Untouchable: A Biography of Robert DeNiro | 
| Author: Andy Dougan
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Category: Book
List Price: $15.95
Buy New: $12.27
You Save: $3.68 (23%)
New (18) Used (13) from $8.64
Rating:  12 reviews
Sales Rank: 826038
Media: Paperback
Edition: 2
Pages: 400
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.1 x 0.9
ISBN: 1560254696
Dewey Decimal Number: 791.43028092
EAN: 9781560254690
ASIN: 1560254696
Publication Date: January 27, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
| |
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
From his amazing feature film performances to his roles as producer and director to his many notable guest appearances, De Niro started his career as early as 1965 and has since dominated the world of Hollywood. Untouchable will take you inside the life of this astonishing actor to provide a revealing and sometimes startling account of an intensely private man. Dougan provides information on actual life events that seemed to have had a profound effect on De Niro emotionally, and discusses De Niro s working and personal relationships with personalities such as Martin Scorcese, Jack Nicholson, Jodie Foster, and Sharon Stone. With an updated epilogue and filmography, this new edition will also include De Niro s entrepreneurial and behind-the-scenes role in co-founding Tribeca Productions in 1988 and the works he has since produced and directed. Although De Niro continues his work as an actor, it is his vision for Tribeca to be the axis of the film industry and the heart of New York City s film community that currently takes up most of his time. 24 black-and-white photos are included.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
 Not a very good book March 12, 2009
P. Bayer (Tampa, FL USA)
This biography was a struggle to read. I didn't learn anything new about one of our finest actors and I found the author's clumsy attempt to report "dirt" on De Niro's personal life kind of annoying. Also, the author draws many unsupported conclusions about De Niro's drive and his amibition. For instance, many times in separate places the author likes to point out that much of De Niro's behavior must be due to circumstances related to his childhood. Without ever having spoken to De Niro it is clear that such a conclusion is unfounded. The author also seems to be stretching to find a reason for De Niro's acting abilities and his tremendous success. Why does there have to be a reason? Maybe the man is just a great actor who is blessed because he enjoys doing it. His willingness to throw himself into every role doesn't have to be because of some kind of character flaw or the fact that he is from a broken home. This book is not worth the time it took to read it. Do something better with your time like renting Taxi Driver, Mean Streets, Midnight Run, Raging Bull, Goodfellas, Analyze This,(and the sequel: Analyze That)or Casino. It's much better to be entertained by De Niro's body of work than to read some garbage accusing the actor of being motivated because he has Daddy Issues.
 A Good Effort, Lots of Speculation February 26, 2009
mark.geller
Like many of the other efforts to render a biography of Robert De Niro, this book makes a valiant attempt but ultimately falls short of the mark. Unlike other biographies, (and despite several glaring inaccuracies which could have been easily remedied by a careful review on the part of the publisher and or researchers), the attempt seems at least to be an honest one. The author, English as he his, constructs as broad an image of this particular celebrity actor as would seem possible given his well-known, almost obsessive protection of his privacy. We learn of the broken marriage of his parents, his NY upbringing and his powerful motivation to express himself theatrically and the intensity of his focus and ambition as an actor.
This book will likely serve as a strong inspiration for actors who hope to emulate Robert De Niro's method of acting and certainly an abundance of tips and motivations are expressed through countless interviews, circumstances and situations. This is where the book succeeds. It gives an account of the relentlessness in De Niro's pursuit of excellence, balanced with those areas where it is suggested he skated through his roles either by necessity or for the money. The book fails, (for this reader) by attempting to speculate on Robert De Niro's psychology. It's simply over-done in this biography and ultimately unfair. The author draws conclusions based on De Niro's family structure and upbringing that are based on hugely external observations. As there is not one direct interview or account by anyone to support the facts in this book, it is vastly inappropriate to draw the conclusions that the author does about his subject's motivations.
But as indicated earlier, the attempt seems at least an honest one. As the author sets out to write a biography about an impossible subject, he's almost doomed from the start. Still, it's an interesting read if you take the personal subject matter with a massive grain of salt. You learn a bit more about Robert De Niro's film career than you did before, you get a better sense of his goals and motivations but you wind up feeling like you've dug through his dirty clothes hamper a little more than you would've liked to.
 A Suspect Expose June 21, 2006
Eugene J. Ioannou (Union, NJ)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
First, I must say that the writer must be British, because of his spelling. However, I personally believe that only a New Yorker can really accurately capture a man like Robert De Niro's life. I also believe that the author engages in speculation on more than one occasion and oftentimes his speculation is presented as fact. Granted, Robert De Niro is an "intensely private" individual, as the author says. So an author must engage in some speculation, however there is too much ambiguity, tenuous speculation in this biography, for my taste. But, Mr. Dougan's alleged reputation as "a respected film reviewer and broadcaster" became a matter of speculation itself, when Andy Dougan makes the impugnable offense of claiming that "De Niro, incidentally, is the only person in the Godfather films who utters the immortal phrase about non-refusable offers...When Al Pacino as Michael relates to Vito's negotiating ploy in the first film he says only, 'My father made him an offer he couldn't refuse.'" (page 65, second to last paragraph) Marlon Brando as Vito Corleone tells his godson, Johnny Fontane, that it's too late for the Godfather to get him into an acting role, because the part has been cast,
Fontane: "It's too late, they start shooting in a week."
Don Corleone (Brando): "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse."
I only realized after this review that other Amazon reviewers spotted the mistake, however when I read it, I almost fell out of my chair; I knew it was a mistake immediately. How can a "respected film reviewer" forget about one of the most famous lines, in perhaps the most famous film ever made? For me, a movie purist, this casts a shadow on the veracity of this biography, or any of this author's speculation and/or conclusions. This is not pedantry, I believe that when writing a biography of Robert De Niro, and proclaiming yourself as a respected film reviewer, one cannot make these mistakes. Also, the author does not make much reference to the friendship of Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci. Personally, through some inside knowledge, I happen to know quite a bit of their relationship through a source who shared aquaintances with them during the early to mid 1980s in Jersey City, NJ and Manhattan. However, let me point to a positive note, I did in fact learn several trifles of knowledge and interesting facts about the legendary screen actor, director, and film-maker.
 Untouchable... December 27, 2003
Ditah (PA United States)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I'm a big fan of Robert DeNiro.This book help me to see him in different view.The way he's prepare for each role his endeless hard work and great performing.He's know as a private person and the book is not only talk about his great movies,but tell a lot of his private life.I learn so much and I recomended everybody who loves him.
De Niro December 14, 2003
Brother Frank (Mc Kinney, Tx. United States)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
UNTOUCHABLE is a decent book. I agree with the others that state some obvious errors, such as the famous Godfather quote. Another is the Scorsese/Raging Bull quote. Scorsese actually greatly admired Buster Keaton's work in Battling Butler (and Keaton never hit anyone over the head with a chair in it). Dougan has it all wrong.Having said that, this is about the only biography of Robert De Niro available and Dougan does a good job of covering his personal life which is not well known.
|
|
|
