
Woody Allen
A Travesty of a Mockery of a Sham
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Narrated by:
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Seth Lews
About this listen
Woody Allen was once made a knight commander by France, but he didn’t know because the paperwork got lost in the mail.
A decade later, he found out about the award by reading about it in the New York Times.
Across nearly nine eventful decades, Allen’s life has been full of surprises. Writing jokes got him a gig as the youngest writer of Sid Caesar’s television dream team. As a rising comic, he boxed a kangaroo on TV. He made a blank-check deal with a major studio for terms unmatched in Hollywood apart from early titans like Chaplin and Welles. All before Annie Hall.
Yet despite once being one of the most consequential American cultural figures, Allen is now persona non grata. In this judicious biography, acclaimed biographer Patrick McGilligan charts the meteoric rise and fall of the comedian whose nonconformity proved both his secret genius and Achilles’ heel.
Drawing on meticulous research, McGilligan reconstructs Allen’s Brooklyn boyhood, his salad days as a television comedy writer, his rise to stand-up, and the thoughtful, award-winning filmmaking of his golden years in the 1970s and ’80s. His messy relationships with wives and girlfriends, including Annie Hall costar Diane Keaton, were essential to his artistic development and undoing. Yet no one could have predicted his tumultuous personal and professional relationship with actress Mia Farrow, his alleged abuse of their adopted daughter Dylan, and his subsequent marriage to Mia’s daughter Soon-Yi Previn.
In this comprehensive, sweeping, and rigorous account of Allen’s life and career, McGilligan astutely reveals the writer’s writer beyond the smoke and controversy, and paints a compelling portrait of the most creative, productive, and influential filmmaker of his time.
Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2023 Patrick Mcgilligan (P)2023 HarperCollins PublishersListeners also enjoyed...
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Fosse
- By: Sam Wasson
- Narrated by: Jim Meskimen
- Length: 21 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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The only person ever to win Oscar, Emmy, and Tony awards in the same year, Bob Fosse revolutionized nearly every facet of American entertainment. His signature style would influence generations of performing artists. Yet in spite of Fosse’s innumerable—including Cabaret, Pippin, All That Jazz, and Chicago, one of the longest-running Broadway musicals ever—his offstage life was shadowed by deep wounds and insatiable appetites.
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Amazing!
- By Helen on 11-06-24
By: Sam Wasson
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Young Orson
- The Years of Luck and Genius on the Path to Citizen Kane
- By: Patrick McGilligan
- Narrated by: Keith Szarabajka
- Length: 27 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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For the centennial of his birth, the defining wunderkind of modern entertainment gets his due in a groundbreaking new biography of his early years - from his first forays in theater and radio to the inspiration and making of Citizen Kane. No American artist or entertainer has enjoyed a more dramatic rise than Orson Welles. In this magisterial biography, Patrick McGilligan brings young Orson into focus as never before.
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Standard McGilligan bio; not great, not terrible
- By Keith on 11-18-19
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Hollywood and the Movies of the Fifties
- The Collapse of the Studio System, the Thrill of Cinerama, and the Invasion of the Ultimate Body Snatcher—Television
- By: Foster Hirsch
- Narrated by: Foster Hirsch
- Length: 36 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Hollywood in the 1950s was a period when the film industry both set conventions and broke norms and traditions—from Cinerama, Cinemascope and Vistavision to the epic film and lavish musical. It was a decade that saw the rise of the anti-hero; the smoldering, the hidden, and the unspoken; teenagers gone wild in the streets; the sacred and the profane; the revolution of the Method; the socially conscious; the implosion of the studios, the end of the production code; and the invasion of the ultimate body snatcher: the “small screen” television.
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Captivating from start to finish
- By Steve C. on 02-01-25
By: Foster Hirsch
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The Coen Brothers
- By: Adam Nayman
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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From such cult hits as Raising Arizona and The Big Lebowski to major critical darlings Fargo, No Country for Old Men, and Inside Llewyn Davis, Ethan and Joel Coen have cultivated a bleakly comical, instantly recognizable voice in modern American cinema. 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 with a visual aesthetic that honors the Coens' singular mix of darkness and levity.
