In the volume, published by Applause Books, the showman ruminates on what it took to bring such shows as The Apple Tree, 1776, Pippin, M. Butterfly and La Bete to the Broadway stage. He also offers up some choice commentary on artists such as Bob Fosse, Peter Stone, Stephen Schwartz, David Hirson, Ron Silver, Bob Dylan and Mike Nichols. In his heyday, Ostrow was one of the last of the solo producers. His name was often the only one above the title. When he teamed up, it was with the likes of David Geffen (M. Butterfly) or Andrew Lloyd Webber (La Bete).

His taste was often eccentric. Sometimes this paid off, as with the unorthodox (for their time) musicals 1776 and Pippin, both of which were big hits, and M. Butterfly, which won a Tony Award. Other times it did not, as in the cast of Hirson's La Bete, the last modern play in iambic pentameter to hit Broadway; Face Value, a David Henry Hwang play which famously closed in previews in 1993; and Stages, a play by Ostrow himself which ran a total of one performance in 1978.

The book, which runs 154 pages, is priced at $22.95. It will be published in January 2006.