by Roger Ebert
First published 1996
Roger Ebert presents an international collection of more than 100 writings that explore all dimensions of cinema and movie culture. The anthology brings together diverse voices examining stars through pieces like Truman Capote on Marilyn Monroe, Joan Didion on John Wayne, and Tom Wolfe on Cary Grant. Directors receive attention through John Houseman's take on Orson Welles and Kenneth Tynan's perspective on Mel Brooks. The collection includes industry figures from producer Julia Phillips to mogul Darryl F. Zanuck to stuntman Joe Bonomo. Critics and theorists like Pauline Kael, Graham Greene, Andrew Sarris, and Susan Sontag contribute their analytical perspectives. Novelists Walker Percy, James Agee, and Larry McMurtry capture the moviegoing experience, while F. Scott Fitzgerald, Budd Schulberg, and Nathanael West illuminate movie business culture. Ebert provides introductions to each selection, creating both a historical survey and an anatomical study of cinema as the central art form of the twentieth century.
Genres: biography, art, 20th-century, criticism, 21st-century, film
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: anthology, historical-survey
Period: 20th-Century, 21st-Century
800 pages · Hardcover · W. W. Norton & Company