For nearly 25 years, Pauline Kael (1919-2001) was one of America's most respected, controversial, and talked-about film reviewer, yet her film criticism for The New Yorker has never been systematically discussed or analyzed. This collection of essays on Pauline Kael investigates the range, scope, and influence of Kael's film criticism over the years (1968-81) that she wrote for The New Yorker.