popular thinking

MUST LOVE DOGS: I held off on this posting because I knew that my story had gotten cut for space and wanted to include some of Claire Cook's other quotes, but I've been unable to find them. In the meantime, enjoy the brief fruits from my interview with Cook about how her book got adapted into a big Hollywood date movie.

Romantic comedies are so by the book.
In the case of Must Love Dogs, however, the film starring Diane Lane and John Cusack strays significantly from the bestseller by Scituate author Claire Cook.
Cook couldn't be happier.
"It's great,'' the 50-year-old said yesterday from her South Shore home. "How lucky am I? Every single novelist I know would be thrilled to be having this experience.''
Cook said she and director Gary David Goldberg, who wrote the adapted screenplay, "became writer buddies very early'' in the process. He shared various drafts of the script. She visited the set twice and watched the collaborative process add new layers to her story. And Cook learned to separate herself from it all.
"I came at it from a place where books and movies are such different forms. I don't think a good adaptation is necessarily the most literal one.''
When she saw the finished film for the first time last week in Los Angeles with a packed premiere audience, "halfway through, I completely forgot it was my book or his movie. I completely got into it. Then I realized, 'Hey! That's mine!'''
There will be a touch of Hollywood on the South Shore this weekend. The Scituate Playhouse and Front Street Book Shop host a sold-out premiere party Friday. Similar bashes follow Saturday in New Bedford and next week in Osterville and Dennis.
"I think our dog (Daisy Mei, a shar-pei/lab cross) is starting to get a swelled head, but the rest of us are doing fine,'' Cook said.

Cook particularly loved seeing Jordana Spiro's portrayal of Sherry as well as seeing Christopher Plummer recite the poem, "Brown Penny." She didn't mind having "Marshbury" (fictional combo of Marshfield and Duxbury) swapped out for Southern California, or any of the other changes, such as making her newspaper personals into online ads. Most of all, Cook is grateful for all of the renewed exposure the film gives not only this novel, but also her upcoming works.

Read the story online: Scituate author unleashes praise for adaptation (Boston Herald)
Claire Cook's online home is here.
Must Love Dogs: The official movie site.