Robert Altman
The Oral Biography
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By:
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Mitchell Zuckoff
About this listen
Robert Altman - visionary director, hard-partying hedonist, eccentric family man, Hollywood legend - comes roaring to life in this rollicking cinematic biography, told in a chorus of voices that can only be called Altmanesque.
His outsized life and unique career are revealed as never before: here are the words of his family and friends, and a few enemies, as well as the agents, writers, crew members, producers, and stars who worked with him, including Meryl Streep, Warren Beatty, Tim Robbins, Julianne Moore, Paul Newman, Julie Christie, Elliott Gould, Martin Scorsese, Robin Williams, Cher, and many others. There is even Altman himself, in the form of his exclusive last interviews.
After an all-American boyhood in Kansas City, a stint flying bombers through enemy fire in World War II, and jobs ranging from dog-tattoo entrepreneur to television director, Robert Altman burst onto the scene in 1970 with the movie M*A*S*H. He revolutionized American filmmaking, and, in a decade, produced masterpieces at an astonishing pace: McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Thieves Like Us, The Long Goodbye, 3 Women, and, of course, Nashville. Then, after a period of disillusionment with Hollywood - as well as Hollywood's disillusionment with him - he reinvented himself with a bold new set of masterworks: The Player, Short Cuts, and Gosford Park. Finally, just before the release of the last of his nearly 40 movies, A Prairie Home Companion, he received an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement from the Academy, which had snubbed him for so many years.
Mitchell Zuckoff - who was working with Altman on his memoirs before he died - weaves Altman's final interviews, an incredible cast of voices, and contemporary reviews and news accounts, into a riveting tale of an extraordinary life. Here are a series of revelations that force us to reevaluate Altman as a man and an artist, and to view his sprawling narratives with large casts, multiple story lines, and overlapping dialogue as unquestionably the work of a modern genius.
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After suffering physical abuse at the hands of his stepmother, James Garner left home at fourteen. He became Oklahoma's first draftee of the Korean War and was awarded with two Purple Hearts before returning to the United States and settling in Los Angeles to become an actor. Working alongside some of the most renowned celebrities, including Julie Andrews, Marlon Brando, and Clint Eastwood, Garner became a star in his own right, despite struggles with stage fright and depression.
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What a disappointment.
- By Linda on 11-14-11
By: James Garner, and others
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Top of the Rock
- Inside the Rise and Fall of Must See TV
- By: Warren Littlefield, T. R. Pearson
- Narrated by: Bob Balaban
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Warren Littlefield was the NBC President of Entertainment who oversaw the Peacock Network’s rise from also-ran to a division that generated a billion dollars in profits. In this fast-paced and exceptionally entertaining oral history, Littlefield and NBC luminaries including Jerry Seinfeld, Jason Alexander, Kelsey Grammer, Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow, Julianna Marguiles, Anthony Edwards, Noah Wylie, Debra Messing, Jack Welch, Jimmy Burrows, Helen Hunt, and Dick Wolf vividly recapture the incredible era of Must See TV.
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Nostalgic Look at NBC in the 90's
- By Jill on 10-10-12
By: Warren Littlefield, and others
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The Improv
- An Oral History of the Comedy Club That Revolutionized Stand-Up
- By: Budd Friedman, Tripp Whetsell, Jay Leno - foreword
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1963, 30-year-old Friedman - who had recently quit his job as a Boston advertising executive and returned to his hometown of New York to become a theatrical producer - opened a coffee house for Broadway performers called the Improvisation. His goal? Simply to make a living, and if all went according to plan, to also make enough professional contacts to be able to mount his first Broadway show within a year's time. Later shortened to the Improv, its first West 44th Street location was in a seedy section of Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen.
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Shockingly tone deaf
- By JenniferW on 06-28-23
By: Budd Friedman, and others
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All About Me!
- My Remarkable Life in Show Business
- By: Mel Brooks
- Narrated by: Mel Brooks
- Length: 15 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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At 95, the legendary Mel Brooks continues to set the standard for comedy across television, film, and the stage. Now, for the first time, this EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) winner shares his story in his own words.
