First published 2021
James Ivory opens his memoir by recalling his first encounter with cinema at age five in Klamath Falls, Oregon. The Academy Award winning director chronicles his journey from that early moment to becoming half of the celebrated Merchant Ivory Productions partnership. Ivory describes meeting Ismail Merchant at the Indian Consulate in New York, beginning both a creative collaboration and life partnership that would span decades. He shares candid reflections on his romantic relationships and professional encounters with figures like Satyajit Ray, Jean Renoir, Vanessa Redgrave, and his longtime critic Pauline Kael. Through stories spanning from his early films to directing classics like A Room with a View and Howards End, Ivory traces the path that led to his Oscar win at eighty-nine for Call Me by Your Name. His memoir reveals the personal experiences and artistic choices that shaped both his distinctive filmmaking style and his unconventional life in cinema.
Genres: 20th-century, autobiography, biography-memoir, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: personal-journey, retrospective
Setting: India, Klamath Falls, Oregon, New York
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
416 pages · Hardcover · Farrar, Straus and Giroux