Elia Kazan: A Life, by Elia Kazan

Elia Kazan wrote one of my favorite memoirs, called Elia Kazan: A Life. It is expansive, emotional, contradictory, angry, self-revelatory, gossipy, unforgiving and yet forgiving, intelligent, and fascinating. It is filled with characters whom I almost regard as old friends:

— John Garfield
— Clifford Odets
— Marlon Brando
— James Dean
— Marilyn Monroe
— Kazan himself …

and he can tell a yarn. He certainly can.

Excerpts below.

This entry was posted in Directors and tagged . Bookmark the permalink.

2 Responses to Elia Kazan: A Life, by Elia Kazan

  1. CityIslandMichael says:

    Have you read any of his novels? The Assassins, the only one I’ve read, was an excellent, troubling book.

  2. red says:

    Actually – no, I’ve never read them! But I have heard good things.

    He’s a good, if messy, writer. I like the mess – it’s very emotional.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.