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Wonderful and nostalgic
- By GAT on 12-07-21
By: Mel Brooks
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You Couldn't Ignore Me If You Tried
- The Brat Pack, John Hughes, and Their Impact on a Generation
- By: Susannah Gora
- Narrated by: Kelli Tager
- Length: 15 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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The landscape that the Brat Pack memorialized is rich with cultural themes and significance, and has influenced an entire generation who still believe that life always turns out like an '80s movie. You Couldn't Ignore Me If You Tried takes us back to that era, through Susannah Gora's interviews with key players such as Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Andrew McCarthy, and John Cusack, and mines all the material from the movies to the music to the way the films were made to show how they helped shape our visions for romance, friendship, society, and success.
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Brings me back to my teenage years! Fantastic Narration! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- By Amazmama on 06-24-22
By: Susannah Gora
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I Only Know Who I Am When I Am Somebody Else
- My Life on the Street, on the Stage, and in the Movies
- By: Danny Aiello, Gil Reavill
- Narrated by: Danny Aiello
- Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Beloved stage and screen actor Danny Aiello’s big-hearted memoir reveals a man of passion, integrity, and guts - and lays bare one of the most unlikely success stories ever told. Danny Aiello admits that he backed into his acting career by mistake. That’s easy to see when you begin at the beginning: Raised by his loving and fiercely resilient mother in the tenements of Manhattan and the South Bronx, and forever haunted by the death of his infant brother, Danny struggled early on to define who he was and who he could be.
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I want to give Danny Aiello a big hug.
- By Mari K. on 01-22-15
By: Danny Aiello, and others
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I Blame Dennis Hopper
- And Other Stories from a Life Lived in and out of the Movies
- By: Illeana Douglas
- Narrated by: Illeana Douglas
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1969, Illeana Douglas' parents saw the film Easy Rider and were transformed. Taking Dennis Hopper's words - "That's what it's all about, man" - to heart, they abandoned their comfortable upper-middle-class life and gave Illeana a childhood filled with hippies, goats, free spirits, and free love. Illeana writes, "Since it was all out of my control, I began to think of my life as a movie, with a Dennis Hopper-like father at the center of it." I Blame Dennis Hopper is a rollicking, funny, at times tender exploration of the way movies can change our lives.
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Loved Every Moment of this Book!
- By Susan Van Allen on 01-20-16
By: Illeana Douglas
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As If!
- The Oral History of Clueless, as Told by Amy Heckerling, the Cast, and the Crew
- By: Jen Chaney
- Narrated by: Jorjeana Marie
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Will we ever get tired of watching Cher navigate Beverly Hills High School and discover true love in the movie Clueless? As if! Written by Amy Heckerling and starring Alicia Silverstone, Clueless is an enduring comedy classic that remains one of the most streamed movies on Netflix, Amazon, and iTunes even 20 years after its release. In the first book of its kind, Jen Chaney has compiled an oral history of the making of this iconic film using recollections and insights collected from key cast and crew members.
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Awesome book, awful narrator.
- By Anonymous on 08-08-15
By: Jen Chaney
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Confessions of a Puppetmaster
- A Hollywood Memoir of Ghouls, Guts, and Gonzo Filmmaking
- By: Charles Band, Adam Felber
- Narrated by: Charles Band, Sean Patrick Hopkins
- Length: 8 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Zombies, aliens, a little skin, lots of gore - and even more laughs - the cinematic universe of Charles Band is legendary. From the toilet-invading creatures of Ghoulies to the time-travelling bounty hunter in Trancers to the pandemic-crashed Corona Zombies, Band has spent four decades giving B-movie lovers exactly what they love. In Confessions of a Puppetmaster, this congenial master of Grindhouse cinema tells his own story, uncut.
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Great story and narration
- By Jerry on 08-21-23
By: Charles Band, and others
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Stories I Only Tell My Friends
- An Autobiography
- By: Rob Lowe
- Narrated by: Rob Lowe
- Length: 9 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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A teen idol at 15, an international icon and founder of the Brat Pack at 20, and one of Hollywood's top stars to this day, Rob Lowe chronicles his experiences. Never mean-spirited or salacious, Lowe delivers unexpected glimpses into his successes, disappointments, relationships, and one-of-a-kind encounters with people who shaped our world over the last 25 years. These stories are as entertaining as they are unforgettable.
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Great Book and Great Story
- By Natalie J. Belle MD on 04-30-11
By: Rob Lowe
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Dynomite!
