| Life Itself: A Memoir
(2011)
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| Front Cover |
Book Details |
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| Genre |
Biography; Non-Fiction |
| Subject |
Ebert, Roger; Film critics - United States - Biography |
| Publication Date |
9/13/2011 |
| Format |
Hardcover |
| Publisher |
Grand Central Publishing |
| Extras |
Dust Jacket; Dust Jacket Cover |
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| Description |
Roger Ebert is the best-known film critic of our time. He has been reviewing films for the Chicago Sun-Times since 1967, and was the first film critic ever to win a Pulitzer Prize. He has appeared on television for four decades, including twenty-three years as cohost of Siskel & Ebert at the Movies.
In 2006, complications from thyroid cancer treatment resulted in the loss of his ability to eat, drink, or speak. But with the loss of his voice, Ebert has only become a more prolific and influential writer. And now, for the first time, he tells the full, dramatic story of his life and career.
Roger Ebert's journalism carried him on a path far from his nearly idyllic childhood in Urbana, Illinois. It is a journey that began as a reporter for his local daily, and took him to Chicago, where he was unexpectedly given the job of film critic for the Sun-Times, launching a lifetime's adventures.
In this candid, personal history, Ebert chronicles it all: his loves, losses, and obsessions; his struggle and recovery from alcoholism; his marriage; his politics; and his spiritual beliefs. He writes about his years at the Sun-Times, his colorful newspaper friends, and his life-changing collaboration with Gene Siskel. He remembers his friendships with Studs Terkel, Mike Royko, Oprah Winfrey, and Russ Meyer (for whom he wrote Beyond the Valley of the Dolls and an ill-fated Sex Pistols movie). He shares his insights into movie stars and directors like John Wayne, Werner Herzog, and Martin Scorsese.
This is a story that only Roger Ebert could tell. Filled with the same deep insight, dry wit, and sharp observations that his readers have long cherished, this is more than a memoir-it is a singular, warm-hearted, inspiring look at life itself."I believe that if, at the end, according to our abilities, we have done something to make others a little happier, and something to make ourselves a little happier, that is about the best we can do. To make others less happy is a crime. To make ourselves unhappy is where all crime starts. We must try to contribute joy to the world. That is true no matter what our problems, our health, our circumstances. We must try. I didn't always know this, and am happy I lived long enough to find it out."-from LIFE ITSELF |
| Personal Details |
| Store |
Costco |
| Purchase Price |
$15.49 |
| Acquire Date |
9/19/2011 |
| Condition |
As New |
| Rating |
0 |
| Links |
Library of Congress
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| Product Details |
| Dewey |
791.43092 |
| ISBN |
9780446584975 |
| Edition |
[1st ed.] |
| Cover Price |
$27.99 |
| No. of Pages |
448 |
| First Edition |
Yes |
| Rare |
No |
|
| Notes/Review |
One way or another, Roger Ebert has been talking to me for more than thirty years. Even if it was mostly talk about movies, and even if he wasn't talking to me personally (except for a brief lunch in the Pizza Hut in the basement of the UMC way back when) I feel I learned something about the man. Reading his book it was clear I didn't really know him.
I can't say Ebert is the "best" film critic, whatever that might be, but I do know that I found him consistent. I didn't always agree with his appraisal of a film, but based on what he told me about it I generally had a good idea whether I'd enjoy it or not. I got used to this and was frustrated by critics who failed to provide me with the same.
Ebert often said that when he didn't know what to say about a movie he'd tell how it affected him. Much of this book is the same - he tells us how he was affected by the people in his life. Along the way he paints little portraits of some of these people - his mother and father, Gene Siskel, his wife Chaz, some of his colleagues and some movie stars (Robert Mitchum, John Wayne, Lee Marvin). He tells us about his education, his career, his drinking, and his illness and how all these things affected him.
Because he's a familiar figure to me, I couldn't help but to read his words in his voice, which might be ironic now that he has no voice. |
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