Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Woody Allen's top 5 books

Eve Gerber of The Browser interviewed Woody Allen about his top five books and the Guardian summarized the list.

One title on the list:
Elia Kazan: A Biography by Richard Schickel (2005)

It's the best showbusiness book that I've read. It's brilliantly written and it's about a brilliant director who was very meaningful to me when I was growing up and becoming a film-maker. Schickel understands Kazan; he understands Tennessee Williams; he understands Marlon Brando; he understands A Streetcar Named Desire. He writes with great historical knowledge, insight and liveliness. Showbusiness books are usually not worth reading. They're just silly and shallow. But this is a fabulous book. Whatever you think of Kazan politically, it has nothing to do with the fact that the guy was a great director.
Read about another book on the list.

Elia Kazan: A Life is one of Stefan Kanfer's five best books on remarkable Hollywood lives and Richard Schickel's five best show-biz biographies.

--Marshal Zeringue