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    Robert Altman: The Oral Biography
    Unavailable
    Robert Altman: The Oral Biography
    Unavailable
    Robert Altman: The Oral Biography
    Audiobook (abridged)6 hours

    Robert Altman: The Oral Biography

    Written by Mitchell Zuckoff

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Robert Altman-visionary director, hard-partying hedonist, eccentric family man, Hollywood legend-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 Hollywood-as well as Hollywood's disillusionment with him-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 Zuckoff-who was working with Altman on his memoirs before he died-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.


    From the Hardcover edition.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateOct 20, 2009
    ISBN9780307576620
    Unavailable
    Robert Altman: The Oral Biography
    Author

    Mitchell Zuckoff

    Mitchell Zuckoff is the Sumner M. Redstone Professor of Narrative Studies at Boston University. He covered 9/11 for the Boston Globe and wrote the lead news story on the day of the attacks. Zuckoff is the author of seven previous works of nonfiction, including the number one New York Times bestseller 13 Hours: The Inside Account of What Really Happened in Benghazi, which became the basis of the Paramount Pictures movie of the same name. His earlier books also include the New York Times bestsellers Lost in Shangri-La and Frozen in Time. As a member of the Boston Globe Spotlight Team, he was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in investigative reporting and the winner of numerous national awards. He lives outside Boston.

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    Reviews for Robert Altman

    4/5

    23 ratings6 reviews

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    • 5/5
      This book really captures the spirit of Robert Altman, or at least the spirit that is conveyed through his work. Like any good book on cinema, it makes one want to watch the films. I wouldn't call the book entirely complete, its emphasis is on biography and Altman's way of working with actors, with little said about camerawork and technique. Still, I breezed through the 500 or so pages in two days, enjoying every minute.
    • 5/5
      This was given to me by a friend who is a real film aficianado and with whom I share a love of Altman films. Zuckoff interviewed family, friends, co-workers, agents, and actors who had worked with Altman. Each described events from their own, and sometimes contradictory, perspectives and gradually a picture is built up of a very complex, very talented man. It reminded me very much of the structure of one of his films. The books starts with his youth in Kansas City and then follows his career, film by film. There were many films and TV shows he made that I had never heard of. I recently re-watched Nashville and McCabe and Mrs. Miller and was struck again by the amazing way he could capture the reality of the moment and avoid cliches. If you are interested in his films, this is a must read.
    • 4/5
      Very nice work. With all the interviews by the people who knew Robert Altman the best, I feel we got a very good picture of the man as well as the artist. He was a fine director who appreciated people who worked hard both in their art and play.
    • 4/5
      Almost done. A completely absorbing study of Altman - very clever, I thought, to have the multiple voices. Obviously Altmanesque. I wanted more on the making of the movies, but I thought it did a decent job of providing a relatively balanced view (not that I know him at all) of the man.
    • 3/5
      fascinating if repetitive look at one of the greatest film directors ever.
    • 4/5
      Well done career spanning survey of a unique filmmaker. Large cast of speakers replicates the over-lapping dialogue technique he perfected. A complicated and frequently difficult personality, yet a gifted artist. Good portrait, flaws and all.