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A Life
Crown Archetype
November 2014
On Sale: October 28, 2014
600 pages
ISBN: 0307716783
EAN: 9780307716781
Kindle: B00K4C17BU
Hardcover / e-Book
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Non-Fiction Biography
REMARKABLE BIOGRAPHY OF AN ICON There’s little debate that Robert De Niro is one of the
greatest screen actors of his generation, perhaps of all
time--if not, in fact, the greatest. His work, particularly
in the first 20 years of his career, is unparalleled. Mean
Streets, the Godfather Part II, Taxi Driver, the Deer
Hunter, and Raging Bull all dazzled moviegoers and critics
alike, displaying a talent the likes of which had rarely--if
ever--been seen. De Niro become known for his deep
involvement in his characters, assuming that role completely
into his own life, resulting in extraordinary, chameleonic
performances. Yet little is known about the off-screen De Niro--he is an
intensely private man, whose rare public appearances are
often marked by inarticulateness and palpable awkwardness.
It can be almost painful to watch at times, in powerful
contrast to his confident movie personae. In this elegant
and compelling biography, bestselling writer Shawn Levy
writes of these many De Niros--the characters and the
man--seeking to understand the evolution of an actor who
once dove deeply into his roles as if to hide his inner
nature, and who now seemingly avoids acting challenges,
taking roles which make few apparent demands on his
overwhelming talent. Following De Niro's roots as the child of artists (his
father, the abstract painter Robert De Niro Sr., was widely
celebrated) who encouraged him from an early age to be
independent of vision and spirit, to his intense schooling
as an actor, the rise of his career, his marriages, his life
as a father, restauranteur, and businessman, and, of course,
his current movie career, Levy has written a biography that
reads like a novel about a character whose inner turmoil
takes him to heights of artistry. His many friendships with the likes of Martin Scorsese,
Meryl Streep, Harvey Keitel, Shelley Winters, Francis Ford
Coppola, among many others, are woven into this
extraordinary portrait of De Niro the man and the artist,
also adding a depth of understanding not before seen. Levy has had unprecedented access to De Niro's personal
research and production materials, creating a new impression
of the effort that went into the actor's legendary
performances. The insights gained from DeNiro’s intense
working habits shed new perspective on DeNiro’s thinking and
portrayals and are wonderful to read. Levy also spoke to De
Niro's collaborators and friends to depict De Niro's
transition from an ambitious young man to a transfixing and
enigmatic artist and cultural figure. Shawn Levy has written a truly engaging, insightful, and
entertaining portrait of one of the most wonderful film
artists of our time, a book that is worthy of such a great
talent.
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