Cleanin' Up the Town: Remembering Ghostbusters Hardcover Book Review

Premiere Publishing recently released the Cleanin' Up the Town: Remembering Ghostbusters: A Cast and Crew's Memoir of Ghostbusters hardcover book by Claire Bueno in the United Kingdom. Read on to find out more about it...

Before I get into this, I would like to send a HUGE THANK YOU to all of the Spook Central VIPs for providing the funds that allowed me to buy this item and review it for all of you. This item was NOT provided by the manufacturer.

The official synopsis for the 6.25" x 9.5" book, as written on the front flap of the dust jacket:

The extensive interviews with cast and crew are presented here for the first time in their entirety. Including a wealth of material from the cutting-room floor. Actors: Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver and Annie Potts, alongside director Ivan Reitman, producers Joe Medjuck and Michael C. Gross, visual effects gurus Richard Edlund and John Bruno and many more, make up a collection of 56 contributors who share previously untold stories from the making of the cinematic classic. In CLEANIN' UP THE TOWN: Remembering Ghostbusters, a cast and crew's memoir of Ghostbusters are presented around the personal story of the making of the ambitious documentary.

The independent production was 12 years in the making, and led the UK based siblings, director Anthony Bueno and producer Claire Bueno, on their own odyssey to get the film across the finishing line.

Having also secured new interviews including Jason Reitman, Reginald VelJohnson and Joe Cirillo, this is your invite to nestle among 56 members of the cast and crew, as you're taken scene by scene through the making of the '84 classic comedy horror, as told in their own words.

The part proclaiming that the interviews "are presented here for the first time in their entirety" is untrue. It is a holdover from the book's original sub-subtitle: "The Full Documentary Transcripts:. Not that the final title is any better.

Cleanin' Up the Town: Remembering Ghostbusters: A Cast and Crew's Memoir of Ghostbusters... You know your title is bad when it has TWO subtitles! The bigger problem, besides the length - did Abby and Erin write this? - is that it is always bad form to have the name of your subject TWICE in the title. A good editor would have told Claire Bueno this. Better titles would have been:

• "Cleanin' Up the Town: Remembering Ghostbusters: A Cast and Crew Memoir"
• "Remembering Ghostbusters: A Cast and Crew Memoir"
• "Cleanin' Up the Town: Remembering Ghostbusters" (The word "remembering" implies anecdotes and remembrances, so no further subtitle is needed.)

The wonky title is the first sign that credited editor Richard Latto was asleep on the job. Another sign? That a book with 577 pages, containing 74 chapters, does not have a Table of Contents. That is inexcusable. I had to manually type one up myself (below) after going through the book. You're welcome.

Chapters 1-10 goes over pre-production. Chapters 11-65 goes through the movie chronologically. Chapters 66-74 goes over post-production and the release. Yes, the Chapter 2 title inserts a different word into the movie quote. This is not the only instance of word swapping in the book, as "metal" is used instead of "mettle" on page 497. Also, Acknowledgments is misspelled as "Acknowledgements" (unless the British use an "e" before "ments").

