Marlon Brando

Don't believe ANY negatives you hear about this book. David Thomson is one of the most insightful, experienced and forgiving film scholars in existence. His Biographical Dictionary of Film (recently revised) is one of the all-time great reference books, with each essay, whether 200 words or 2000 words, a gem of conciseness and observation. No one is uninteresting to Thomson, and no fact is irrelevant. Thomson loves Brando even though he was hard to love, made many mistakes, and was a paradox.The book is full of inside information, psychological sophistication and tempered reverence. Everything about this book is wonderful, especially its refusal to present a Brando most people want to hear about. The pictures are all superb. Thank god we have this book. If only Thomson had written a similar one about 1000 other actors and directors.