Robin

March 19, 2018
According to this perceptive biography from Itzkoff (Mad as Hell), comedian Robin Williams was a man driven by a deep need for adulation and acceptance. Itzkoff introduces Williams as a brilliant, imaginative child left to his own devices in a sprawling mansion in the suburbs of Detroit, then describes his sometimes contentious relationship with his Ford executive father, his time in a community college drama department, his training at Juilliard (where he met lifelong friend Christopher Reeve), his breakthrough role on Mork and Mindy, and his long movie career. Along the way, readers meet the people who sustained him for much of his life, in particular the comic Billy Crystal, who perhaps knew him best, and his second wife, Marsha, who for years supervised much of his professional life. Nevertheless, Williams was consumed with misgivings about his stature as a star, a doubt that found expression in drug and alcohol abuse, and in his struggle to find film projects that could harness his manic talents. Itzkoff goes into detail on the debilitating illness (Lewy body dementia) that some of those close to Williams believe caused the comedian to commit suicide in 2014. Meticulously sourced and comprehensive in scope, Itzkoff’s work gives Williams’s many fans a rare glimpse of the man behind the celebrity.

April 1, 2018
A New York Times culture reporter uses both straight reporting and insightful analysis in the first major biography of Robin Williams (1951-2014).After discovering his talents as a comedian and actor in his late teens, Williams was clearly going places--but where? As Billy Crystal described one of Williams' early performances in the book, "it was like trying to catch a comet with a baseball glove." With his madcap stage antics, trademark rainbow suspenders, and rapid-fire shifting from character to character, he mesmerized audiences everywhere, first in the small comedy clubs of New York, then on TV, and eventually in Hollywood films. "But who was he?" So asks Itzkoff (Mad as Hell: The Making of Network and the Fateful Vision of the Angriest Man in Movies, 2014, etc.) in the prologue of this comprehensive examination of Williams' long career as an actor, family man, and friend. The author portrays an artist who, though not necessarily tormented, was driven by his insecurities and addictive personality to seek constant and immediate validation through his performances. From a stint at Juilliard, through his early success with Mork & Mindy, and finally his big breaks with Good Morning, Vietnam, Dead Poets Society, and Aladdin, Itzkoff chronicles his career arc and friendships with the likes of Christopher Reeve, Billy Crystal, and Richard Pryor, among countless others. Through their perspectives, along with those of his parents, children, and wives, the author draws out the many different Robins the world has come to know--but as the Itzkoff shows, there was so much more. His suicide came as a major blow to nearly everyone around him, and many are still puzzled by this final act from an artist who seemed to have it all. Itzkoff explores all the theories, including the surprising and probable one involving Lewy body disease, which caused crippling dementia and robbed Williams of his ability to perform.In this solidly reported and much-anticipated book, Itzkoff delivers a revealing portrait of the motivations of a quiet comic genius whose explosive persona moved millions.

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May 15, 2018

New York Times culture reporter Itzkoff's (Mad as Hell; Cocaine's Son; Lads) detailed, well-researched biography of entertainer Robin Williams (1951-2014) is lengthy, but the writing and content make it easy to read. The author starts with the history of Williams's family life and proceeds chronologically to the dizzying heights of his fame. Williams moved a lot when he was young and became famous at 27, playing an alien on the TV show Mork and Mindy. His comedic genius propelled him to incredible notoriety and also led to lasting friendships with other comedians, particularly Billy Crystal. Itzkoff discusses some of Williams's famous movie roles, such as in Good Morning, Vietnam, Dead Poets Society, Awakenings, The Fisher King, Aladdin, Mrs. Doubtfire, and Good Will Hunting, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. The difficult parts of Williams's life: his addictions, divorces, and last years suffering with Lewy Body Dementia, are also explored in this book that stays with you long after it is finished. VERDICT Williams's entertaining and mostly enjoyable life story will appeal to fans of celebrity biographies, movies, entertainment, and stand-up comedy. [See Prepub Alert, 11/27/17.]--Sally Bryant, Pepperdine Univ. Lib., Malibu, CA

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May 1, 2018
Itzkoff, who knew the late Robin Williams on a personal level, gives us the biography we've been waiting for: a portrait of a brilliantly nimble-witted performer who spent most of his life battling a crippling lack of self-confidence and depression. Williams' suicide in 2014 took most of us by surprise, but here the author shows how Williams' seemingly inexplicable act was the end result of a lifetime of inner turmoil and an inability to find peace within his own mind. The book includes material drawn from previously published sources and interviews with a wide variety of people, including F. Murray Abraham, Norman Lear, David Letterman, Bruce Vilanch, Henry Winkler, and Terry Gilliam. The book has some nifty trivia (first choices to play Mork from Ork were John Byner and Dom DeLuise), but this isn't one of those skimming-the-surface Hollywood bios. It's a meaty, well-researched, moving story of a man who could never quite come to terms with his own brilliance.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)