What do you think?
Rate this book
The Illustrated Woody Allen Reader
Woody Allen - accomplished film actor and director, brilliant monologist and gifted prose stylist. In this book, selections from his best, wittiest, and most profound work in every area have been gathered together for the first time. The excerpts from the published and never-before-published work range from one-liners to memorable on-screen exchanges to essays, and are drawn from Woody's stand-up routines (which have never appeared in print before), his classic New Yorker pieces, his screenplays, film outtakes, magazine articles, plays, and interviews. Here is vintage Woody Allen on the topics that have dominated his work for more than thirty years: Intellectuals ("They're like the Mafia, they only kill their own"); Analysts ("My poor analyst got so frustrated. The guy finally put in a salad bar"); Love ("Should I marry W.? Not if she won't tell me the other letters in her name"); Work ("Show business is dog eat dog. It's worse than dog eat dog. It's dog doesn't return dog's phone calls"); Death ("I don't want to achieve immortality through my work, I want to achieve it through not dying"); and much more. Here is marvelous dialogue from twenty-six original screenplays, including Annie Hall, Hannah and Her Sisters, Bananas, Take the Money and Run, Play It Again, Sam, Broadway Danny Rose, Zelig, Radio Days, Manhattan, Husbands and Wives, and all the others. Here are highlights from monologues, including the first one he ever recorded in March, 1964; Woody dicussing his grandfather ("On his deathbed he sold me this pocket watch"); remembering a moth who ate his sports jacket; and telling the now-classic tale of the time he shot a moose. Also included are excerpts from more than sixty essays: "No Kaddish for Weinstein," "Confessions of a Burglar," "The UFO Menace," "The Discovery and Use of the Fake Ink Blot," "A Guide to Some of the Lesser Ballets," and "If the Impressionists Had Been Dentists," in which a distraught Dutch dentist named Vincent writes in anguish t
288 pages, Hardcover
First published December 1, 1993
3 people are currently reading
119 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
June 20, 2009
"Sun is bad for you. Everything our parents told us was good is bad. Sun, milk, red meat, college." Hmm... too true.
The only problem with this book is that I had read it before it was published. Or at least heard it... The book consists of long and short quotations from Allen's films, books, comic monologues, and interviews, presented along with pictures from the same, as well as other illustrations of the subject matter of the quotes, snippets of movie dialogue, and other general bon mots. The problem is that I am an inveterate Woody Allen fan, and I have seen all of the movies and read all the books and plays, and in fact own most of them. So nothing was new, except the way they were presented.
The book is divided into chapters of like subject, along the lines of the usual Allen preoccupations: love, sex, death, and the meaning of life (especially New York life). "My Parents' Values: God and Carpeting," "Intellectuals Only Kill Their Own," "Religion: To God I'm The Loyal Opposition," and "Things That Make Life Worth Living" are some of the chapter headings, which should give you a good idea of whether you'll like the book. In fact, this book is practically unreviewable, because, let's face it, there's two kinds of people in this world: those who love Woody Allen and those who hate him. The former group know by looking at the book that they will like a collection of gems of neurotic Allen Art, and those in the latter know that they will hate a book full of whining Allen Angst. Okay, then. Form two lines--no crowding!
So I definitely recommend the book, and now you know why. But I would also like to say that this book came out at an important time in Woody Allen's career, similar to that of one of his predecessors in film, Charlie Chaplin. The publicity surrounding Allen's nasty break-up with Mia Farrow and the subsequent allegations of child molestation threatened to blur the public's distinction between the artist and the man, similar to Chaplin's experience. Although the courts have absolved Allen, it remains to be seen whether the public has, or ever will.
The book's treatment of Allen's work puts the focus back where it belongs--on the artist. We have here the case of a living genius, and it would be a shame to let a whiff of scandal "try and convict" him in the press and prevent him from continuing on with his work. We have acknowledged Chaplin's genius in retrospect; let's not make the same mistake twice.
The only problem with this book is that I had read it before it was published. Or at least heard it... The book consists of long and short quotations from Allen's films, books, comic monologues, and interviews, presented along with pictures from the same, as well as other illustrations of the subject matter of the quotes, snippets of movie dialogue, and other general bon mots. The problem is that I am an inveterate Woody Allen fan, and I have seen all of the movies and read all the books and plays, and in fact own most of them. So nothing was new, except the way they were presented.
The book is divided into chapters of like subject, along the lines of the usual Allen preoccupations: love, sex, death, and the meaning of life (especially New York life). "My Parents' Values: God and Carpeting," "Intellectuals Only Kill Their Own," "Religion: To God I'm The Loyal Opposition," and "Things That Make Life Worth Living" are some of the chapter headings, which should give you a good idea of whether you'll like the book. In fact, this book is practically unreviewable, because, let's face it, there's two kinds of people in this world: those who love Woody Allen and those who hate him. The former group know by looking at the book that they will like a collection of gems of neurotic Allen Art, and those in the latter know that they will hate a book full of whining Allen Angst. Okay, then. Form two lines--no crowding!
