Hollywood High
A Totally Epic, Way Opinionated History of Teen Movies
Published on 19. June 2025
Book
Hardback
384 pages
978-1-5011-8117-7 (ISBN)
Description
From a longtime Vanity Fair writer and editor, a delightfully entertaining, intelligent, and illuminating history and tribute to teen movies-from Rebel Without a Cause to Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and on to John Hughes, Mean Girls,The Hunger Games, and more.
What influence did Francis Ford Coppola have on George Lucas's American Graffiti? And Lucas on John Singleton's Boyz n the Hood? How does teenage sexuality in Fast Times at Ridgemont High compare to Twilight? Which teen movies pass the Bechdel test? Why is Mean Girls actually the last great teen film of the 20th century?
In the same way that Peter Biskind's Easy Riders, Raging Bulls connects the films of the 1970s to the period's cultural upheaval, and David Hadju's Positively 4th Street tells the story of the sixties through the emergence of folk music, Bruce Handy's Hollywood High situates iconic teen movies within their times and reveals the intriguing stories, artists, and passions behind their creation. These films aren't merely beloved stories; they reflect teens' growing economic and cultural influence, societal panics, and shifting perceptions of youth in America.
Much more than a nostalgia trip, Hollywood High is a lively, provocative, and affectionate cultural history, spanning nearly one hundred years. Handy, an acclaimed journalist and critic who spent two decades at Vanity Fair, examines the defining films of each generation and builds connections between them. From the Andy Hardy classics (1937-1946) to the iconic Rebel Without a Cause (1955); Beach Party series (1963-1968); American Graffiti (1973); Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982); the John Hughes touchstones Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, and Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1984-1986); Boyz N the Hood (1991); Mean Girls (2004); the Twilight saga (2008-2012); and The Hunger Games series (2012-2015); this is a captivating deep dive into the world of teen movies that captures their sweeping history and influence. We'll hear from icons James Dean, Annette Funicello, George Lucas, Amy Heckerling, John Hughes, Molly Ringwald, John Singleton, Tina Fey, and Kristen Stewart, and discover why the most timeless teen movies resonate across generations.
What influence did Francis Ford Coppola have on George Lucas's American Graffiti? And Lucas on John Singleton's Boyz n the Hood? How does teenage sexuality in Fast Times at Ridgemont High compare to Twilight? Which teen movies pass the Bechdel test? Why is Mean Girls actually the last great teen film of the 20th century?
In the same way that Peter Biskind's Easy Riders, Raging Bulls connects the films of the 1970s to the period's cultural upheaval, and David Hadju's Positively 4th Street tells the story of the sixties through the emergence of folk music, Bruce Handy's Hollywood High situates iconic teen movies within their times and reveals the intriguing stories, artists, and passions behind their creation. These films aren't merely beloved stories; they reflect teens' growing economic and cultural influence, societal panics, and shifting perceptions of youth in America.
Much more than a nostalgia trip, Hollywood High is a lively, provocative, and affectionate cultural history, spanning nearly one hundred years. Handy, an acclaimed journalist and critic who spent two decades at Vanity Fair, examines the defining films of each generation and builds connections between them. From the Andy Hardy classics (1937-1946) to the iconic Rebel Without a Cause (1955); Beach Party series (1963-1968); American Graffiti (1973); Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982); the John Hughes touchstones Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, and Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1984-1986); Boyz N the Hood (1991); Mean Girls (2004); the Twilight saga (2008-2012); and The Hunger Games series (2012-2015); this is a captivating deep dive into the world of teen movies that captures their sweeping history and influence. We'll hear from icons James Dean, Annette Funicello, George Lucas, Amy Heckerling, John Hughes, Molly Ringwald, John Singleton, Tina Fey, and Kristen Stewart, and discover why the most timeless teen movies resonate across generations.
Reviews / Votes
"An essential contribution . . . [Handy] writes with the lively appreciation of a fan rather than with condescension or academic pedantry, combining astute cultural analysis with fascinating trivia. [He] expertly weaves together 90 years of screen stories with their off-screen inspirations and echos."-Kyle Smith, Wall Street Journal "A well-informed conversation starter that takes an often-maligned genre seriously . . . good, smart, occasionally naughty adolescent fun."
-Kirkus Reviews "Astute and spirited . . . [Handy] is a clear-eyed critic."
-Hillary Kelly, The Atlantic "A wildly entertaining chronicle of the films that have portrayed and defined America teenage-dom."
-Vanity Fair "Filled with fascinating details . . . Hollywood High is an absolute delight."
-Nell Minow, rogerebert.com "Well-informed and wonderfully subjective . . . A thoroughly entertaining and fascinating look at some of the United States' favorite teen movies."
-Library Journal "Dishy and droll, Bruce Handy's Hollywood High is a total blast, an insightful, beautifully written investigation into the origins of the teen film, from bobby-soxers to juvenile delinquents, Plastics to vampire victims. A satisfying blend of shrewd critical analysis and Tinseltown scuttlebutt."
-Emily Nussbaum, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for criticism and author of Cue the Sun!: The Invention of Reality TV "As fun as it is smart, as deeply researched as it is charming, Hollywood High's the definitive work on a quintessentially American movie genre. Bruce Handy provides the juicy gossip and deeper resonances of every film in the canon--from the middle-class middle-American utopia of the blockbuster Andy Hardy franchise during the Great Depression and World War II to the dystopia of the blockbuster Hunger Games franchise of our present era. An illuminating pleasure."
-Kurt Andersen, cocreator of Command Z and author of Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire "You don't need to be a teenager to admire this smart, funny, and altogether original take on teen movies that turns out to be a riveting cultural history. Handy convincingly elevates the genre to that of the western as a purveyor of national myths."
-Peter Biskind, author of Easy Riders, Raging Bulls and Pandora's Box PRAISE FOR WILD THINGS:
"A terrific rumpus of a journey into the world of illustrated and young reader classics . . . Wild Things makes a convincing case for reading children's books as an adult." -The A.V. Club
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Publishing group
Simon & Schuster
Product notice
Rough front
Illustrations
4-C endpapers; rough front;
Dimensions
Height: 236 mm
Width: 158 mm
Thickness: 36 mm
Weight
636 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-5011-8117-7 (9781501181177)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
05/2025
Avid Reader Press
€14.83
Available for download
Person
Bruce Handy is a journalist, critic, humorist, and children's book author. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, The New York Times, and The Atlantic, among other publications. His book Wild Things: The Joys of Reading Children's Literature as an Adult was published in 2017. He is also the author of five picture books, including The Happiness of a Dog with a Ball in Its Mouth and What If One Day..., both of which were named New York Times Best Children's Books. He began his career as a writer and editor at Spy magazine, and also spent a season (1992-1993) writing for Saturday Night Live.