Film scholars Robert P. Kolker (Politics Goes to the Movies) and Nathan Abrams (Stanley Kubrick) bring their encyclopedic knowledge of cinema to bear in Kubrick: An Odyssey, their exhaustive and immensely entertaining biography of directorial giant Stanley Kubrick. The book tracks the entire span of Kubrick's life and production, including his earliest days as a photographer; his many influences and collaborators; the artists he admired, ranging from Ingmar Bergman to Barbra Streisand; and the mark he's left on culture.
Kubrick, the creator of such cultural pillars as A Clockwork Orange, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and The Shining, is a towering figure whose work spans the better part of the 20th century: from Fear and Desire in 1953 to Eyes Wide Shut just before his death at age 70 in 1999. Readers also learn about the projects that Kubrick was unable to realize ("Stanley Kubrick was never not making a film," Kolker and Abrams write), including a film about Napoleon, a project titled A.I. Artificial Intelligence, and a film about the Holocaust, provisionally titled Aryan Papers, which was scuttled in part due to the timing and success of Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List.
Kubrick: An Odyssey is an outstanding and detailed biography that pays homage to Kubrick's legacy and invites readers on an intellectually stimulating odyssey through his cinematic world. Kolker and Abrams's work captures the life and art of one of the greatest minds in cinematic history. This captivating exploration will reward both seasoned film aficionados and curious novices. --Elizabeth DeNoma, executive editor, DeNoma Literary Services, Seattle, Wash.