Molly Haskell is a film critic and the author of five previous books, including FromReverence to Rape: The Treatment of Women in the Movies, and Love and Other Infectious Diseases. She writes and lectures widely on film. She lives in New York City.
“A swift and elegant introduction to Spielberg’s life and
work.”—David Denby, New Yorker
"'Everything about me is in my films,' Spielberg once said. Yet in
this compact study of a sprawling career, Haskell comes close to
presenting a unified theory of a director who entertains
multitudes, and contains them too."—Victoria Segal, Sunday
Times
"A superbly readable portrait of the man through his movies . .
. this meeting of the minds of the critic and the director
turns out to be exceptionally fruitful."—Kate Muir, Times
(London)
"The exploration here is lively, the critic is deeply informed, and
she approaches her mandate with a calmness of inquiry that is a
gift often bestowed on the outsider anthropologist impervious to
tribal influences."—Lisa Schwarzbaum, New York Times Book
Review
"Luckily, Molly Haskell is far too wise a critic to be flummoxed by
Mr. Spielberg’s seemingly critic-proof oeuvre. She nails Mr.
Spielberg when he needs to be nailed . . . Ms. Haskell’s great on
the movies that give her something to write about, like
'Duel,' 'Jaws,' and 'Empire of the Sun.'"—Scott Eyman,
Wall Street Journal
"This fascinating critical study and close reading of the movies,
written by a prominent feminist film critic, focuses on the
evolution of Spielberg’s Jewish identity."—New York Times Book
Review, Editors' Choice
"As Haskell delves into her subject, however, she discovers the
influences and challenges that shaped this outsize figure in
American mainstream cinema, including his denied, then embraced
Jewish faith, and comes up with a compelling and remarkable
figure."—Sarah Jilani, Times Literary Supplement
"In a long nomadic career of film writing, the feminist critic
Molly Haskell has never wild about Spielberg, her taste steeped in
the great auteurs, her signature a coolly playful rigour.
Unexpectedly, this makes her the perfect biographer for a director
with a life-long weakness for treacle. Spielberg emerges with his
credibility enhanced for having been put through the
wringer."—Danny Leigh, Financial Times
"Legendary movie critic Haskell weaves Spielberg’s entire body of
work through her captivating narrative, providing a poignant study
of him as a person and a filmmaker."—Publishers Weekly
"Haskell’s discussion of the childlike wonder inherent to many of
the director’s films and her eloquent defense of some of his
riskier, less successful movies is particularly valuable. . . .
Recommended for readers of film criticism or commentary."—Library
Journal
"[Haskell] takes Spielberg’s statement that 'everything about me is
in my films' and provides a fascinating portrait of the man and his
entire oeuvre, illustrating just how entwined they are. She reveals
that this extraordinarily gifted individual would translate 'not
only his childhood but whatever he was feeling and experiencing at
any given time' into his films."—Anne Joseph, Jewish Chronicle
"Haskell has turned out a brilliant, almost exemplary book: in
200-odd pages it manages to precis the key facts of Spielberg’s
off-camera life and distill the essence and flow of his evolving,
shifting cinematic achievements . . . an excellent critical
biography of a great film director, and is warmly
recommended."—Andrew Pulver, Jewish Renaissance
"This unlikely match of biographer and subject gives
[Haskell’s]study the tension and snap of a good romantic comedy. .
. . An essential volume on an artist whose aversion to interviews
has shortened the shelf of worthwhile studies on him."—Guy Lodge,
The Observer
"An arresting set of connections, linking the stresses of childhood
and adolescence with the defining themes of his expensive output,
ultimately taking a view on Spielberg as a more personal filmmaker
than many of his contemporaries . . . a filmmaker this refreshing
volume make you keen to reassess, or perhaps indeed visit for the
first time with new eyes."—Trevor Johnson, Sight & Sound
"Molly Haskell, one of our most essential authorities on the
movies, has written a fascinating, witty, acutely discerning book
about a subject that would seem, at first glance, odd. But
what a spectacular match it proves to be! Spielberg is given
his proper due, and Haskell outdoes herself."—Phillip Lopate,
author of American Movie Critics
"Steven Spielberg and Molly Haskell—the great producer-director of
modern film and one of the most intelligent and sensitive film
writers we have ever had. The result is as rich and intriguing as
the meeting of Elliott and E.T. We know the Spielberg films, or we
think we do, until they come under the cool yet warming gaze of Ms.
Haskell. As a result, we are the more fascinated with Spielberg and
the more encouraged by the principle of essential and enlightening
film commentary."—David Thomson, author of A Biographical
Dictionary of Film
"Molly Haskell’s writing is always thought provoking and rife
with insight. She skillfully argues that Hollywood’s most
commercially successful film maker has, over a forty-five-year
career, produced a series of highly personal films that give voice
to the director’s inner conflicts and longings. This
persuasive re-think will no doubt intrigue fans and, in fact,
anyone who has ever watched a Spielberg movie. A must for
anyone interested in a serious look at popular
cinema."—Joseph Egan, author of The Purple
Diaries
"This is a wonderful book, at once personal and critical, eloquent
and vivacious. The book vibrates with a productive tension between
the writer and her subject."—Morris Dickstein, author of Dancing in
the Dark and Why Not Say What Happened
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