I found this book on the shelves of a thrift store and picked it up to put it in my personal library although I had no intention of immediately reading it. Perusing through my books I relocted this copy and started to read the first few pages. I became engrossed with the history of this actor, producer and director. he has always been a maverick of sorts in most of his endeavors and this book summarizes his monumental success and creativity in doing it his own way. Even the most critical reviewers of forty and fifty years ago have acknowledged his genius and success. One of the joys of getting old is in the amusement of current day political correctness and this book is a gospel of how to be a contrarist successfully. So if you think that all movies should be fantasies and that violence in this world only occurs somewhere else, don't bother with this biography: reread Harry Potter.