As If!: The Oral History of Clueless as told by Amy Heckerling and the Cast and Crew

The book was in great shape and arrived promptly. Thanks!

This was great. I read Jen Chaney's article on the oral history of the "Suck and Blow" scene a couple years ago and have yearned for more. Color me pleased that while rounding up all new think pieces on the relevance of Clueless on its 20th anniversary I came across this book two days before it was released. I pre-ordered it and devoured it as soon as I opened it. I love movie trivia, and this was like a book full of factual gold for me. The oral history format is a quick read, and it's a wonderful look into how the main and supporting cast as well as crew and production experienced the movie and remember it today. Before reading I felt like I knew almost everything there was to know about Clueless, but this was a treasure trove of delightful anecdotes I never could have dreamed of wanting to know, but am so glad that I now do. It is *very* comprehensive. If you are a Clueless super-fan, this is a must. It's basically the grown-up version of "Cher's Guide to Whatever," the essential Clueless companion.

Written in sections of interest with comments by virtually all of the players in the movie, this is a great summation of creating magic on film. It's always intended but rarely happens and in this case, it definitely did. Alicia Silverstone was so cute and perfect for this part. I remain amazed that she wasn't a star of Julia Roberts' level of fame. And of course my personal favorite Stacey Dash to this day remains absolutely stunning should also have had much greater fame.But lightening struck here by a great director and a wide eyed cast most getting their first taste of fame and no idea how this would make them famous for life. If you like/loved the movie, READ THIS BOOK! It's a great revisit and will have you smiling for days till you finish.

Jen talked to dozens of people to uncover some really fun and fascinating info. A must-read for fans of the film.

As a Clueless crazed child of the 90's I was very excited to read this book. Sadly the content does not match the premise.It feels like the author scraped this together in a few hours paying very little care or attention to flow, style or editing. The interviews read like they were written verbatim with scarce editing to make them readable (or interesting). Where it really struggles however is in the passages written by the author which are basically sound like the author is parroting some opinion she overheard in passing. The chapters relating to the costumes are particilary offensive with the author pretty much suggesting that Clueless invented ingenue style. Mona May's costume design may be flawless but it's not original and any full buff can see many inspirations appropriated for the movie. In the late 80's early 90's The Riot Girl movement had already adopted Mary Janes, Baby Doll dresses and bright pop colors as their uniform. WAY before that in the 60's was the La Nouvelle Vague movement and Twiggy vehicle The Boyfriend, it would be hard not to see inspirations reflected here.The author is supposedly a pop culture/movie writer and yet makes no critical allusion to other films.On further research it appears the work was cobbled together from a series of interviews the author conducted for a paid piece of journalism she was writing. It reads very much like that. Clueless is a masterwork of film and an oral history should have been treated with much more respect, attention and skill.I don't think it was worth the cover price. True fans of the movie who don't mind sloppy editing and bad writing will find some great quotes in here however.

The person that this was given too loved this gift. Apparently it's a pretty quick read because she was done by a week's time.

It is the 200th anniversary of the publication of Jane Austen's book EMMA, on which the story of CLUELESS is based, and on the 25th anniversary of the movie, it is most interesting to see the connections through interviews and discussions with those involved in the making of CLUELESS. Austen fans, literary scholars, and film buffs alike would find this book entertaining. .

If you are a die-hard "Clueless" fan, this is totally your read! This goes into terminology used, where it came from, what books the writer read that influenced the film (deep into Jane Austin), etc. I am only halfway through & I am definitely enjoying myself. I will have to pass this onto my best friend when I am finished with it :o)

Inside of the book is perfect, and delivery was prompt, but as you can see from the photo, the ‘brand new’ book has some serious water damage to the cover, which is really disappointing. Luckily the book is just for me and not a gift, but I suggest the order packers take a bit more care over stock selection.

Bought as a gift for a clueless lover and it was perfect

One of my favourite films of the 90s. Can watch it many times, love the humour, writing, soundtrack and acting.

Bought for my friend She was very pleased

An amazing book for fans of Clueless. It has a lot of insider information about how such an iconic movie was made, from screenwriting and casting, to the soundtrack and a revision of iconic scenes. It is also a very interesting look at how a movie of this scale is made. A very interesting and fun read!