dlberglund's review against another edition
3.0
This took me so long to read. I love Buffy with a fiery passion, and love most of Joss's other work. His biography deserved more passion. If you love his work, you should probably read this book for the back stories, but not for a wondrous story. I got bogged in details, and felt it lacked some personal details from the last decade. (His stepfather's death, for example, is only mentioned as an aside, while covering professional events 10 months later.) I don't want to sensationalize and pry, but large chunks felt like merely his resume and not his biography.
But if you're a Joss fan, you should read it anyway.
But if you're a Joss fan, you should read it anyway.
bookwyrm_kate's review against another edition
5.0
This man is my hero; what an incredible journey his career has been (and hopefully will continue to be)! I don't read biographies very often (except for the other one I'm reading right this moment), but this was a testament to how relevant and interesting they can be. I am absolutely reading and reviewing with a bias, but this man is fascinating to me and his works have had an incredible impact in my life since 1997. His works continue to evoke more excitement for me than any other entertainer because of his specific voice, his respect for all characters, and the depth of emotion he works with.
This book, while just a glimpse of that, is a must-read for Whedon-ites :)
This book, while just a glimpse of that, is a must-read for Whedon-ites :)
dili's review against another edition
3.0
It's not really an in depth look at the man. More like a collection of facts and anecdotes. Joss Whedon is awesome. I'm not sure this book lives upto him.
tarrant's review against another edition
3.0
I really loved the deep inside look at TV and movie production and Whedon's experience. I am not a Whedonverse person so most of the shows and movies I have not seen. There is very little about his personal life, very few pictures. But it is an excellent dive into the How and why of why things ended when they did or never got off the ground. I suspect there are more than a few lessons for aspiring TV and filmmakers.
mjfmjfmjf's review against another edition
4.0
Not a great book, but definitely more substance than I expected. I was kind of expecting something awful and instead it was readable if only slightly deeper than skin-deep. Than again there are bits of how Joss came to be who he is and the timeline of when various bits in his resume happened. His role in Toy Story was certainly not clear to me. Nor his academic background. Nor his politics. And yet this book could have gone a lot deeper and told way more stories than it did. 3.5 of 5.
ria_mhrj's review against another edition
5.0
It took me FOREVER to read this, the start was a little slow and that translated to me not picking it up for a few months. Silly me. This is such a lovingly documented account of the life of a man who has inspired so many. It has made me want to binge watch his entire back catalogue, providing a fresh reminder that he has put his name to some truly remarkable characters and stories. The stories and anecdotes were charming, motivating, amusing, moving... all of the ings. I kind of wish there was a further chapter on Age of Ultron, but in a way it seems more fitting that the book ends with everything coming up aces for Joss. I hope he finds a way to circumnavigate the studio machine in the future and to only produce amazing, untainted brilliance.
steds's review against another edition
3.0
Fine, learned a lot. Not the best writing, only for those interested.
ssloeffler's review against another edition
4.0
As if I could admire the man and love his work even more...but knowing his background as a feminist and a Shakespeare scholar, well, I'm just bowled over. I want to go back and watch Firefly and Dollhouse now.
kyls's review against another edition
4.0
A biography written by a fan for fans and would be fans of joss
rouver's review against another edition
3.0
A moderately interesting look into the life of Joss Whedon. If you don't know who he is, I'd highly recommend watching Firefly, Serenity, Dollhouse, and Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog...just a few of the works he's written & directed.
If you DO know who he is & are exceptionally curious about him & his work, then go ahead & pick this up. It's not riveting, but there are interesting tidbits about his history. I found it to be a bit dry, but it's not like he went on a huge killing spree, so there's only so many ways you can spice up a person's life. I was disappointed there wasn't much about his wife & children in here...but since i didn't even know he had children before reading this, I'm assuming that it's intentional & he wishes to keep his private life private. He definitely seems like a regular guy, not ego-centric, and always willing to share credit.
I'm glad I read it, but I would only recommend it to those who probably already knew this thing came out, are big fans of Whedon, & already had a thought or two of picking it up anyway.
oooh..another reviewer did a good job of describing it here:
"Pascale presents a functional enough recitation of the facts of Whedon’s life from his upbringing by his famously feminist mother to his work launching Marvel’s 2013 television tie-in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, but as a biography her book reads more like an annotated IMDB listing interpolated with quotations lifted from podcasts, Comic-Con panels, and Entertainment Weekly interviews. Only a trace amount of personal detail appears, so any fan of her subject’s work will know most, if not all, of the trivia on parade here, and any nonfan will hardly be wooed by her workmanlike prose or her inability to treat Whedon as a complex person rather than just as a poster child for Geek Success."
If you DO know who he is & are exceptionally curious about him & his work, then go ahead & pick this up. It's not riveting, but there are interesting tidbits about his history. I found it to be a bit dry, but it's not like he went on a huge killing spree, so there's only so many ways you can spice up a person's life. I was disappointed there wasn't much about his wife & children in here...but since i didn't even know he had children before reading this, I'm assuming that it's intentional & he wishes to keep his private life private. He definitely seems like a regular guy, not ego-centric, and always willing to share credit.
I'm glad I read it, but I would only recommend it to those who probably already knew this thing came out, are big fans of Whedon, & already had a thought or two of picking it up anyway.
oooh..another reviewer did a good job of describing it here:
"Pascale presents a functional enough recitation of the facts of Whedon’s life from his upbringing by his famously feminist mother to his work launching Marvel’s 2013 television tie-in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, but as a biography her book reads more like an annotated IMDB listing interpolated with quotations lifted from podcasts, Comic-Con panels, and Entertainment Weekly interviews. Only a trace amount of personal detail appears, so any fan of her subject’s work will know most, if not all, of the trivia on parade here, and any nonfan will hardly be wooed by her workmanlike prose or her inability to treat Whedon as a complex person rather than just as a poster child for Geek Success."