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gneumatic's review against another edition
4.0
Prob more like 3-1/2 stars. All the behind-the-scenes stories about the Group Theater, his big broadway productions (Miller, Williams, et. al.), and his Hollywood years are fascinating. Lots of great insights into working in theater and film. Hearing Kazan’s side of the HUAC hearings and his decision to “name names” is interesting, too (if not as exculpatory as he seems to think it is). Could do with a lot less of the extended meditations on his affairs and rationalizations for serial philandering.
loonyboi's review against another edition
5.0
Let me start by saying two things: first, that Elia Kazan is a terrible human being. And second, this is an amazing book. Those may sound contradictory. They're not.
Kazan, who is best known either as director of films like On the Waterfront, or as one of the few who actually named names during the Communist witch hunt before the House, is indeed a terrible person. But what a life this guy led!
Starting before the great depression and going right up the 1980s, Kazan led this amazing life in theater and film. Along the way he was friends with some of the most amazing literary figures of the 20th century (Arthur Miller! Tennesee Williams! John Steinbeck!) and had torrid affairs with actresses, some of whom he chooses to name (Marilyn Monroe!).
What makes him such a terrible person is that he's utterly oblivious to how his actions affect other people. He goes to extremes as he justifies affair after affair, completely ignores his many children, and the way he literally ruined lives by naming names. He chalks all of this up to either his Anatolian heritage (he frequently uses this as an excuse for why his marriages all fell apart) or simply in the name of self-discovery. As you read this book, you'll quickly realize that if he starts to talk about needing to "be true to himself" he's about to do something absolutely despicable.
Some examples: he spends decades ignoring and betraying his wife, disparaging her own artistic pursuits, only to declare after her death how she wasted her talent. He excoriates Marilyn Monroe for "betraying" Arthur Miller, while at the same time doing the same thing to his own wife - not to mention his claim to have slept with Marilyn the very night she got engaged to Joe DiMaggio!
The fact that Kazan is the villain of his own autobiography makes this an incredible, unforgettable book. This is less like a Hollywood tell-all than it is a great book about a fascinating person.
He does congeal into something resembling a human being at the end. The final chapter, devoted to the deaths of his second wife (at this point less a spouse and more a close friend) and five close friends, is truly touching. And at the age of 72, he meets and marries his third and final wife, who he says he's faithful to. But what a journey it took to get him to that point.
Kazan sums up this book (and his life) extremely well in the end: "I’ve had one hell of a life, and I will go down, when I go down, satisfied."
Kazan, who is best known either as director of films like On the Waterfront, or as one of the few who actually named names during the Communist witch hunt before the House, is indeed a terrible person. But what a life this guy led!
Starting before the great depression and going right up the 1980s, Kazan led this amazing life in theater and film. Along the way he was friends with some of the most amazing literary figures of the 20th century (Arthur Miller! Tennesee Williams! John Steinbeck!) and had torrid affairs with actresses, some of whom he chooses to name (Marilyn Monroe!).
What makes him such a terrible person is that he's utterly oblivious to how his actions affect other people. He goes to extremes as he justifies affair after affair, completely ignores his many children, and the way he literally ruined lives by naming names. He chalks all of this up to either his Anatolian heritage (he frequently uses this as an excuse for why his marriages all fell apart) or simply in the name of self-discovery. As you read this book, you'll quickly realize that if he starts to talk about needing to "be true to himself" he's about to do something absolutely despicable.
Some examples: he spends decades ignoring and betraying his wife, disparaging her own artistic pursuits, only to declare after her death how she wasted her talent. He excoriates Marilyn Monroe for "betraying" Arthur Miller, while at the same time doing the same thing to his own wife - not to mention his claim to have slept with Marilyn the very night she got engaged to Joe DiMaggio!
The fact that Kazan is the villain of his own autobiography makes this an incredible, unforgettable book. This is less like a Hollywood tell-all than it is a great book about a fascinating person.
He does congeal into something resembling a human being at the end. The final chapter, devoted to the deaths of his second wife (at this point less a spouse and more a close friend) and five close friends, is truly touching. And at the age of 72, he meets and marries his third and final wife, who he says he's faithful to. But what a journey it took to get him to that point.
Kazan sums up this book (and his life) extremely well in the end: "I’ve had one hell of a life, and I will go down, when I go down, satisfied."
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