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    Steven Spielberg: A Life In Films
    Steven Spielberg: A Life In Films
    Steven Spielberg: A Life In Films
    Audiobook6 hours

    Steven Spielberg: A Life In Films

    Written by Molly Haskell

    Narrated by Johnny Heller and Jo Anna Perrin

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    "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 less-appreciated movies like 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 small, unhappy boy living through his imagination who grew into a man whose openness, generosity of spirit, and creativity have enchanted audiences for more than forty years.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateJan 3, 2017
    ISBN9781515975304
    Steven Spielberg: A Life In Films

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    Reviews for Steven Spielberg

    3.5/5

    31 ratings8 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Insightful! Must listen. Great narration. Wonderfully researched. Will make you want to rewatch all his great films with a fresh perspective.
    • 5/5
      Stephen Spielberg is perhaps the most influential and well-respoected movie director of the 20th century. Yet little is known about the man, perhaps because he is not the typical Hollywood extrovert. This definitive biography breaks down Spielberg's life, from childhood to modernity, and details how each of his films correlates to his life (his childhood, specifically). Listening to the audiobook with the lights off, felt like watching a movie about the man's life, as opposed to reading about it. I will now watch his movies in a different light.
    • 5/5
      Steven Spielberg: A Life in Films by Molly Haskell is part of the series Jewish Lives from Yale University Press. To quote the YUP site: "JEWISH LIVES is a major series of brief, interpretive biography designed to illuminate the imprint of eminent Jewish figures upon literature, religion, philosophy, politics, cultural and economic life, and the arts and sciences." In other words, this is not simply a biography of Steven Spielberg and it is even less a fan-driven pop biography. It is, as it was supposed to be, an "interpretive biography." Haskell, who was approached to write this book, not the other way around, does a wonderful job of providing an interpretive frame that at once takes Spielberg at his word when he said “everything about me is in my films” while making into a whole the fragmented parts of his story as it has been told in the past.Haskell brings her usual sharp eye and broad range of ideas to this project and succeeds on almost every level. We get a better, more coherent, picture of Steven Spielberg as a person, a fimmaker and as a storyteller. We also come to understand how being Jewish factored into how he became who he is as well as how he tells his stories.I listened to the audio version, which was satisfactory but I am the type of reader who probably prefers nonfiction in paper form for note-taking purposes. My only complaint, a small one, is that I would have preferred a female performer throughout the book since the book was written by a woman. I like Molly Haskell's work and her authorship was as big a factor in my interest as the object, Steven Spielberg. So to hear Haskell's words in a male voice just bothered me. That is my opinion, however, and should not be taken as a negative comment about the work Johnny Heller did here.If a reader understands and is willing to approach this book for what it is, I would highly recommend this to everyone with an interest in film, Jewish Studies and contemporary intellectual history. There is enough here for a fan who would prefer a fandom-type bio to be satisfied as long as they remember that that is not the work's primary aim.Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
    • 4/5
      What an incredible book. I like how it was written and the stories that went along with the movies. The insights with Mr. Spielberg were fascinating. He is a great writer and director, who has a unique way of tacking his projects. Now, I have not seen a lot of his movies, but now, I will look at them a bit differently and I bet I will enjoy the movies even more. Steven Spielberg is a very interesting, unique person. This is a great book and I do recommend it.
    • 3/5
      This review is for the audio version of the book. Steven Spielberg: A Life in Films (Jewish Lives) by Molly Haskell is a great introduction to the life and work of Steven Spielberg. Anyone familiar with Spielberg’s life and work may find this books to be a little too basic. Reading like an extended wiki article, Steven Spielberg: A Life in Films (Jewish Lives) doesn’t delve too deep into its subject, but still does a fine job giving a chronological look at Spielberg. As for the audiobook, the narration is a bit dry, but I’ve certainly listened to dryer.
    • 3/5
      Skip the author's, rather effete and self serving introduction. I have seen surprisingly few of Spielberg's movies so the book was a film lexicon, moviecon?, of his works for me. More of a CGI, big picture Cecile B DeMille .than a true cinema auteur; his pictures made money, a lot of money, and were entertaining. Ergo, he was a successful director, producer and movie mogul. Paranoid likely, neurotic certainly; clearly an excellent tool set for his chosen profession. In this era of boring billionaires, he hardly stands our.
    • 4/5
      Very interesting and informative book. It was particularly impressive given that Spielberg refused to be interviewed and would not approve this biography. I gained valuable information about Spielberg's life and could see how his life is reflected in his films and the progression of films. Interesting to see the reflection of his life experiences and his personal issues were "worked out" through the various films.The narrator was good and the writing excellent.I found some fault, probably due mostly to Spielberg not being involved in this book. For example the author says that we cannot remember anything before age tow and as a psychologist and through personal experience, I know this is not accurate. There wer a couple of examples of this type of error. Also I would have preferred if the author would have said "it seems like" rather than state things as facts that could not be known with out Spielberg's involvement; like what he was thinking or feeling about something.I would recommend this book for anyone interested in film.
    • 2/5
      The was more a hagiography than a biography, full of psycho-babble about Spielberg's neuroses. What mostly came through it all is that he is an emotionally stunted misogynist. Thankfully this was a quick read.