This book reprints a four-hour conversation between Mr. Schickel and Mr. Allen and includes a long essay of introduction by Mr. Schickel, which places Woody Allen's entire career in critical perspective, as well as a complete filmography. Readers will find Mr. Allen's reflections on his major preoccupations—the battle of the sexes; the conflict between reality and fantasy in his major films; mortality, religion, and the role that chance plays in the unfolding of our lives. The book also offers insights into Mr. Allen's working methods as a writer and the growth of his skills as a director.
Richard Schickel's most recent book is Good Morning, Mr. Zip Zip Zip, his memoir of growing up in the World War II years. A film critic for Time for many years, Mr. Schickel has written biographies of Clint Eastwood, Marlon Brando, James Cagney, D. W. Griffith, Cary Grant, and Walt Disney, as well as The Men Who Made the Movies, His Picture in the Papers, and Intimate Strangers, a pioneering study of celebrity. He also produces films for television. Mr. Schickel lives in Los Angeles.
Table of Contents
Part 1 A Note on the Text xi Part 2 Introduction: Woody in the Afternoon 3 Part 3 The Interview 71 Part 4 Afterword 171 Part 5 Filmography 180 Part 6 Index 206
What People are Saying About This
Steven Bach
Witty, surprising, important (but never self-important), and—best of all—moving...a compact but very real treasure...graceful and perceptive...wonderful.
Jeanine Basinger
As usual, Richard Schickel has nailed his subject, and this time his subject is a particularly hard one to nail.
NEWPORT NEWS PRESS
...Thoughtful, critical insights into Allen's screen works.
Publishers Weekly
A rare window into one of the great minds of modern cinema.
Foreword
The author pleads a strong case that as a gifted writer and actor of limited range, Woody Allen deserves a more prominent position in the motion picture arts.
