Robert Altman - by Mitchell Zuckoff (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Robert Altman--visionary director, hard-partying hedonist, eccentric family man, Hollywood legend--comes roaring to life in this rollicking oral biography. After an all-American boyhood in Kansas City, a stint flying bombers in World War II, and jobs ranging from dog tattoo entrepreneur to television director, Robert Altman burst onto the scene in 1970 with M*A*S*H. He reinvented American filmmaking, and went on to produce such masterpieces as McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Nashville, The Player, Short Cuts, and Gosford Park. In Robert Altman, Mitchell Zuckoff has woven together Altman's final interviews; an incredible cast of voices including Meryl Streep, Warren Beatty, Paul Newman, among scores of others; and contemporary reviews and news accounts into a riveting tale of an extraordinary life.

Review Quotes

"Scrupulously intelligent and entertaining. . . . Noisy, funny, slightly ill considered, a bit chaotic, and wholly believeable. In short, Altmanesque." --The New York Times Book Review

"[Zuckoff] uses a light editorial hand, allowing a wide range of contributors to have their say. . . . A comprehensive, 360-degree look at a complicated subject." --Wall Street Journal

"[There are] many surprising and revealing comments that Zuckoff has assembled in his fittingly rambling book. . . . Life is complicated, often messy--as Altman showed us--and his life, as seen in Zuckoff's book, was no exception." --San Francisco Chronicle

"A brilliantly researched, near-cinematic evocation. . . . Altman never gave up creating his cinematic portraits of people on the margins--con artists, prostitutes, gamblers, theives, clowns, movie executives--if only to shed light on the falsity behind his country's seemingly indefatigable, desperate pursuit of success." --The New Yorker

"[Zuckoff] doesn't try to resolve the many contradictions surrounding Altman's life and work, but lets them stand awkwardly beside one another for the reader to sort out. . . . As a form, the oral biography is well suited to a director who loved the sound of noisy conversation." --The New York Review of Books

"Splendidly well-assembled. . . . Altman made amazing films, which Zuckoff's far-reaching interviews illuminate, and by all the included accounts, he led an amazing life." --The Morning News

"Like Altman's signature soundtracks, this babel of transcripts offers a panoramic portrait." --Chicago Sun-Times

"[A] marvelous, epic, tapestry-like life-scape of Robert Altman. . . . Witness by witness, Zuckoff constructs an exemplary and cautionary American life, and with the funny, tragic, and compelling tales they tell, he has made something like a print version of the Last Great Robert Altman movie." --Directors Guild Quarterly

"A positively 'Altmanesque' treatment. . . . [Altman] made a great Western, a great anti-war movie, a great period piece, a great detective picture, a great ballet movie and the how-Hollywood-works movie. And Zuckoff . . . is an apt choice to corner an old fast-talker like Altman. Put this oral biography on your book list." --Orlando Sentinel

"A fun read, more like a cocktail-party remembrance than a scholarly study. . . . Recollections of movies that strike a chord are so entertaining you'll think about adding them to your Netflix queue to see them again." --Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

"Zuckoff's biography is like his subject's movies, filled with a multiplicity of voices and averse to defining 'meaning.' Yet in the end, readers understand Altman's stubborn vision, his refusal to compromise with commerce, and his hard-earned, eccentric genius." --The Boston Globe

"I just now put [Robert Altman] down feeling heartbroken but happily and deeply inspired. . . . Wonderful." --Wes Anderson

About the Author

Mitchell Zuckoff is a professor of journalism at Boston University. He is the author of three previous books, most recently Ponzi's Scheme: The True Story of A Financial Legend. As a reporter with The Boston Globe, he was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize and the recipient of numerous national writing awards.