Conversations With Wilder , by Cameron Crowe. Alfred A. Knopf, 373 pages, $35.

Cameron Crowe spent many hours talking with Billy Wilder. Mr. Crowe, writer and director of Singles and Jerry Maguire , met with his 93-year-old interlocutor at his office, came by his house, dined with Mr. Wilder and his wife, Audrey. Like François Read More