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Brilliant companion!
- By Buretto on 12-05-18
By: Adam Nayman
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Without Feathers
- By: Woody Allen
- Narrated by: Woody Allen
- Length: 2 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Now in audio for the first time, Without Feathers is narrated by Woody Allen himself. Here they are: 16 of the funniest tales and ruminations ever recorded, by one of the great comic minds of our time. From "The Whore of Mensa", to "Fabulous Tales & Mythical Beasts", to "No Kaddish for Weinstein", old and new Allen fans will laugh themselves silly over these sparkling gems.
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Dated, but in a good way
- By Kimo_Nine on 11-21-15
By: Woody Allen
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That Lovely, Lovely Shark Movie
- By: Dennis Santaniello
- Narrated by: Virtual Voice
- Length: 4 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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A passionate celebration of cinema's most perfect predator. Funny, insightful, and unapologetically obsessive, "That Lovely Lovely Shark Movie" takes you on a scene-by-scene journey through one of the most influential films ever made. This isn't your typical analysis – it's a love letter written by someone who would marry Jaws if it were human. From the haunting two-note theme to the triumphant final explosion, this book explores the countless "quiet moments" that make Spielberg's masterpiece endure fifty years later. Discover how a mechanical shark that barely worked created cinematic ...
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He didn't watch this mivie
- By Qoheleth on 04-18-25
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Side Effects
- By: Woody Allen
- Narrated by: Woody Allen
- Length: 3 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Now, available in audio for the first time, Side Effects is narrated by Woody Allen himself. A humor classic by one of the world’s funniest writers, Side Effects is a treat for Allen fans and those just discovering how gifted he is. In classics including "Remembering Needleman", "The Kugelmass Episode", "Confessions of a Burglar", and others, Allen discusses such subjects as the nature of relativity, the UFO menace, and the predicament of modern man.
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For Woody Allen's fans
- By A. Yoshida on 07-01-18
By: Woody Allen
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It Seemed Like a Bad Idea at the Time
- The Worst TV Shows in History and Other Things I Wrote
- By: Bruce Vilanch
- Narrated by: Bruce Vilanch
- Length: 5 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Bruce Vilanch is known as a go-to comedy writer for award shows, sitcoms, and top-heavy variety specials, but he has also been responsible for quite a few of the worst shows ever put on television—legendarily bad productions. It Seemed Like a Bad Idea at the Time is a lifetime reflection of what Vilanch has experienced, learned, forgotten, dismissed, and embraced in decades of working in show business
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For show biz lovers
- By Sarasota on 03-07-25
By: Bruce Vilanch
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Pretend We're Dead
- The Rise, Fall, and Resurrection of Women in Rock in the '90s
- By: Tanya Pearson
- Narrated by: Kendra Hoffman, Carrington MacDuffie, Suehyla El-Attar
- Length: 7 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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In 2018, during an interview with journalist Tanya Pearson, Shirley Manson lamented: "It’s a blanket fact that after September 11th, nonconformist women were taken off the radio.” This comment echoed a reality Pearson had personally witnessed as a musician and a fan, and launched her into a quest to figure out just what happened to these extraordinary female figures. Pretend We’re Dead seeks to answer two big questions.
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The well investigated content and personal interviews
- By meg jones on 01-29-25
By: Tanya Pearson
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Box Office Poison
- Hollywood's Story in a Century of Flops
- By: Tim Robey
- Narrated by: Tim Robey
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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From grand follies to misunderstood masterpieces, disastrous sequels to catastrophic literary adaptations, Box Office Poison tells a hugely entertaining alternative history of Hollywood, through a century of its most notable flops. What can these films tell us about the Hollywood system, the public’s appetite–or lack of it–and the circumstances that saw such flops actually made? Away from the canon, this is the definitive take on these ill-fated, but essential celluloid failures.
