Somebody

The Reckless Life and Remarkable Career of Marlon Brando

By: Stefan Kanfer

Narrated by: Armando Durán

Brando is perpetually fascinating, both for the power of the characters he portrayed and for his tumultuous personal life. Best-selling biographer Stefan Kanfer seamlessly intertwines the man and the work to give us the fullest and most illuminating appraisal yet.

Kanfer takes us from Brando's troubled childhood to his arrival in New York in the 1940s, where he studied with the legendary Stella Adler and became, at age 23, the star of Broadway in A Streetcar Named Desire. He looks at each of Brando's films, offering a detailed analysis of the performances that shows the evolution of Brando's singular genius. He brings into focus Brando's self-destructiveness, his ambivalence toward his craft, and the tragedies that shadowed his last years. What emerges is a definitive life of an iconic artist whose work forever altered the landscape of his craft.

©2008 Stefan Kanfer (P)2008 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

Kanfer skillfully weaves in Broadway and Hollywood history, and his behind-the-scenes analysis of Brando's films will send you running to rent the classics, the reluctantly acknowledged cult favorites and even the bombs. An inspiring, depressing, riveting story. ( Kirkus Reviews)

Balanced and respectful bio...well done

Marlon Brando was a complicated person that many have tried to dissect and understand. Really he was a culmination of his parent's flaws, his experiences, his lack of experience, and feelings that had nowhere to safely go really. This is a well written bio that shows all sides,the good and the bad.

excellent and intriguing

This book truly delves deep into the life and mind of the greatest yet most enigmatic artist of our time. Even those who are not Brando fans will appreciate this book as a study in the human condition. it's amazing that someone with so much genius, so much talent, then eventually so much wealth, could be so profoundly unhappy. How and why? This book helps answer that

Okay

This book has some interesting details about Brando in it, overall, reads like a master’s thesis. I don’t recommend it.

Straight facts

Glad I did not have to wade through Attitude and innuendo for elementary background data.

Well researched and good narration

Worth the credit, even if you already known a lot about Marlon Brando.
Lots of detail.