Maureen Ryan's expose of Hollywood's toxic workplace culture is extremely timely as the WGA/SAG-AFTRA strike continues. Even if you're familiar with some of the issues the strike is about, like increasingly precarious work and rock-bottom residuals, this book puts it in context with other systemic challenges like harassment and discrimination; the myth that toxic behavior is a necessary price to pay for creative genius; and issues with the way Hollywood represents women, BIPOC characters, and characters from other equity-deserving groups.

The book is structured roughly into two parts, with the first focused on highlighting these issues, largely through case studies of the atmospheres behind the scenes - and problems with on-screen representation - in shows like Sleepy Hollow, Lost and Saturday Night Live. It's well-researched and makes an impact, though I would have liked to see the examples more clearly tied together by more systemic analysis of common themes.

The second part of the book explores possible solutions to the problems raised, such as studios adopting impartial, credible, anonymous reporting tools for their employees to report toxic or harassing behaviour in the workplace. A lot is crammed into this section, including a crash course on how to write better queer characters and characters with disabilities, which feels quite rushed through.

Overall I really appreciated Ryan's research and the timeliness of the material. Though I wanted more systemic analysis I still recommend the book as a good overview of what's going wrong (and where there are things going right) in Hollywood.