Robert Altman
The Oral Biography
Publishers Summary:
Robert Altmanâ€â€visionary director, hard-partying hedonist, eccentric family man, Hollywood legendâ€â€comes roaring to life in this rollicking cinematic biography, told in a chorus of voices that can only be called Altmanesque.His outsized life and unique career are revealed as never before: here are the words of his family and friends, and a few enemies, as well as the agents, writers, crew members, producers, and stars who worked with him, including Meryl Streep, Warren Beatty, Tim Robbins, Julianne Moore, Paul Newman, Julie Christie, Elliott Gould, Martin Scorsese, Robin Williams, Cher, and many others. There is even Altman himself, in the form of his exclusive last interviews.After an all-American boyhood in Kansas City, a stint flying bombers through enemy fire in World War II, and jobs ranging from dog-tattoo entrepreneur to television director, Robert Altman burst onto the scene in 1970 with the movie M*A*S*H. He revolutionized American filmmaking, and, in a decade, produced masterpieces at an astonishing pace: McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Thieves Like Us, The Long Goodbye, 3 Women, and, of course, Nashville. Then, after a period of disillusionment with Hollywoodâ€â€as well as Hollywood’s disillusionment with himâ€â€he reinvented himself with a bold new set of masterworks: The Player, Short Cuts, and Gosford Park. Finally, just before the release of the last of his nearly forty movies, A Prairie Home Companion, he received an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement from the Academy, which had snubbed him for so many years.Mitchell Zuckoffâ€â€who was working with Altman on his memoirs before he diedâ€â€weaves Altman’s final interviews, an incredible cast of voices, and contemporary reviews and news accounts, into a riveting tale of an extraordinary life. Here are page after page of revelations that force us to reevaluate Altman as a man and an artist, and to view his sprawling narratives with large casts, multiple story lines, and overlapping dialogue as unquestionably the work of a modern genius.Read MoreRead Less
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- ISBN
- 978-0-30726-768-9
- Publisher
- Knopf
REVIEWS
Robert Altman was father, husband, womanizer, dog-tattoo expert, raconteur, and prodigious filmmaking genius. Although repetitious and often plodding, Zuckoff's (Ponzi's Scheme: The True Story of a Financial Legend) oral biography captures, through the words of Altman's family and friends, his brilliance and his visionary character. Malcolm McDowell, of The Company, sums up Altman, remembering him as "a maverick and as such a complete individual who marched to his own beat." Verdict While this may not be the definitive biography of Altman, it's a love letter from the fans to one of our greatest talents. Zuckoff presents a fitting tribute to the tremendous effect Altman had on filmmaking in America.-Henry L. Carrigan Jr., Evanston, IL Copyright 2009 Media Source Inc. Copyright 2009 Media Source Inc. ...Log In or Sign Up to Read More