So I definitely recommend the book, and now you know why. But I would also like to say that this book came out at an important time in Woody Allen's career, similar to that of one of his predecessors in film, Charlie Chaplin. The publicity surrounding Allen's nasty break-up with Mia Farrow and the subsequent allegations of child molestation threatened to blur the public's distinction between the artist and the man, similar to Chaplin's experience. Although the courts have absolved Allen, it remains to be seen whether the public has, or ever will.
The book's treatment of Allen's work puts the focus back where it belongs--on the artist. We have here the case of a living genius, and it would be a shame to let a whiff of scandal "try and convict" him in the press and prevent him from continuing on with his work. We have acknowledged Chaplin's genius in retrospect; let's not make the same mistake twice.
March 15, 2008
Grab it if you can find it- this book is hard to find- but it's a treasure. Woody Allen quotes and essays with illustrations and art from films... a Woody Allen fan's best friend.
June 23, 2017
More of a coffee table book to be picked up randomly and perused than a tome to be read straight through from beginning to end.
Woody Allen is one of my favorite film directors, and I think he is a brilliant writer, however, that doesn't mean every single thing he writes is humorous or profound as the editor of this book seems to believe. Allen is writing stories, not composing proverbs to be nuggets of wisdom. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of great stuff here, but the editor has thrown in a lot of excerpts from Allen's prose, monologues, plays and sreenplays that seem as though they are included just to fill up space.
This is especially evident in the pieces taken from Allen's scripts. Not all, but enough to be annoying, come across as random and offer nothing to the reader. This is nothing against Allen or his writing; every bit of dialogue in a script, or sentence in prose for that matter, is not intended to impart something great. Words are used to reveal plot, character, etc. Taken out of that original context, as they are in this book, they just kind of dangle there out of place.
Still, it's an interesting book overall, and includes some great photographs, I just would have liked to see more selective choices by the editor.
Woody Allen is one of my favorite film directors, and I think he is a brilliant writer, however, that doesn't mean every single thing he writes is humorous or profound as the editor of this book seems to believe. Allen is writing stories, not composing proverbs to be nuggets of wisdom. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of great stuff here, but the editor has thrown in a lot of excerpts from Allen's prose, monologues, plays and sreenplays that seem as though they are included just to fill up space.
This is especially evident in the pieces taken from Allen's scripts. Not all, but enough to be annoying, come across as random and offer nothing to the reader. This is nothing against Allen or his writing; every bit of dialogue in a script, or sentence in prose for that matter, is not intended to impart something great. Words are used to reveal plot, character, etc. Taken out of that original context, as they are in this book, they just kind of dangle there out of place.
Still, it's an interesting book overall, and includes some great photographs, I just would have liked to see more selective choices by the editor.
July 28, 2017
Non che sia malaccio di per sé, ma per chi ha già visto la maggior parte della cinematografia "classica" di Allen e ha letto i suoi libri umoristici questa semplice raccolta di citazioni risulta fondamentalmente superflua.
February 7, 2018
Some real laugh out loud moments throughout this book.
September 16, 2010
If you're a Woody Allen fan, you'll enjoy this book. There are quotes from movies, his humorous essays, plays, and even from his monologues. Throughout, his obsessions remain paramount: sex, death, and God.
You also see how some concepts (perhaps "props" is a better word) run throughout his work, such as "lobster bib" and "insurance salesmen". Of course, those are funny even without a joke to go with them.
Recommended listening while reading this book:
The Bunk Project
(Woody Allen is a member of this band (clarinet, I believe), playing his favorite music, early jazz.
You also see how some concepts (perhaps "props" is a better word) run throughout his work, such as "lobster bib" and "insurance salesmen". Of course, those are funny even without a joke to go with them.
Recommended listening while reading this book:
The Bunk Project
(Woody Allen is a member of this band (clarinet, I believe), playing his favorite music, early jazz.
February 8, 2012
I originally got this book because a skit from it was recommended for a high school religious education class, and have never been a fan of his movies. The book was enlightening to the depth of Woody Allen’s thinking on society, and yes some of it is funny and most of it is thought provoking.
A lot of pictures and for fans of Woody Allen I would advise picking up a copy.
A lot of pictures and for fans of Woody Allen I would advise picking up a copy.
August 18, 2025
A treasury of Allen's brilliance - excerpted entirely from his own writings - across numerous media. It's only a shame we don't have an updated version of this to cover the second half of his startlingly varied career.
August 29, 2008
I think he's hilarious and can really capture the absurd chaos of human desire. Questionable scruples. I'm about half way done watching all his films.
August 17, 2013
I know I'm an adult, but I still love books with photos/pictures and lots of funny insights.
July 4, 2015
Full of funny lines from his work. Hilarious.
November 15, 2014
Fantastic fun!
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews