Editing William Goldman (section)

===Novelist===
Goldman did not originally intend to become a screenwriter.  His main interests were poetry, short stories, and novels.  In 1956, he completed a master's thesis at Columbia University on the comedy of manners in America.<ref>{{Cite web |title=William Goldman Papers, 1949–1997 |url= http://findingaids.cul.columbia.edu/ead/nnc-rb/ldpd_5018084/dsc/3 | website = Columbia.edu |publisher= Columbia University}}</ref>

His older brother [[James Goldman]] was a playwright and screenwriter. They shared an apartment in New York with their friend [[John Kander]]. Also an alumnus of Oberlin, Kander was working on his Ph.D. in music, and the Goldman brothers wrote the [[libretto]] for his dissertation. Kander was the composer of more than a dozen musicals, including ''[[Cabaret (musical)|Cabaret]]'' and ''[[Chicago (musical)|Chicago]]'', and all three of them eventually won Academy Awards.<ref name=queenan/> On June 25, 1956, Goldman began writing his first novel ''[[The Temple of Gold]]'', completing it in less than three weeks.<ref name=cnnchat/> He sent the manuscript to agent [[Transatlantic Review (1959–1977)|Joe McCrindle]], who agreed to represent him; McCrindle submitted the novel to Knopf, who agreed to publish it if he doubled the length. It sold well enough in paperback to launch Goldman on his career.{{sfn|Egan|2014|p=18}} He wrote his second novel ''[[Your Turn to Curtsy, My Turn to Bow]]'' (1958) in a little more than a week. It was followed by ''[[Soldier in the Rain]]'' (1960), based on Goldman's time in the military. It sold well in paperback and was turned into [[Soldier in the Rain|a film]], though Goldman had no involvement in the screenplay.