as I'm obsessed with movies and movie-making, I thought I'd give it a shot. The book is smartly written, and very funny. I read it in two sittings. The best thing about this book is that it is written for women by a woman. It has a lot of ideas and tips I haven't seen in other "how to make it in Hollywood"-type books. Most tend to ignore the sexism that still exists there. However, Linda Obst is honest and straightforward. Read this book, whether you want to make it in Hollywood or if you're just a huge movie fan. It's a great read.
Rating:
Summary: A brilliant, honest, superbly written analysis of Hollywood
Review: I'm a two-time Oscar winning songwriter ("The Morning After" and "We May Never Love Like This gain") so I have considerable knowledge of the film industry and how it works. Lynda Obst has written an amazingly concise, witty, penetrating study of Hollywood. Her candor is refreshing and her advice invaluable. Aside from the gems of information she passes along, she writes in a clear, articulate, graceful style. I've re-read "Hello He Lied" three times, and plan to comb through it again for more insights from an extraordinarily gifted individual.
Rating:
Summary: Woman In Hollywood's Trenches
Review: Linda Obst has written a book that gives a good idea at how moviemaking is like most other corporate businesses: it can be hard, frustrating, and full of office politics. This is one of the few books I've seen that tells about the movie business from a female point of view.
Rating:
Summary: Good insight into Hollywood and people in general.
Review: Lynda is a major motion picture producers and she willingly shares her knowledge. It's a nice little "manual" for coping with the creative process. It lacks the nastiness of Julia Phillips' book "You'll never have lunch in this town again," but that's what makes it good. It's more of a how you can do better book than explaining her past mistakes
Rating: 
Summary: She's no David O. Selznick!
Review: Lynda Obst seems to think she deserves laurels merely for navigating the shoals of the Hollywood swamp. Certainly it has made her rich and successful. And, undoubtedly, there is a place for gamesmanship - but watch out when it becomes the be-all and the end-all. All the greats, Selznick, Thalberg, Samuel Goldwyn, Daryl Zanuck - they knew the business inside out, every aspect of filmmaking - and they left a legacy of great pictures. What will Obst bequeath to the world? "Bad Girls"? You'd be far better off reading one of the many excellent (recent) bios of such greats as Billy Wilder, William Wyler, John Ford, David Lean and others. They give you a greater sense of why filmmaking is such an important force at the end of the millenium.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant, touching and thoughtful and compassionate!
Review: Rarely do we get the opportunity to share such profound experiences and insights in the brutal world of Hollywood filmmaking as HELLO, HE LIED. As accurate, tough and blunt as Ms. Obst is in her descriptions and advice - she is equally passionate and compassionate. This is so rare in this business. At the heart of this book is a woman who wants to make a difference with the movies she makes. It is clear that profit and greed are indeed NOT her bottom line. She takes responsibility as a producer and is keenly aware of the impact that her films and the films of her colleagues can make. It was such a joy reading this book and feeling that she indeed wants her readers to understand the perils of this business along with the joys. And essentially, she is saying that it is worth it all if indeed she has touched one person, make one viewer aware, opened another viewer's heart. It is rare to read of a producer who is truly an artist. This is a book that I highly recommend to all who aspire to be in the film business on any level. I know it is one that I will read again and again. It is that dense with insight and inspirations.
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