TABLE OF CONTENTS
(manually assembled by Paul Rudoff)
Page 005 - Dedication
Page 006 - Foreword by Ernie Hudson
Page 009 - Preface
Page 012 - Chapter 01. You're Never Going to Regret This, Ray
Page 020 - Chapter 02. Call it Fête, Call it Luck, Call it Karma...
Page 030 - Chapter 03. Representing the Last of the Petty Cash
Page 036 - Chapter 04. Print is Dead
Page 042 - Chapter 05. I Love This Town
Page 052 - Chapter 06. It's the Ghostbusters!
Page 057 - Chapter 07. We Have the Tools, We Have the Talent
Page 070 - Chapter 08. Have Those UV Lenses Come in For the Video Camera
Page 086 - Chapter 09. These are the Blueprints
Page 094 - Chapter 10. The Best One in Your Row
Page 102 - Chapter 11. This is Big Peter, This is Very Big, There is Definitely Something Here
Page 107 - Chapter 12. Who Ya Gonna Call?
Page 112 - Chapter 13. We Believe That the Purpose of Science is to Serve Mankind
Page 120 - Chapter 14. Do You Think I Have it Dr. Venkman?
Page 128 - Chapter 15. That Was No Light Show We Saw This Morning
Page 138 - Chapter 16. Alice I'm Going to Ask You a Couple of Standard Questions, OK?
Page 145 - Chapter 17. I Ain't Afraid of No Library Ghost
Page 157 - Chapter 18. Ghostbusters or Ghost Blasters -- That is the Question
Page 162 - Chapter 19. I Think This Building Should Be Condemned
Page 167 - Chapter 20. It's Louis, Somebody Let Me In
Page 171 - Chapter 21. Oh Dana It's You
Page 182 - Chapter 22. I Slammed the Refrigerator Door and I Left
Page 186 - Chapter 23. That Line Will Probably Be on My Tombstone
Page 190 - Chapter 24. Everybody Can Relax, I Found the Car
Page 196 - Chapter 25. Cleaning Up the Town
Page 202 - Chapter 26. Ghost and Ghostbusting the Controversy Builds
Page 205 - Chapter 27. The Sedgewick Hotel
Page 209 - Chapter 28. The Guests are Starting to Ask Questions
Page 214 - Chapter 29. Get Ready, Switch Me On
Page 225 - Chapter 30. What the Hell Are You Doing
Page 230 - Chapter 31. He's an Ugly Little Spud Isn't He
Page 250 - Chapter 32. Disgusting Blob
Page 255 - Chapter 33. OK Sir, If You and Your Staff Could Please Wait Out Here, We'll Take Care of Everything
Page 259 - Chapter 34. We Came, We Saw, We Kicked Its Ass
Page 262 - Chapter 35. Still Making Headlines
Page 267 - Chapter 36. Holding the Fort
Page 275 - Chapter 37. Welcome Aboard
Page 282 - Chapter 38. Who's the Stiff?
Page 291 - Chapter 39. There's a Man From the EPA Here
Page 296 - Chapter 40. What About the Twinkie
Page 298 - Chapter 41. Before She Became a Dog
Page 303 - Chapter 42. Go Ahead Make My Day
Page 308 - Chapter 43. OK, Who Brought the Dog
Page 325 - Chapter 44. We May Have to Put a Little Bit of Overtime in on This One
Page 338 - Chapter 45. That's a New Look For You Isn't It?
Page 345 - Chapter 46. It's a Sign Alright
Page 350 - Chapter 47. I Believe It's Magic
Page 359 - Chapter 48. Guard! I Want to Make a Phone Call
Page 364 - Chapter 49. This is City Hall
Page 371 - Chapter 50. The Architect was Either a Certified Genius or an Authentic Wacko
Page 376 - Chapter 51. According to This His Name is Louis Tully, Lives on Central Park West
Page 392 - Chapter 52. Spook Central
Page 406 - Chapter 53. Fire and Brimstone Coming Down from the Skies, River and Seas Boiling
Page 410 - Chapter 54. OK, So, She's a Dog
Page 425 - Chapter 55. It's Gozer
Page 428 - Chapter 56. The Traveller Has Come
Page 439 - Chapter 57. Killed By a 100-Foot Marshmallow Man
Page 447 - Chapter 58. Choose the Form of the Destructor
Page 453 - Chapter 59. Nobody Steps on a Church in My Town
Page 455 - Chapter 60. I Guess They Don't Make 'Em Like They Used To
Page 464 - Chapter 61. I've Seen Every Kind of Combustion Known to Man
Page 477 - Chapter 62. Cold Riveted Girders
Page 483 - Chapter 63. Boy the Superintendent is Going to Be Pissed
Page 487 - Chapter 64. Look Out!
Page 493 - Chapter 65. Ray Has Gone Bye, Bye, Egon
Page 495 - Chapter 66. Nobody Choosed Anything
Page 502 - Chapter 67. We're Close on This One, I Can Feel It
Page 517 - Chapter 68. What Ever Happens Let's Be Professionals
Page 524 - Chapter 69. This is It! This is Definitely It!
Page 529 - Chapter 70. He Had Up to a Thousand Followers
Page 539 - Chapter 71. I Wouldn't Say the Experience was Completely Wasted
Page 547 - Chapter 72. I Have Seen Shit That Will Turn You White
Page 557 - Chapter 73. You Are a Legitimate Phenomenon
Page 571 - Chapter 74. You Have Been a Participant in the Biggest Interdimensional Cross Rip Since the Tunguska Blast of 1909!
Page 574 - Acknowledgements
Page 575 - Interviews with Dates
Page 577 - List of UK Screenings & Independent Cinemas

