Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this ebook, free of charge,from Henry Holt Publishing via Netgalley,, for review purposes. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it, all opinions are my own.
Robin will go down as one of our most beloved entertainers-a comic and actor-so this book is perfect for History Corner!
From New York Times culture reporter Dave Itzkoff, the definitive biography of Robin Williams – a compelling portrait of one of America’s most beloved and misunderstood entertainers.
Synopsis:
From his rapid-fire stand-up comedy riffs to his breakout role in Mork & Mindy and his Academy Award-winning performance in Good Will Hunting, Robin Williams was a singularly innovative and beloved entertainer. He often came across as a man possessed, holding forth on culture and politics while mixing in personal revelations – all with mercurial, tongue-twisting intensity as he inhabited and shed one character after another with lightning speed.
But as Dave Itzkoff shows in this revelatory biography, Williams’s comic brilliance masked a deep well of conflicting emotions and self-doubt, which he drew upon in his comedy and in celebrated films like Dead Poets Society; Good Morning, Vietnam; The Fisher King; Aladdin; and Mrs. Doubtfire, where he showcased his limitless gift for improvisation to bring to life a wide range of characters. And in Good Will Hunting he gave an intense and controlled performance that revealed the true range of his talent.
Itzkoff also shows how Williams struggled mightily with addiction and depression – topics he discussed openly while performing and during interviews – and with a debilitating condition at the end of his life that affected him in ways his fans never knew. Drawing on more than a hundred original interviews with family, friends, and colleagues, as well as extensive archival research, Robin is a fresh and original look at a man whose work touched so many lives.
Review:
I don't know about you, but when I heard Robin had died, I was in total shock. Having seen him perform in person and small venues in the San Francisco area, I had seen the meteoric rise and fall repeated, but constantly I was in AWE of his amazing talent. he wasn't just a comic, he was a brilliant actor. He chose roles that called to him, but maybe not so much to his fans. But you had to respect that. For those of us who felt that way, his apparent suicide was like loosing a best friend- not supposed to happen.
Dave does an excellent job in this book in showing not only how talented Robin was, but also how troubled he was by both mental and health problems. He is able to make the fan/reader understand why Robin was in such despair at the end, how he may not have been able to deal with the loss of not only his memory, but his mobility. It's an honest look at both the man, and the star, and one that every fan should read!
About the Author:
Dave Itzkoff is the author of Mad as Hell, Cocaine’s Son, and Lads. He is a culture reporter at The New York Times, where he writes regularly about film, television, theater, music, and popular culture. He previously worked at Spin, Maxim,and Details, and his work has appeared in GQ, Vanity Fair, Wired, and other publications. He lives in New York City.
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