- Good Times, Bad Times…Our Times - A Memoir
- By: Jimmie Walker, Sal Manna
- Narrated by: Jimmie Walker
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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>Born into the violence of South Bronx ghetto life, the comic pioneer of TV’s Good Times fame offers a hilarious and politically charged review of his career as one of television’s first hugely successful Black stars. From opening for the Black Panthers and getting his first Tonight Show spot to becoming the first “Black” TV sitcom star, having comedians David Letterman and Jay Leno writing jokes for him, recording number-one comedy albums, and opening for rock n’ roll bands in 50,000 seat stadiums, Walker’s career hit all the highs.
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An transparent story of a socially but funny American icon.
- By John Lucasey on 05-08-21
By: Jimmie Walker, and others
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Dirty Daddy
- The Chronicles of a Family Man Turned Filthy Comedian
- By: Bob Saget
- Narrated by: Bob Saget
- Length: 6 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Millions of viewers know and love Bob Saget from his role as the sweetly neurotic father on the smash hit Full House, and as the charming wisecracking host of America's Funniest Home Videos. And then there are the legions of fans who can't get enough of his scatological, out-of-his-mind stand-up routines, comedy specials, and outrageously profane performances in such shows as HBO's Entourage and the hit documentary The Aristocrats.
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Meh to the 2nd Power
- By Hilary on 06-30-14
By: Bob Saget
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Rebel
- My Life Outside the Lines
- By: Nick Nolte
- Narrated by: Nick Nolte, Christian Baskous
- Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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In a career spanning five decades, Nick Nolte has endured the rites of Hollywood celebrity. Rising from obscurity to leading roles and Oscar nominations, he has been both celebrated and vilified in the media; survived marriages, divorces, and a string of romances; was named the "Sexiest Man Alive" by People magazine; and suffered public humiliation over his drug and alcohol issues, including a drug-fueled trip down a "long road of nothingness" that ended in arrest.
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Great read! No fooling.
- By Action Joe on 05-31-18
By: Nick Nolte
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You Might Remember Me
- The Life and Times of Phil Hartman
- By: Mike Thomas
- Narrated by: Corey Snow
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Both joyous tribute and serious biography, Mike Thomas' You Might Remember Me is a celebration of Phil Hartman's multi-faceted career and an exhaustively reported, warts-and-all examination of his often intriguing and sometimes complicated life - a powerful, humor-filled and disquieting portrait of a man who was loved by many, admired by millions and taken from them far too early.
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I Will Remember You Phil Hartman
- By Roxanna on 12-19-14
By: Mike Thomas
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There Are Worse Things I Could Do
- By: Adrienne Barbeau
- Narrated by: Adrienne Barbeau
- Length: 7 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Adrienne Barbeau never set out to be a sex symbol, and she never planned on giving birth to twins when she was 51, but both those stories and a lot more are detailed in this witty, revealing memoir. With humor and fearlessness, she shares her romance with a superstar, her marriage to a famous film director, her marriage to a much younger man and her successful battle with infertility.
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Excellent book
- By Jill on 01-05-10
By: Adrienne Barbeau
What listeners say about Robert Altman
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Michael AP
- 09-14-18
A great book to read NOT listen to
Beware: this book may be based on recorded interviews BUT these interviews are not what you'll hear: you'll hear people--in most cases not the original interviewees--READING the transcripts of the interviews.
This creates a very disturbing feeling as you listen on: while the grammar is oral, the words are clearly read, not spoken. It's a disaster. Presumably retrieving and using the original interviews was not possible, but the result is that you should probably READ this book, as the experience of listening to it may be, as it was for me, unnerving.
The book itself is quite fascinating. It might be shooting in many directions sometimes, but the choice of creating a complex, multifaceted portrait through many, sometimes contradictory points of view, is great and does Altman justice.
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- Debra
- 11-04-11
Where are the Pictures?
This is an interesting and informative book. However, the hard back book contains hundreds of pictures. The biggest challenge that I have with audio books do not include a document or an Adobe file to download with the pictures included in the book. This is a big drawback for me as a long time subscriber, which needs to be resolved to compete with the all the downloadable book options available to keep subscribers like myself in the future. I hope they find a resolution to this problem. I have seen these files available for very few of the books, however there are some.
Enjoyable book and some of the personal information jumps around so it is hard to follow, entertaining.
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10 people found this helpful
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- Louis
- 01-06-24
Terrific overview of a life and career well-led
It's ironic that one of the three ways to rate this book is on story, since Altman disdained story and focused on characters. This is an enjoyable cubistic portrait of a great character, with a unique filmmaking method And the requisite fascinating anecdotes.