Much like the documentary, the book is structured in chronological movie order, with quotes from various parties centered around scenes from the 1984 movie. There is also some discussion of the documentary itself, tied in to that part of Ghostbusters. If you're already well-read on the first film, don't expect to learn much of anything new - unless you want to know what kind of film stock and light bulbs they used. That said, we did get two new pieces of information. On Page 359, we learn where the jail scene was filmed (240 Centre Street). Eventually, I'll create a filming locations page for it here on Spook Central.

On Pages 550&551, associate producer Joe Medjuck says that he and his wife are in the Ray Parker Jr. music video. He is quoted as saying, "I'm in the music video. My wife and I are in it, briefly. I can't remember if we jump up from in front of a window, or behind a sofa, and yell, 'Ghostbusters!'" For the record, Joe and his wife appear in the window near the end of the video, right before the Times Square scene.


There are quotes from 56 individuals - some of whom were not members of the Ghostbusters cast and crew - which are helpfully listed in the back, along with the dates when the interviews were conducted. These dates are important to note, as some of the comments the interviewees made were out-of-date by the time the book was published in December 2024.


A huge sign of editorial sloppiness runs throughout the book. There is an abundancy of redundancy in the text, as the quotes have not been edited for brevity. Ironically, on Page 495, when discussing editing the documentary, Claire actually states that "there is a fine line between repetition and corroborating stories, and facts". She doesn't realize that she crossed that line over and over again in the book.

You will find many, MANY instances where several people say the same thing one after another, because the quotes were not edited to remove this repetition. Since the entire book contains this flaw, it would be too much work for me to note everything. I will point out Page 252 (Chapter 32) where everyone mentions that Slimer was a peanut in one shot, and Page 259 where everyone says the same thing about the quote when the guys exit the ballroom. The book is a chore to read due to all of this repetition. The book would also be, at least, 100 pages shorter if proper editing were done.

Repetition is far from the only type of editorial sloppiness to be found. There are many instances where short, but pointless quotes are used. Two early examples come from Jason Reitman. On Page 24, in the chapter about pre-production on the 1984 film, Jason is quoted as saying: "Well, they were having a moment when all these actors, these writers were firing on all cylinders and that's what happens, you get these special movies that come out of those kinds of moments." Thank you, Captain Obvious.

An even more egregious example from Jason occurs on Page 39, in the chapter about writing the script at Martha's Vineyard, where Jason is quoted as saying: "I was about 5 or 6 years old when Ghostbusters was being written, but I think I'd remember something like that, but I don't remember. Maybe they didn't allow me to come on that trip." If Jason didn't remember being there or not, why did Claire bother to include the quote?

Chalk up another pointless quote to William Atherton. On Page 556, in a chapter about "interesting and funny stories", he is quoted as saying: "I can't top the Criterion in the summer of '84. Nothing in my life tops that one [laughs]." Absolutely NO context is provided for this quote, and it bears no relation to the quote from Thaine Morris that appears before it. Is the Criterion a movie theater? Is it in New York, Los Angeles, or somewhere else? Is it something else entirely?

Richard Edlund and Terry Windell were interviewed together, and when Claire pulls quotes from this interview, she leaves in unnecessary comments from one person when quoting the other. She interrupts Windell's quote on Page 467 with Edlund's "Oh yeah, yeah, yeah!" comment. On Page 479, Windell is interrupted with Edlund's "Thaine knows how to do that" comment. There is no need for these extraneous comments. In both of these instances, both halves of Windell's quote would have worked when put together without any pointless comments from Edlund in between.


