How to read Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

It would be easy to assume Tarantino's book version of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood would be unreadable nonsense - it's the screenwriter's first serious attempt at a novel, and he's never made any secret that he struggles with things like spelling and grammar.

But the novel - which may or may not have had some heavy duty editing work done to it - is a cracking read. Like his movies, it meanders all over the show, but that's all part of the charm. It's incredibly earnest and funny and mean (although reading it straight after the latest James Ellroy does leave Tarantino's meanness looking a bit small and puny), and I'd definitely read a straight Western novel by the dude.

And Tarantino has the best ear for uncanny dialogue on the planet, which comes especially handy for almost all the Cliff and Rick parts. Because you can straight up hear Kurt Russell's voice narrating those sections, with all the weird digressions, familiarity and comfort of the spoken word.

It lacks the endless sadness that the end of the movie comes with, but it's not making any attempt to make that kind of emotional connection, it's going for different emotions altogether.