Steven Spielberg

A Biography

By: Joseph McBride

Narrated by: Edward Lewis

The most successful director in movie history, Steven Spielberg has been responsible for such box-office blockbusters as Jurassic Park, Jaws, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and the Indiana Jones trilogy. And yet throughout much of his career, Spielberg's work has been undervalued by critics who have questioned his emotional maturity and intellectual seriousness. It was not until he made Schindler's List in 1993 that he was widely recognized as a serious filmmaker.

Until now, much about Steven Spielberg's personality and the forces that shaped it has remained enigmatic, in large part because of his tendency to obscure and mythologize his own past. In this full-scale, in-depth biography, Joseph McBride reveals hidden dimensions of the filmmaker's personality and explains how deeply personal even his most commercial work has been. With the same breadth of research and clarity of insight that characterized his acclaimed biography of Frank Capra, McBride has gone in search of the true Steven Spielberg, interviewing more than 300 of the director's friends and associates, many of whom had never spoken about him before.

©1997 McBride (P)2000 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Tough to get through but great story.

This does read like a textbook at times but I really enjoyed the story. The narrator is probably very talented but this was not his best work. Was very robotic and difficult to finish. Still, enjoyed the story of the greatest film maker of all time.

Great story. Awful delivery.

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Absolutely. I found the book to be very informative and I have a much deeper appreciation of Spielberg's work after reading it.

What did you like best about this story?

It's very comprehensive. Great details on all of his films and lots of information that I didn't already know.

What didn’t you like about Edward Lewis’s performance?

Wow. I almost stopped thirty minutes in because Edward Lewis was so boring. Admittedly, I just came off Kirby Heyborne's reading on Jim Henson which is the best I've ever heard, but Lewis' narration is so boring and monotone, it made driving and listening very difficult, especially for the first eight hours, before getting into Spielberg's film work. At that point, the material elevated my interested above Lewis' speech and made for a more engaging experience.

Could you see Steven Spielberg being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Nope. There are plenty of other good stories out there and Spielberg is a very deep character.

Out of date but nevertheless interesting.

Any additional comments?

A great read/listen, but the way the narrator's voice changes when he's quoting someone makes whoever he's quoting sound like a whining child. In spite of this the content is very interesting with a generally well-balanced look at Spielberg and his films. Only other problem is that it's out of date and ends around 1997 or so. I would have loved to hear about the making and reception of A.I. at least and any of his more recent work.

an extensive Freudian psychoanalysis and criticism of Steven

I was ultimately disappointed as I got this book because I love the childlike wonder of Steven Spielberg’s films like ET, Indiana Jones, Hook, and Jurassic Park. I wanted to understand the genius who made these films and how I can emulate that in my own creative endeavors.

However McBride can barely hide his contempt for these films as mere “popular entertainment” made by a giant baby man who won’t grow up. If you want to read an extensive Freudian psychoanalysis and criticism of Steven then this is the book for you.

I should say I did read the whole thing and am glad I got the book as I loved the subject of the material, but I could have forgone the cynicism.

Excellent

This was required reading for my film class and I really enjoyed it. It is an essential piece e of history, specifically film history but mainly human emotion and the practice of empathy through Spielbergs incredible direction.