Robin Williams

Rating:
Summary: Very effectively dispels rumors and other untrues.
Review: I found this book to be a very interesting and enlightening account of the events that have made Robin Williams the man he is today - the funniest man in the world. Mr. Dougan goes to great lengths to dispel the rumors and other untrues so often associated with the comedian and the actor. However, he does not sugar coat the difficulties (both professional and personal) that Robin Williams has encountered and overcome during his career. The book does drag in a few places where Mr. Dougan provides a somewhat lenghtly background into the lives of people remotely associated with Robin. To me, this information had little to do with the subject at hand. But I still highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning about the life (good and bad) of Robin Williams.

Rating:
Summary: Very good biography
Review: I saw this book on the table at the local library and decided to read it, though I am not that big a fan of Mr. Williams.

I found this biography to be really top notch, highly readable, having just enough details without being excessive. The book is an intimate portrayal yet is not intrusive. While the author acknowledges at the outset that his book is an "unauthorized" biography, you wouldn't know it - the quotes from Williams, his two wives, and close associates are very poignant, as if given while being interviewed for this biography.

The author does a fine job of tracing Williams life from childhood in Detroit through his beginnings as a performer in San Francisco and at the Julliard School in New York. There he becomes close friends with Christopher Reeve. The friendship lasts through the years, and the chapter where Williams flies to be with Reeve after the latter's tragic 1995 horse-riding accident, cheering him up as he has cheered up many other fellow entertainers, is very moving.

The book traces Williams career in TV and the movies (while always mentioning Williams countless live comedy club performances) with care and thoroughness. The chapters on Mork and Mindy are interesting, followed by Williams' lack of box-office success in "Popeye," "Moscow on the Hudson," and the disastrous "Club Paradise." While having trouble making it in the movies, Williams also has a lot of personal problems. Again, this part of Williams' life is handled carefully, with detail, but without excess, and also has a happy outcome when he bonds with his second wife, who later produces another of Williams' huge successes, "Mrs. Doubtfire."

Finally, in his 8th film, Williams makes the big time with an outstanding performance in "Good Morning, America." He is nominated for academy awards in this film, "Dead Poets Society," and "The Fisher King," but does not win. I assume that synchronistically while the author was writing this book, Williams finally breaks through with an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in "Good Will Hunting," which is described in the book's epilogue. It seems like a fitting conclusion, yet the author also discusses Williams next 3 movies, as he is a tireless performer!

Highly recommended if you like Robin Williams work at all.

Rating:
Summary: What do you expect from an unauthorized biography?
Review: If you want to read a two hundred fifty page tabloid, then look no further. Andy Dougan's choice of words, for the presintation of Robin's life, contains too many of his personal opinions and feelings. If I wanted to read about someone's feelings, then I would wait for Robin to write an autobiography. Since the book has such an informal tone the "facts" about Robin's life are easily questioned. This book will be recorded as the longest tabloid article in history.

Rating:
Summary: Advance Praise!
Review: Library Journal says, "the first in-depth biography to appear in the last ten years. A straightforward account that receals new facts about a very private celebrity. Recommended."

Rating:
Summary: "Something about Robin Williams"
Review: or "Robin Williams - who is he?" - these would be more correct titles for the book. Since the book tells us something about Robin Williams. And does not answer the question, on who he really is. Despite its rather promising beginning, with the clues to Williams' character being searched through his childhood and a general atmosphere of turbulent 60s, the book does not go far in developing its few ideas. It looks like the author is sinking in unnecessary details of TV and movie production process, which have little to do with Robin Williams as a person and an actor. I hope that one of my favorite actors will come up with his own autobiography, and the book's title "Robin Williams" will be trully justified.