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Boring and dull
- By Tech Guy on 05-29-25
By: Tim Robey
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Best. Movie. Year. Ever.
- How 1999 Blew Up the Big Screen
- By: Brian Raftery
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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From a veteran culture writer and modern movie expert, a celebration and analysis of the movies of 1999 - arguably the most groundbreaking year in American cinematic history.
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Like talking about movies with a friend
- By Shawn Inmon on 05-30-19
By: Brian Raftery
As for the balance of the book, it's informative with backstage and administrative goings on, if a bit repetitive in reciting plots to the successive films (those who buy this book will probably already know the stories, so it just serves as filler). It's written in a strictly chronological style, which is to say, preparations and casting of the next film are often detailed prior to the debut and release of (and subsequent reactions to) the prior film, which can lead to a few misunderstandings as to which actor did what when for which film. And I'm not sure why the narrator (who did better with most pronunciation later in the book, affected a half hearted Woody-ish voice when reading quotes. Not strong enough to be genuinely critiqued, but enough to wonder why he did it!
In the end, the book is a fair, comprehensive view of a genius comedian and filmmaker and a genuinely weird (in any way one wishes to define it) human being. He certainly portrays some cringeworthy moments in his films, particularly regarding young women. But he's also unquestionably one of the preeminent filmmakers to showcase women in a diverse range of roles, powerful, vulnerable, quirky and complex. Diane Keaton and Mia Farrow absolutely shine in his films. Cate Blanchett has a strong filmography, but Blue Jasmine features her in a way that would be virtually unimaginable from any other filmmaker. I certainly hope that reason will be restored, and that, along with his comedic genius, will be his legacy.
+First Impressions+ (original review below)
I felt the need to write an intermediate review to share my thoughts thus far.
First, full disclosure, I regard Woody Allen as the preeminent comedic filmmaker of the latter half of the 20th century, bar none. Not even Mel Brooks or the Pythons, whom I love, match him. That stated, a few impressions...
It's a bit concerning that I am only 4 chapters in (about a quarter of the way through the book, Allen is just making What's Up Tiger Lily and Casino Royale, not yet to Take the Money and Run.), and I've already heard the name of (previous Allen biographer) Eric Lax referenced (no lie) over a dozen times, as well as Allen's book "Apropos of Nothing", half a dozen times. I understand that a biographer will cover well-trodden ground at times, and citations are necessary, but at a point it becomes a distraction, as the listener wonders why this new book is even needed. (The author lays out the case in the PDF, and I suspect the book will bear sweeter fruit in later chapters.
Which brings up the point of the 'scandal'. I have no sacred cows in the arts, but yet I have no problem separating the art and the artist. I will look at all the information and come to conclusions. Long story short, I believe Moses and the adoptive children, and I don't believe Mia (I won't add Dylan, as she is a victim, in any reading of the case). But I was bit worried with what I feel is the author's mis-characterization of "woke" and "cancel culture". It certainly is unfortunate that his reputation and standing in the film community has suffered over this situation. But it is a mis-application of 'wokeness', in my opinion. I would happily self-identify as woke, as I view it as a recognition of historical social injustice and the desire to remedy its effects. Some take it too far, without a discerning eye. And let's face it, none of the "anti-woke" crowd would have ever bothered to watch a Woody Allen film, much less defend him against baseless allegations. It remains to be heard how the author plays this card, but I continue with trepidation.
Finally, for now, I rarely ever criticize narrators, as it usually is nitpicking. There have been numerous mispronunciations, most of which consist of the usual suspects of calling Deborah Kerr as it's spelled rather than 'Carr' as it is pronounced properly, or mangling "bon mots". But when he referred to the Parisian hotel as "the George V" (yes, pronouncing V, not 'cinq'), I just about had enough. Again, on its own, humorous. But too much, and it becomes a distraction.
Final Impressions (after First Impressions)
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