Book excerpt: Quentin Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood"

After earning Academy Awards for his screenplays for "Pulp Fiction" and "Django Unchained," as well as a nomination for writing "Inglourious Basterds," filmmaker Quentin Tarantino earned another screenplay nomination for his 2019 period film, "Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood." A witty and densely-plotted exploration of the film and television industry in the late 1960s, the story told of a fading TV western star, Rick Dalton (played by Leonardo DiCaprio), whose path will cross with that of his next-door neighbor, rising star Sharon Tate – and a trio of Charles Manson acolytes armed for trouble.

Tarantino's screenplay was actually born as a novel which he'd spent years writing, before wrangling the story into a two-and-a-half-hour movie, which would be nominated for 10 Oscars and win two (including for Brad Pitt as Best Supporting Actor).  Now published, "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" (HarperCollins) is Tarantino's first book, expanding upon the characters and nostalgic air of the movie, and luxuriating in the freedom from the dictates of running time.