That's great writing, folks. Mike Nichols, as Remembered by 150 of His Closest Friends By Ash Carter and Sam Kashner There are people who think of oral history as auditory … Mike Nichols was a … "They were rich! This was really great. Dishy (albeit lengthy) bio of Mike Nichols. I could only stare for a few moments and note that Nichols seemed to not have eyebrows. Some people fall in love. They could function as practical nurses or orderlies, but otherwise, they could not practice at all as of mid-1938." The behind-the-scenes looks at his projects, from THE GRADUATE to ANGELS IN AMERICA, are priceless, and the amazing network of fellow artists he collaborated and clashed with, from Elizabeth Taylor to Whoopi Goldberg is fascinating to trace, guided by Harris, who is remarkably efficient at leading readers along the tangled paths of Nichols' interwoven careers as director, performer an. Michael and Robert would have to make the journey alone. Jews could no longer see any [non-Jewish] patients. Mike Nichols: A Life by Mark Harris book review. And an entire book of them―by turns hilarious, insightful and inspiring―is a real gift.” ―Judd Apatow “For those of you who were denied the exquisite pleasure of knowing Mike Nichols, it’s … A magnificent biography of one of the most protean creative forces in American entertainment history, a life of dazzling highs and vertiginous plunges--some of the worst largely unknown until now--by the acclaimed author of Pictures at a Revolution and Five Came Back Kudos to Harris for giving us such a heartfelt and deeply insightful account. "I remember everything about getting on the boat," Nichols said. Five Came Back: A Story of Hollywood and the Second World War, Walt Disney: A Life From Beginning to End (Biographies of Business Leaders), Recipes for a Sacred Life: True Stories and a Few Miracles, It’s Never Too Late: Make the Next Act of Your Life the Best Act of Your Life, Jimmy Stewart: The Truth Behind the Legend. This book was SUBLIME. "There wasn't the family 'togetherness' one finds so often today," Brigitte said later. Nichols looked at him impassively. Nichols was not yet real even to himself. I'm not a huge Mike Nichols fan, aside from liking a handful of his movies over the years, but whats really fascinating about the book and makes it hard to put down is the intensly detailed runthrough of his whole career and process, which was incredibly stressful and fraught with egos, disagreements, passive-aggression, unspoken greivances, failures, surprise successes, depression, addiction, illness etc. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of, Published Often throughout, Nichols can be pretty unsympathetic, but I found the way the book ends to be profoundly empathetic and very moving, as you see how complicated and intense his whole life was and how hard he was on himself. "By the time I spelled Peschkowsky," he joked to his sons, "my patient was in the hospital." However, we get a lot more backstory on his little discussed 70's work (Day of the Dolphin, The Fortune, the various Broadway shows) and a better perspective that the 70's were not a completely wasted decade from a creative standpoint. She was sent to a convalescent hospital. Not all were successes and this is a fascinating look into the process, the ins and outs of a production. Mike Nichols: A Life is as fine a portrait of anyone in the performing arts as I have ever read . Work them til they gleam. I don't know if I'd necessarily recommend it if you don't have at least some interest in movie productions and tidbits about random famous people who have crossed paths, but I don't think you need to be a die-hard fan of Mike Nichols to enjoy this. He made arrangements to hide Brigitte and her older sister, Gudula, in the home of friends and went on the run. Highly recommended. Mark Harris has written a wonderful, juicy, fact-filled biography of one of the 20th Centuries most iconic directors. I certainly wouldn't claim to be a huge fan – I love Working Girl and Angels in America, really like Postcards from the Edge and Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf, mixed feelings about The Graduate and Charlie Wilson's Wa. Note: The published book has fantastic photos! New Releases ; Revisiting; Lists; Podcast; More. His mother and his aunt had given him and Robert the good part-he was a cousin of Albert Einstein, no less, and thus had a famous relative already in America, a story he became so certain was prideful apocrypha that he was astonished when it turned out to be true. The first image of himself he chose to conjure for people was that of a boy on a boat, holding his younger brother's hand, traveling from Germany to America. But by 1938 it had become apparent that all Jews-even the wealthy, even the secular, even those who, like Brigitte, felt German to their core-were in grave danger, and he began planning an escape for his family. I will say, thank god Mike Nichols didn't get his way on Working Girl's male lead — I can't imagine Alec Baldwin in that role over Harrison Ford, but if that had happened, I feel fairly confident my enjoyment of that movie would have dropped quite a bit. . . It did make me finish it within a week or so, the book has something going for it. Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2021. Director Mike Nichols (1931-2014) won an Academy Award, a Grammy, three BAFTAs, four Emmys and nine Tony awards during his prolific career, and Mark Harris has written a superb and definitive biography that Nichols and his fans deserve. Well-written and deeply researched, this brings Nichols to life on the page and it makes me want to go back and revisit movies like Catch-22 and The Fortune to see what I might have missed the first time. It's a really blunt and honest portrait of a certain type of creative process and life in film and theater that devotes equal time to the good and bad qualities Nichols exhibited over his careeer, making the low points or bad movies/plays just as meaningful and illuminating as the great experiences. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. This is a well-written, insightful and funny biography of Mike Nichols, and, incidentally, almost a manual of tips for directing theatrical productions, stage comedies and for directing movies. . One of his great-grandfathers, Grigory Distler, had taken possession of what was thought to be a depleted mine on Sakhalin Island and found an immense undiscovered trove of gold, enough to give his daughter Anna and her son-Nichols's father-seventy-five bars. Harris's previous movie books (Pictures at a Revolution and Five Came Back) are both great reads as well. He would reach his fifties having spent "years, decades, when I didn't think about it" before coming to realize how deeply a sense that "this is all borrowed time" resided within him. In 1980, when I began studying for my MFA in stage directing, a student asked our teacher how you got a directing job. Mike Nicol is a South African author of nonfiction thriller and mystery books. [Mike Nichols] would say, “Well, it’s just making it up as you go along.” But as you point out in the book, it really is also about forging a path when none exists. He would grow up bald. "Every producer," he said, "has a list of directors. I was so looking forward to reading about this extremely talented man as I have always admired his work. This is really an exhaustive epic on a theatrical renaissance man who helped reimagine standup comedy with Elaine May, usher in real emotion with comedic plays on Broadway, most notably with Neil Simon and take films in a completely new direction in the late sixties and early seventies when the studios seemed clueless. It was worth it. By then Brigitte was employed as a hospital social worker. Separately, Mike Nichols and Diane Sawyer led impressive lives. Welcome back. The definitive biography of a very interesting life. What stability she had was shattered in 1918, when her mother became one of the first victims of the flu pandemic and died at fifty-two. "One thing that I'm sure hastened his [departure]," Robert Nichols says, "was that . Tested into university of Chicago where he met Susan Sontag on day 1 and Elaine May with whom he had a very prolific comedic relationship. At the risk of seeming to give a backhanded compliment or faint praise, this a classic case of forgetting there was a writer involved. 3 Responses to “Book Review: Mike Nichols: A Life” Glamourboy says: March 15, 2021 at 1:49 pm. TIFF 2018; Awards. Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. In Mike Nichols: A Life, author Mark Harris presents an engrossing tale of the auteur as an outsider from the start who grew to find much success in Hollywood, despite some slumps. Though he’s a resident of Cape Town, Mike Nicol has had writer-in-residence positions at Berlin and University of Essen. And I said, 'No, no, no, don't kid around!'" "Jews with goldmines!" To get the free app, enter your mobile phone number. Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free. After a fairly quick look at his childhood and early years of acting and the fascinating tale of his meeting and. Nichols was always one of my favorite movie directors, but I never saw one of his plays and I regret it. In den Jahren 1938 bis 1940 emigrierte die Familie nach und nach aus Deutschland[1], sein Vater eröffnete eine Praxis am Central Park in New York. You can return the item for any reason in new and unused condition: no shipping charges. Mike Nichols A Life (Book) : Harris, Mark : "A magnificent biography of one of the most protean creative forces in American entertainment history, a life of dazzling highs and vertiginous plunges--some of the worst largely unknown until now--by the acclaimed author of Pictures at a Revolution and Five Came Back. Truthfully the comedy, the shocking insights, the gossip, the good stuff. You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition. Whatever his name when he boarded ship, it was gone by the time he got to New York. Harris (the husband of Tony Kushner) only gingerly touches on Nichols' sexuality, despite assertions by Richard Avedon, one of his closest friends, that the pair had a longtime love affair and the essentially long-distance nature of Nichols' relationships with his quartet of wives. Harris understands show people better than any other critic alive and chronicles their foibles with both precision and compassion. Your recently viewed items and featured recommendations, Select the department you want to search in, Free returns are available for the shipping address you chose. No zigzags, no flashbacks, no artifice, no smoke and mirrors. Brief content visible, double tap to read full content. The book is divided chronologically, and I ten. "I remember asking a fellow passenger, in German, where was the tip? To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. It’s lovely to spend this much time with a director this heartbreaking and entertaining. This was a fab bio of a very - interesting man. There have been few directors who moved easily between theatre and film. I am 68 and I have been aware of Mike Nichols since childhood - my mother had a Nichols and May album that she loved. What is it about a man that entices me to read a book, a book about his life. . And an entire book of them—by turns hilarious, insightful and inspiring—is a real gift.” —Judd Apatow “For those of you who were denied the exquisite pleasure of knowing Mike Nichols, it’s not too late to make his very special acquaintance. A must-read for Nichols fans, the book seamlessly incorporates hours of interviews with material from 60 years’ worth of Q&As, plus anecdotes and observations from 250 (I counted) uniformly admiring collaborators, associates and friends. Harris ("Pictures at a Revolution") is part film historian, theater buff and investigative reporter, which makes this rich, compassionate and candid biography soar with fresh, first-hand anecdotes from Nichols's co-workers and Harris's astute observations about t. Director Mike Nichols (1931-2014) won an Academy Award, a Grammy, three BAFTAs, four Emmys and nine Tony awards during his prolific career, and Mark Harris has written a superb and definitive biography that Nichols and his fans deserve. This was very impressive! Though Joseph Epstein didn’t mention him in his excellent book Charm: The Elusive Enchantment, it’s not unreasonable to speculate that Epstein would view the late Mike Nichols as a … SUPERB BIO OF ACTOR-DIRECTOR MIKE NICHOLS. Drop what you're reading and get here quick. 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