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- Iris Kaminski
- 08-01-24
Complex and interesting
Provides a unique and fair view of an amazing, influential and often underrated film director
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- Jody R. Nathan
- 09-09-10
Great listen
I thought this was a wonderful book. Altman seems like a character in one of his movies. Ok, he is not a very attentive father and he has drinking problems, but he seems to have had a great time doing mostly just what he wanted. It was nice to hear the different opinions of him from the people he worked with and around. Narration is good, Not a good listen for children -- some strong language and some discussion of affairs. Now I will have to watch his movies again!
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3 people found this helpful
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- Geo
- 11-03-15
Very Enjoyable
Once comfortable with the multiple voice narration, quickly became fond of this book. Though not a book on film making, learned much about directing and production - more so than other film bios. Many famous and infamous contributors, including family members, enliven the story. Am sad that this one ended!
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1 person found this helpful
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- Edward
- 11-05-19
If you like Altman, you'll love this.
Robert Altman is my favorite director, and I've seen most of his movies. But I don't know much beyond the movies themselves -- what took Altman so long to get started, why these particular movies were made, what the actors thought, what the critical and popular reception was, why Altman receded in the 80s, how he came back with The Player, etc. etc.
This book answers all these questions and more, often with the actual participants narrating.
It's really all I could have hoped for, and more. Really sorry to have it end.
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- Wise & Careful Shopper
- 10-17-10
Enthralling!
I bought this book at full price, and as the read began, felt certain I had made a huge mistake. Contrary to the very misleading description given for this item, 98% of the voices of the celebrity narrators listed-- including Robert Altman, himself --are fudged by 3-4 professional audiobook readers, NOT contributed by the actors, directors and producers themselves. The listing of narrators certainly should be changed to protect buyers.
Nevertheless, this is a great audiobook, fully captivating, throughout every one of its 18+ hours. In fact, I liked it so much, that the minute it ended, I played it again, start to finish. It is that insightful, informative and entertaining. The actual voices of Altman's wife, Kathryn, and those of his daughters and sons, along with the stunningly good portrayal of Robert Altman's voice by actor, Michael Murphy, are well worth the price of admission. If you weren't an Altman fan before, this will make you want to rent each of his movies in turn, to experience what you've missed of his extraordinary talent on screen. There will never be another like him and he is missed!
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12 people found this helpful
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- M. Clarke
- 12-12-09
Better Than The Book, With An All-Star Altman Cast
The best audiobook I've listened to in a long time.
When Robert Altman died a few years ago, it put into doubt the book that he and Mitchell Zuckoff had been working on. It's hard, however, to imagine how their collaboration could be better than this. Robert Altman's discussions of his movie career are included throughout, but the observations by the other narrators make this audiobook better than the book could be.
Many participants in his movies are quoted at length. In many cases, the narration is done by the actors themselves. For example, Tim Robbins talks about the way he was hired for his starring role in the movie, The Player. Altman's wife, Kathryn, and several of their sons are the actual narrators for their sections. The result is a rich look at his life, as seen by Robert Altman and the people who knew him.
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9 people found this helpful
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- Scott
- 05-02-12
A Tribute to one of Hollywood’s Last Mavericks
What made the experience of listening to Robert Altman the most enjoyable?
I liked that most of his films were talked about in depth. Also, because it is packed with anecdotes from family members, actors, and crewmembers who mostly read their own accounts.
What other book might you compare Robert Altman to and why?
I've listened to and read many actor and filmmaker biographies and this is probably one of the best, if not the best. I'd compare it to David Carradine's 'Endless Highway.'
What about the narrators’s performance did you like?
I liked that many of the narrators were actually reading their own anecdotes from the book. I think this elevates the experience over reading the written version.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Not really. It's very long and that's good. I didn't want to stop listening most of the time but to listen to the entire book in one sitting is a bit much.
Any additional comments?
I think that this audiobook is one of the best examples of having a listening experience that is greater than the written version because it is packed with anecdotes from family members, actors, and crewmembers who mostly read their own experiences. Altman was a larger-than-life figure who had appetites that matched his filmmaking talents and this is a fitting tribute to one of Hollywood’s last great mavericks. I would highly recommend this title to anyone who is interested in film or listens to biographies about filmmakers.
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3 people found this helpful