Steven Spielberg

A Life in Films

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Pub Date Jan 03 2017 | Archive Date Dec 16 2016

Description

A film-centric portrait of the extraordinarily gifted movie director whose decades-long influence on American popular culture is unprecedented

“Everything about me is in my films,” Steven Spielberg has said. Taking this as a key to understanding the hugely successful moviemaker, Molly Haskell explores the full range of Spielberg’s works for the light they shine upon the man himself. Through such powerhouse hits as Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T., Jurassic Park, and Indiana Jones, to lesser-known masterworks like A.I. and Empire of the Sun, to the haunting Schindler’s List, Haskell shows how Spielberg’s uniquely evocative filmmaking and story-telling reveal the many ways in which his life, work, and times are entwined.

Organizing chapters around specific films, the distinguished critic discusses how Spielberg’s childhood in non-Jewish suburbs, his parents’ traumatic divorce, his return to Judaism upon his son’s birth, and other events echo in his work. She offers a brilliant portrait of the extraordinary director—a fearful boy living through his imagination who grew into a man whose openness, generosity of spirit, and creativity have enchanted audiences for more than 40 years.

Molly Haskell is a film critic and the author of five previous books, including Love and Other Infectious Diseases and Frankly, My Dear: "Gone with the Wind" Revisited. She writes and lectures widely on film. She lives in New York City.
A film-centric portrait of the extraordinarily gifted movie director whose decades-long influence on American popular culture is unprecedented

“Everything about me is in my films,” Steven Spielberg...

Advance Praise

"With sharp observations and wise judgments, the author discusses her subject's work with sprightly, accessible prose....Compact, incisive, and witty—a great starting point for those interested in Spielberg's life and art."—Kirkus Reviews

“This is a wonderful book, at once personal and critical, eloquent and vivacious. The book vibrates with a productive tension between the writer and her subject.”—Morris Dickstein, author of Dancing in the Dark and Why Not Say What Happened

“Molly Haskell, one of our most essential authorities on the movies, has written a fascinating, witty, acutely discerning book about a subject that would seem, at first glance, odd. But what a spectacular match it proves to be! Spielberg is given his proper due, and Haskell outdoes herself.”—Phillip Lopate, author of American Movie Critics

“Steven Spielberg and Molly Haskell—the great producer-director of modern film and one of the most intelligent and sensitive film writers we have ever had. The result is as rich and intriguing as the meeting of Elliott and E.T. We know the Spielberg films, or we think we do, until they come under the cool yet warming gaze of Ms. Haskell. As a result, we are the more fascinated with Spielberg and the more encouraged by the principle of essential and enlightening film commentary.”—David Thomson, author of A Biographical Dictionary of Film

“Molly Haskell’s writing is always thought provoking and rife with insight. She skillfully argues that Hollywood’s most commercially successful film maker has, over a forty-five-year career, produced a series of highly personal films that give voice to the director’s inner conflicts and longings. This persuasive re-think will no doubt intrigue fans and, in fact, anyone who has ever watched a Spielberg movie. A must for anyone interested in a serious look at popular cinema.”—Joseph Egan, author of The Purple Diaries

"With sharp observations and wise judgments, the author discusses her subject's work with sprightly, accessible prose....Compact, incisive, and witty—a great starting point for those interested in...


Available Editions

EDITION Hardcover
ISBN 9780300186932
PRICE $25.00 (USD)
PAGES 248

Average rating from 15 members


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