The magic of Woody Allen

by Diane Jacobs

Explores the thematic evolution of Allen's cinematic work, documenting the development of his philosophical ideas from his earliest comedies to his most recent work and offering a rare interview with Allen

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1982

Reviews

[David Sidwell]

This was a TOUGH read.

I appreciate writing that can analyse or break down works of a particular actor/author/personality etc but this author doesn't attempt to write in an engaging or accessible way.

She approaches this book as though she were writing a complex thesis on some obscure philosophical point. She seems to forget that in reality she is writing a book which charts and explores the development of Woody Allen's different stylistic approaches across the various mediums in which he worked up until the very early 1980's.

The author fails to capture much of the humour or fun of Allen's work (and this is particularly jarring because the majority of the work she is assessing is comedic) and I honestly felt as though I was reading an academic study, as opposed to a commercially available book.

A definite struggle to finish. Only 160 pages but felt like 3 times as long.

Don't waste your time on this pretentious pseudo intellectual drivel.

[Sammy]

Pretty decent. One of the earliest full-length books on Woody Allen, a study of his movies and plays (and, to an extent, prose) from his first fifteen years or so. Of course superseded in some ways by four decades of writing, and an ability to view his early works in the context of his entire oeuvre, but a good little study if you stumble across it.