For die-hard fans only.
The director offers his side of the story.
The besieged Allen tells all—repeatedly and angrily—about his side of the relationship with his former lover’s adopted daughter. Part of the book is an ambling reminiscence, much of which we’ve heard before (vide the opening of Annie Hall), about family life in World War II–era Brooklyn. “Delusional as she was,” writes the author of his elderly mother, “at the end she never lost her ability to kvetch, which she had raised to an art form.” Another part comprises Allen’s reflections on filmmaking, which students of the form may find interesting. When the author isn’t airing complaints about money (“I was probably the lowest paid filmmaker of my generation”), he turns in a few craft notes on his belief in moving fast and inexpensively, with a fixed rule: “no editing till the shooting ends.” Those craft notes, too, end in complaint. His last film went unseen in the U.S. (“fortunately, the rest of the world remains sane”), and the one he’d like to make is proving difficult due to cancel culture. In the third part of the book, Allen repudiates the charge, among others, of child molestation. Unwilling to acknowledge that Mia Farrow may have had cause for anger because of his relationship with college-aged Soon-Yi Previn, Allen protests that he “was able to liberate Soon-Yi from a terrible situation and provide her with an opportunity to flower and realize her potential.” Page after page, the author declares his innocence in the face of a legal and cultural machine arrayed against him. The three aspects of the book blend uneasily throughout, and anyone hoping for intriguing biographical details must wade through ceaseless fuming (“Falsely accused, hideous press, enormous legal expense”) to get to them, leaving us to wonder what happened to the sharp-witted, funny author of Getting Even and Without Feathers.
For die-hard fans only.Pub Date: March 23, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-951627-34-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Arcade
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
A moving meditation on mortality by a gifted writer whose dual perspectives of physician and patient provide a singular...
A neurosurgeon with a passion for literature tragically finds his perfect subject after his diagnosis of terminal lung cancer.
Writing isn’t brain surgery, but it’s rare when someone adept at the latter is also so accomplished at the former. Searching for meaning and purpose in his life, Kalanithi pursued a doctorate in literature and had felt certain that he wouldn’t enter the field of medicine, in which his father and other members of his family excelled. “But I couldn’t let go of the question,” he writes, after realizing that his goals “didn’t quite fit in an English department.” “Where did biology, morality, literature and philosophy intersect?” So he decided to set aside his doctoral dissertation and belatedly prepare for medical school, which “would allow me a chance to find answers that are not in books, to find a different sort of sublime, to forge relationships with the suffering, and to keep following the question of what makes human life meaningful, even in the face of death and decay.” The author’s empathy undoubtedly made him an exceptional doctor, and the precision of his prose—as well as the moral purpose underscoring it—suggests that he could have written a good book on any subject he chose. Part of what makes this book so essential is the fact that it was written under a death sentence following the diagnosis that upended his life, just as he was preparing to end his residency and attract offers at the top of his profession. Kalanithi learned he might have 10 years to live or perhaps five. Should he return to neurosurgery (he could and did), or should he write (he also did)? Should he and his wife have a baby? They did, eight months before he died, which was less than two years after the original diagnosis. “The fact of death is unsettling,” he understates. “Yet there is no other way to live.”
A moving meditation on mortality by a gifted writer whose dual perspectives of physician and patient provide a singular clarity.Pub Date: Jan. 19, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-8129-8840-6
Page Count: 248
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Sept. 29, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2015
PERSPECTIVES
“Protect your passion,” writes an NBA star in this winning exploration of how we can succeed in life.
A future basketball Hall of Famer’s rosy outlook.
Curry is that rare athlete who looks like he gets joy from what he does. There’s no doubt that the Golden State Warriors point guard is a competitor—he’s led his team to four championships—but he plays the game with nonchalance and exuberance. That ease, he says, “only comes from discipline.” He practices hard enough—he’s altered the sport by mastering the three-point shot—so that he achieves a “kind of freedom.” In that “flow state,” he says, “I can let joy and creativity take over. I block out all distractions, even the person guarding me. He can wave his arms and call me every name in the book, but I just smile and wait as the solution to the problem—how to get the ball into the basket—presents itself.” Curry shares this approach to his craft in a stylish collection that mixes life lessons with sharp photographs and archival images. His dad, Dell, played in the NBA for 16 years, and Curry learned much from his father and mother: “My parents were extremely strict about me and my little brother Seth not going to my pops’s games on school nights.” Curry’s mother, Sonya, who founded the Montessori elementary school that Curry attended in North Carolina, emphasized the importance not just of learning but of playing. Her influence helped Curry and his wife, Ayesha, create a nonprofit foundation: Eat. Learn. Play. He writes that “making reading fun is the key to unlocking a kid’s ability to be successful in their academic journeys.” The book also has valuable pointers for ballers—and those hoping to hit the court. “Plant those arches—knees bent behind those 10 toes pointing at the hoop, hips squared with your shoulders—and draw your power up so you explode off the ground and rise into your shot.” Sounds easy, right?
“Protect your passion,” writes an NBA star in this winning exploration of how we can succeed in life.Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2025
ISBN: 9780593597293
Page Count: 432
Publisher: One World/Random House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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