The Coen Brothers Audiobook By Adam Nayman cover art

The Coen Brothers

Preview
Try for $0.00
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Coen Brothers

By: Adam Nayman
Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $18.00

Buy for $18.00

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

A playfully critical journey through the Coen brothers' filmography

From such cult hits as Raising Arizona (1987) and The Big Lebowski (1998) to major critical darlings Fargo (1996), No Country for Old Men (2007), and Inside Llewyn Davis (2013), Ethan and Joel Coen have cultivated a bleakly comical, instantly recognizable voice in modern American cinema.

In The Coen Brothers: This Book Really Ties the Films Together, film critic Adam Nayman carefully sifts through their complex cinematic universe in an effort to plot, as he puts it, "some Grand Unified Theory of Coen-ness." The book combines critical text - biography, close film analysis, and enlightening interviews with key Coen collaborators - with a visual aesthetic that honors the Coens' singular mix of darkness and levity. Featuring hard insight, this book will be the definitive exploration of the Coen brothers' oeuvre.

©2018 Adam Nayman (P)2018 Random House Audio
Art Direction & Production Entertainment & Celebrities Entertainment & Performing Arts Film & TV History & Criticism Celebrity
adbl_web_global_use_to_activate_T1_webcro805_stickypopup
All stars
Most relevant  
A fantastic depiction inside the minds of two of the best America filmmakers ever! And yes, this book really does tie all the movies together!

Inside Joel and Ethan

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I could have done without several of the interviews, but the deep analysis of the Coens’ filmography, told largely film by film in chronological order, was insightful and rewarding. Even when I disagreed with the author’s interpretation of something (which was rare) I still have to acknowledge that he gave me the tools to make my own meaning out of these beloved films.

I Wish Every Director Got A Book Like This

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Excellent if you're looking for a synopsis and critique of the Coen brothers films, but unfortunately I was hoping that this would be as much anecdote as analysis. I think the stories behind the making of the films would have been of more interest to me than an in-depth review of the films.

Very well done but...

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

This book details a lot of information about their films and how they go about making them I really enjoyed listening to the book.

If you are a Coen Brothers movie fan

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Incredible detail, insightful thematic connectivity between the films, and interesting interviews with many of their collaborators

Amazing and fun analysis

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

For fans like myself, I think most of the information and analysis of the Coen Brothers' films is fairly well understood, but some of the insights could be useful for a newcomer. There are a few tidbits of myths and myth-busting, but the bulk of the book consists of the synopses, themes and threads running through their films. While that may at first seem tedious or academic, let me state categorically, it's not. After every segment, I desperately wanted to go back and watch each film again. Every.Single.Time. (Yes, even including Ladykillers and Intolerable Cruelty!). And I learned to enjoy the gimmick of listing the percentage of constituent parts of the films upon their introduction. It's well worth the time for fans of the Coen Brothers. And for those people who claim that they *don't get* the Coens' films, even after multiple viewings, it may help guide them into a new appreciation.

Brilliant companion!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Simply put - if you enjoy the movies, you will enjoy this book. The author definitely goes deep and takes the reader on a big picture thematic journey through the Coen brothers films as well as a vastly entertaining meta journey.

For those of us mere mortals that can only see 1 or 2 levels deep in the Coen brothers films but, nonetheless enjoy them immensely, the insights in this book allow us to enjoys the films, and the careers, on many new levels.

Highly recommended!

A real treat for Coen Brothers Fans

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Deep look into the Coen Brothers movies. Breakdown of each film, and thought process. Interviews with some of the crew. Narrated cold and slow. If you like their movies, you'll enjoy this book.

The Dude Abides

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

This book is basically a deep dive into the movies of the Coen Bros. It includes overviews, interviews, and examines how the themes from the movies overlap and reappear in one another. It’s a good listen as long as you have seen the movies. If you haven’t, you would be best served to watch them all before starting this book.

If you like the movies you’ll like the book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.