Review | As If: The Oral History of Clueless as told by Amy Heckerling and the Cast and Crew

As If: The Oral History of Clueless as told by Amy Heckerling and the Cast and Crew by Jen Chaney
July 2015 by Touchstone
336 pages
Four stars


"Acclaimed pop culture journalist Jen Chaney shares an oral history of the cult classic film Clueless in the ultimate written resource about one of the most influential, revered, and enduring movies of the 1990s—in celebration of its twentieth anniversary.
Will we ever get tired of watching Cher navigate Beverly Hills high school and discover true love in the movie Clueless? As if! Written by Amy Heckerling and starring Alicia Silverstone, Clueless is an enduring comedy classic that remains one of the most streamed movies on Netflix, Amazon, and iTunes even twenty years after its release. Inspired by Jane Austen's Emma, Clueless is an everlasting pop culture staple.

In the first book of its kind, Jen Chaney has compiled an oral history of the making of this iconic film using recollections and insights collected from key cast and crew members involved in the making of this endlessly quotable, ahead-of-its-time production. Get a behind-the-scenes look at how Emma influenced Heckerling to write the script, how the stars were cast into each of their roles, what was involved in creating the costumes, sets, and soundtrack, and much more.

This wonderful twentieth anniversary commemoration includes never-before-seen photos, original call sheets, casting notes, and production diary extracts. With supplemental critical insights by the author and other notable movie experts about why Clueless continues to impact pop culture,As If! will leave fans new and old totally buggin' as they understand why this beloved film is timeless. " -Goodreads



This book was so fun! I'm not a diehard Clueless fan but it was an iconic film of my childhood and I've always loved it. This was just such a fun read and it went by really quickly. I read it in between other books and during my lunch breaks and I think it was perfect for that. I didn't feel bored or uninterested at any point since I was reading it sparingly. 

Some of my favorite parts of the book was learning about how the actors were cast. I was very young when the film came out, so the only reason I knew most of the people in the film was because they were in the film. I didn't know that Alicia Silverstone was the notorious girl from the Aerosmith videos and that pretty much everyone wanted her for Cher. It was interesting to see Amy's point of view on why she wanted one person or another. Everyone that was cast was perfect for their character in my opinion.

I also really loved hearing about how the scenes were shot. The way the book is laid out gives you a quick summary on the scene and then different members of the cast and crew give their insight on a scene. Most of them are very noteworthy scenes, like Cher's debate in the beginning or when she failed her driving test. I watched the movie again after I finished the book and it was just so cool to have behind the scenes knowledge. It really brought everything together for me.

Another special part of the book is Amy Heckerling's Clueless dictionary. One of the things that has always stood out to me the most about Clueless is the language. It's very unique and I think it really captured some of the 90's lingo. She explains how some terms came to be for the film that maybe were not popular beforehand. Some things she just made up herself or borrowed from groups of teens or other sources. 

I would recommend this book to anyone that is a pop culture lover. It was such a fun book and I have a greater appreciation for the movie, cast and crew. They put so much work into the film and it turned out amazing. Amy Heckerling is amazing and I have much more respect for her after reading this book.