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The Spectator: Talk About Movies and Plays With Those Who Made Them
by
Studs Terkel
In a major new work of more than forty never-before-published interviews, the Pulitzer Prize -- winning oral historian talks to masters of stage and screen.
Hardcover, 364 pages
Published
September 1st 1999
by New Press, The
(first published 1999)
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Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
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79)
Feb 10, 2011
Guy
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
biography-memoir,
performing-arts
The construction of this book is a departure from the solid chapter work I've noticed in other books by Terkel. In "The Spectator" he weaves reminiscences of a wide variety of theater and film artists (both in front and behind the scenes) together within chapters, sometimes breaking away from one interview for a brief excerpt of an interview with someone else entirely. Terkel's passion about the art of theater is as far removed from "Entertainment Tonight" as possible. He's not concerned with go...more
My first exposure to Studs was back in 1999 when the musical based on his book "Working" was produced by the Austin College theater department. I hadn't read "Working" (still haven't) but the premise of the show was that we'd see several musical vignettes, each focusing on an actual person Turkel had interviewed about their jobs. The show was a big success and introduced me to an interesting new writer to look into. A copy of "Working" soon sat on my bookshelf. And like a lot of books I buy, it...more
A snotty, dismissive piece about Studs in the NY Times which said paper of the establishment's record reserves for effective radicals [http://www.commondreams.org/view/2008...] prompted me to both throw the damn paper across the room and vow to read a Terkel volume as soon as possible. Glad I started with this one, it's a treat. Studs's enthusiasm and love of life and art is infectious, and unlike too many interviewers, he came prepared. The interviewees span an impressive gamut of film and thea...more
A collection of interviews with creators and performers in film and stage. Several of the pieces were recycled from othe Terkel books. I much prefer many of the other books by the same author. These short pieces were only mildly interesting as they traced old radio conversations between Terkel and an artist temporarily in Chicago for publicity or performance.
Includes his great takedown of the truly awful "Deer Hunter."
I actually haven't read EVERY interview in here, as I'm unfamiliar with some of the featured celebrities. But I have read most of them.
Most of the interviews aren't very long, but they are almost all extremely effective. It's amazing how much you learn about some of these people in just a couple pages.
Most of the interviews aren't very long, but they are almost all extremely effective. It's amazing how much you learn about some of these people in just a couple pages.
Jan 25, 2013
Eddy Allen
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
arts-and-historical
Sep 03, 2012
Oren Miller
marked it as to-read
May 26, 2012
Sheila
marked it as to-read
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Terkel won the Pulitzer prize in 1985 for his interviews with ordinary people in such books as Working, The Good War, and Hard Times. Often called an Oral Historian, Studs Terkel preferred to be known for playing music on the radio.
More about Studs Terkel...
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