by Michael Herr
First published 2001
Michael Herr opens his memoir at a 1980 screening of The Shining, where he first encounters Stanley Kubrick. What begins as a chance meeting evolves into an intense twenty-year friendship that spans deep intellectual conversations and creative partnership. Herr chronicles their collaboration on Full Metal Jacket, the Vietnam War film that emerged from their shared artistic vision. He reveals the private side of the director behind Dr. Strangelove, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and A Clockwork Orange. Through personal stories and intimate observations, Herr shows both Kubrick's brilliant creative mind and the complex personality that others often misunderstood. The memoir captures how Kubrick's passion and intellect transformed cinema while exploring the man beneath the artistic legend.
Genres: biography, 20th-century, memoir, film
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: creative-partnership, intimate-friendship
Period: 1980s
112 pages · Paperback · Pan MacMillan