The pen is mightier than the reel for Whit Stillman, who makes literature out of his own films

The novelization has never been a particularly venerated genre in the realm of arts and letters. One thinks of tie-ins and cash-grabs, of derivatives and imitations: the book as licensed merchandise, like a theme park souvenir. But Whit Stillman’s books – both adapted from feature films he wrote and directed – are not much like other…