It isn't just random quotes that are extraneous. Two whole chapters could have easily been eliminated. Chapter 5 is dedicated to explaining what New York City was like in the early 1980s, with quotes from two "New York residents" who (to my knowledge) had nothing to do with the film. Chapter 7 is nothing more than each member of the effects crew talking about how they got the job, which usually boils down to "Richard Edlund hired me".

Given that the quotes haven't been edited for repetition and brevity, it should come as no surprise that they have not been edited for language, either. A few fucks are given.

Some quotes are misplaced. On Page 280, in a chapter about Ernie Hudson, a quote from Peter Giuliano about Harold Ramis is used. There are also two instances of sentences that have no spaces between the words. They can be found on pages 33 and 532.


As if everything I just detailed wasn't bad enough, there are many, MANY instances of entire pages filled with a wall of text! Does Claire not know about paragraph breaks?



I also have to wonder if Claire knew that she was writing a professional book that people were going to pay money for at retail, and not a personal blog. On Page 465, when discussing a blood effect trick Thaine Morris showed her, she actually writes, "As of writing I hope that Thaine sees my email and is able to verify this." I have no words.


Although many people were interviewed, rather significant details about the movie are not mentioned at all. Nowhere in Chapter 55 is there a mention of Paddi Edwards being the uncredited voice of Gozer. If none of the interviewees mentioned it, then Claire should have. I guess it was more important for Claire to include her tourist photos.

Yes, there are photos in this book. The official synopsis proclaims that you will see "rare, never-before-seen behind-the-scenes photos from personal archives". Note that is is never specified which movie, Ghostbusters or Cleanin' Up the Town: Remembering Ghostbusters, those behind-the-scenes photos are from. If you're expecting the former, prepare to be disappointed.

Of the mostly black and white photos - color photos can only be found on Pages 86, 376, 392, and 464 - only a small 25% of them are actually from Ghostbusters; and that's mostly thanks to Stuart Ziff for providing them. Sadly, none of these photos are particularly rare. If you're well-verse on Ghostbusters, they will all feel rather familiar. Compounding the problem is that all of the photo caption text is WAY too small and printed too lightly. Even with glasses on, it's hard to read. Better have a microscope handy.


The other 75% of the photos have Claire and Anthony Bueno in them, whether at filming locations, with cast and crew, or just by themselves. Most of these feel like Claire and Anthony's vacation photos, and should not have been published in a book that people would be paying money for. Am I reading a book about Ghostbusters or viewing the Bueno Family photo album?!?


The book definitely didn't need photos of a peanut sitting in someone's hand, and not one, but TWO photos of Claire shoving phallic-shaped food stuffs into her gaping maw.


The book details the making of the Cleanin' Up the Town: Remembering Ghostbusters documentary around the making of Ghostbusters (1984), but the draw here is Ghostbusters. I think the Buenos forgot that.

With a wonky title, an incorrect front flap description, incorrect words, quotes not edited to remove redundancy and add brevity, sentences with no spaces in them, inappropriate photos, and even name headers that are separate from their related quotes, I have to wonder if editor Richard Latto was asleep on the job. He clearly didn't provide any oversight, or even some basic proof-reading. Should this book get distribution in the U.S., my review can be used as a guideline on what corrections to make... and hopefully they pay me for the work.

I purchased the book from Amazon Marketplace seller The Great British Bookshop for $49.00 + $5.00 shipping. Adding in New York sales tax ($4.66), it cost me a total of $58.66 and arrived in exactly two weeks from the U.K. to the U.S. (even with a wonky tracking number). Given the cost, and everything I just detailed, I can't really say that the book is worth it. The same-named documentary film covers much of the same ground, in a much more concise manner, and provides more useful supplemental materials - at least on the region-free U.K. Blu-ray from Screenbound, which I reviewed. (Note, the Blu-ray erroneously says Region B on the back, but it's region-free.) I fully understand that Claire Bueno isn't a professional author - though I guess now she is, since she got a book published and sold at retail - so all of the book's flaws really falls at the feet of editor Richard Latto, or anyone at Premiere Publishing, for that matter. It doesn't seem like anyone at the publisher provided any oversight.