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Tardiness is not something you can do all on your own. Many, many people contributed to my tardiness. I’d like to thank my parents, for never giving me a ride to school; the LA city bus driver, for taking a chance on an unknown kid; and last but not least—what, you honestly thought I could resist reprinting part of Travis Birkenstock’s tardiness speech in the acknowledgments of this book? As if!
But in all seriousness, what Travis says, in part, is also true of writing an oral history. It’s not something you can do all on your own. Many, many people contributed.
Let’s start at the beginning: I am so thankful to John Sellers, my editor at Vulture (and these days, at Esquire.com), who assigned me the Val party oral history that would, eventually, lead to this book. He was extraordinarily supportive and helpful as I wrote this and I appreciated it enormously. I also want to give shout-outs to Josh Wolk and Gilbert Cruz, my other editors at Vulture when the Clueless piece and book project came into being, who were highly encouraging as well.
If there’s an LA city bus driver in this situation, it has to be my agent, Allison Hunter, who is not only originally from California, but also took a chance on an unknown kid by suggesting that I should write a book about Clueless. Not only did she make this whole oral history happen, she also used the phrase “I think everything is going to work out” more times than I can count during the occasionally stressful writing process. Every time she said it, she sounded so calm and confident that I always believed her. Turns out she also was right. Thank you, Allison, for everything.
I feel very, very lucky to have had Lauren Spiegel at Touchstone as my editor. Lauren was always flexible, enthusiastic, and savvy about how to make the book the best it could be. She also knew just when to pepper an e-mail with a Clueless reference, which is a must-have skill for every successful young woman. My thanks also to Miya Kunangai, Jessica Roth, and everyone at Touchstone and Simon & Schuster who worked to make the book the shiny, happy thing it is, from the eagle-eyed copy editors to the inspired designers to everyone in publicity and marketing who couldn’t wait to start spreading the word about As If!
Of course, there would have been no word to spread if it weren’t for the many, many sources who willingly and generously agreed to be interviewed as part of this project. I am forever grateful to each and every one of them. There are a few, in particular, to whom I want to express extra gratitude. First and foremost, my heartfelt thanks to Amy Heckerling. Without her, there would be no Clueless and, obviously, no book. She devoted hours of her time to answering numerous, often hyperspecific questions and always did so with patience, good humor, and total humility. Thank you so, so much, Amy.
My thanks to everyone on the Clueless team who went above and beyond by sharing old photos, tracking down information, and doing whatever they could, without reservation, to assist me with the book. In particular: Mona May, Richard Graves (and Ben Waller and Ralph Bertelle at Paramount), Danny Silverberg, Alan Friedman, Adam Schroeder, Marcia Ross, Dicky Barrett, and Nicole Bilderback. I’m incredibly appreciative of the contributions from every single cast member, but especially those who carefully answered e-mail follow-up questions (Elisa Donovan); carved out time to talk for quite a while on a Saturday (Paul Rudd); answered the phone at ludicrously early hours (Twink Caplan); spoke at great length with no hesitation and tremendous candor (Justin Walker); and kindly had lunch with me and picked up the bill (Wallace Shawn). Many thanks also to the experts: the Jane Austen scholars, the musicians (ladies of Luscious Jackson, you rock!), journalists, Clueless fans, and industry insiders, including Sherry Lansing, Carrie Frazier, and Arthur Cohen, whose insights proved invaluable.
In many cases, interviews would not have happened if a middleman or middlewoman, publicist, manager, sibling, spouse, daughter, or, in one case, Amy Friedman and Molly Winston at Theater J in Washington, DC, hadn’t faciliated and helped put wheels in motion. Your efforts meant so much.
One of the hardest things about doing an oral history like this one is—and here’s where all the journalists start nodding in weary recognition—all the transcribing. Desiré Moses and Katherine Reis Williams provided much-needed assistance by transcribing many interviews from spoken word into written. Ladies: you single-handedly saved my fingertips, and at least some of my sanity.
I specifically quote from several books and other sources in As If! but want to acknowledge the ones that proved most useful and edifying in my research, including: Jane Austen and Co., edited by Suzanne R. Pucci and James Thompson; Jane Austen in Hollywood, edited by Linda Troost and Sayre Greenfield; Teen Movies: American Youth on Screen by Timothy Shary; X vs. Y: A Culture War, a Love Story by Eve and Leonora Epstein; The Rise of Enlightened Sexism: How Pop Culture Took Us from Girl Power to Girls Gone Wild by Susan J. Douglas; myriad Entertainment Weekly, New York Times, and New York magazine articles that have been written about Clueless over the years; the special features on the Blu-ray release of Clueless; and, of course, Emma by Jane Austen.
I owe one forever to Neeraj Bewtra and Barb Deli, who hooked me up with a place to stay while doing book-related research in New York. Many thanks to them and all of my friends who listened to me jibber-jabber about Clueless, including Leah Kramer, Sarah Gershman, Patrick Kraich, Barbara Berlin, and Neil Cantor, who were always extra-interested in knowing how the book was going. Thanks also to my freelance writing support group, Libby Copeland, Tammy Kennon, and Liz Kelly Nelson, who are the best therapists/cheerleaders an author could have.
Finally, the family. Thank you to my parents, Don and Linda, who fostered my love of reading and writing and would have been so excited to read this; to my brother and permanent life coach, Tim Chaney, my sister-in-law, Monica, and my nephew, Drew; and to my husband Rob, who kept the household running, switched up his schedule when interviews threw monkey wrenches into our plans, and continued to prove that he’s the most generous human being on the planet, which is super-convenient since I’m married to him. Last but in no way least: thank you to my son, Luke, who tolerated the fact that I talked a lot about Clueless even though he’s not old enough to see it yet. Thanks for being understanding when Mommy said she had to work on this (and she said that a lot). In two or three years, you can finally see the movie that inspired this book. I’m pretty sure you’re going to love it.
—Jen Chaney