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One of Literary Hubs Five Most Critically Acclaimed Biographies of 2022
From acclaimed cultural and film historian James Curtisa major biography the first in more than two decades of the legendary comedian and filmmaker who elevated physical comedy to the highest of arts and whose ingenious films remain as startling innovative modernand irresistibletoday as they were when they beguiled audiences almost a century ago
It is brilliantI was totally absorbed couldnt stop reading it and was very sorry when it endedKevin Brownlow
It wasJames Agee who christenedBuster Keaton The Great Stone Face Keatons face Agee wrote ranked almost with Lincolns as an early American archetype it was haunting handsome almost beautiful yet it was also irreducibly funny Keaton was the only major comedian who kept sentiment almost entirely out of his work and he brought pure physical comedy to its greatest heights
Mel Brooks A lot of my daring came from Keaton
Martin Scorsese influenced by Keatons pictures in the making of Raging BullThe only person who had the right attitude about boxing in the movies for me Scorsese said was Buster Keaton
Keatons deadpan stare in a porkpie hat was as recognizable as Charlie Chaplins tramp and Harold Lloyds straw boater and spectacles and with W C Fields the four were each considered a comedy kingbut Keaton was and still is considered to be the greatest of them all
His iconic look and acrobatic brilliance obscured the fact that behind the camera Keaton was one of our most gifted filmmakers Through nineteen short comedies and twelve magnificent features he distinguished himself with such seminal works as Sherlock Jr The Navigator Steamboat Bill Jr The Cameraman and his masterpiece The General
Now James Curtis admired biographer of Preston Sturges definitiveVariety W C Fields by far the fullest fairest and most touching account we have yet had Or are likely to haveRichard Schickel front page of The New York Times Book Review and Spencer Tracy monumental definitiveKirkus Reviews gives us the richest most comprehensive life to date of the legendary actor stunt artist screenwriter directormaster
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