Tim Burton : An Unauthorized Biography of the Filmmaker

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Summary: The first truly insightful look at Burton and his films!
Review: Who would have thought a Burton biography would be such a page-turner! Ken Hanke's book is THE book to have for any Burton fan! His thorough research and amazingly keen eye for detail have given us insight into a talent who keeps his true self very carefully hidden. Hanke introduces us for the first time to the REAL Tim Burton, perhaps even more genuinely and credibly than Burton himself ever could (or would). Through close examination of his entire body of work, interviews with Burton's friends and associates, as well as published conversations with the filmmaker himself, Hanke delivers a stunning psychological profile of an elusive visionary. A genuinely fascinating read! Higest recommendations!

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Summary: The Best Book I've Ever Read About a Filmmaker
Review: With rare precision author Ken Hanke--known to film fans for his books on Charlie Chan and Ken Russell, as well as his groundbreaking essays on James Whale--uncovers the myth of Tim Burton to reveal something of the artist beneath the pose. It's the sort of book that one hopes to get about an artist, but rarely does. It is also the sort of book that is apt to upset some of Burton's more mindless worshippers who cannot bear to think of their hero as even slightly flawed (or even slightly human perhaps), and are more apt to fall in line with Burton's utterly self-serving BURTON ON BURTON, an interesting interview book, but one where the subject holds all the cards and lets the reader see just so much and no more. Hanke's book goes way, way beyond this in a manner that I found refreshing and distinctive. Truthfully, I had mixed feelings about Burton's work--often thinking that the man was about to drown in sexless self-pity--until this book came along and made me see the movies in an entirely new light. I cannot imagine the open-minded Burton admirer--or film fan in general--who could seriously disagree.