 | |
List Price: $14.95 | | Publisher: Thunder's Mouth Press
Salesrank: 2418832
|
| Our Price: $2.99 |
| Used Price: $0.78 |
|
| Media: Paperback |
|
Editorial Review:
An unauthorized biography of the Academy Award-winning actor draws on extensive contacts with friends and colleagues to capture the reclusive De Niro's personality on screen and off and explores his remarkable film career and the relationship between the characters he plays and his real life. IP.
Untouchable: A Biography of Robert De Niro Reviews:
Not a very good book 
2009-03-12 - This biography was a struggle to read. I didn't learn anything new about one of our finest actors and I found the author's clumsy attempt to report "dirt" on De Niro's personal life kind of annoying. Also, the author draws many unsupported conclusions about De Niro's drive and his amibition. For instance, many times in separate places the author likes to point out that much of De Niro's behavior must be due to circumstances related to his childhood. Without ever having spoken to De Niro it is clear that such a conclusion is unfounded. The author also seems to be stretching to find a reason for De Niro's acting abilities and his tremendous success. Why does there have to be a reason? Maybe the man is just a great actor who is blessed because he enjoys doing it. His willingness to throw himself into every role doesn't have to be because of some kind of character flaw or the fact that he is from a broken home. This book is not worth the time it took to read it. Do something better with your time like renting Taxi Driver, Mean Streets, Midnight Run, Raging Bull, Goodfellas, Analyze This,(and the sequel: Analyze That)or Casino. It's much better to be entertained by De Niro's body of work than to read some garbage accusing the actor of being motivated because he has Daddy Issues.
A Good Effort, Lots of Speculation 
2009-02-26 - Like many of the other efforts to render a biography of Robert De Niro, this book makes a valiant attempt but ultimately falls short of the mark. Unlike other biographies, (and despite several glaring inaccuracies which could have been easily remedied by a careful review on the part of the publisher and or researchers), the attempt seems at least to be an honest one. The author, English as he his, constructs as broad an image of this particular celebrity actor as would seem possible given his well-known, almost obsessive protection of his privacy. We learn of the broken marriage of his parents, his NY upbringing and his powerful motivation to express himself theatrically and the intensity of his focus and ambition as an actor.
This book will likely serve as a strong inspiration for actors who hope to emulate Robert De Niro's method of acting and certainly an abundance of tips and motivations are expressed through countless interviews, circumstances and situations. This is where the book succeeds. It gives an account of the relentlessness in De Niro's pursuit of excellence, balanced with those areas where it is suggested he skated through his roles either by necessity or for the money. The book fails, (for this reader) by attempting to speculate on Robert De Niro's psychology. It's simply over-done in this biography and ultimately unfair. The author draws conclusions based on De Niro's family structure and upbringing that are based on hugely external observations. As there is not one direct interview or account by anyone to support the facts in this book, it is vastly inappropriate to draw the conclusions that the author does about his subject's motivations.
But as indicated earlier, the attempt seems at least an honest one. As the author sets out to write a biography about an impossible subject, he's almost doomed from the start. Still, it's an interesting read if you take the personal subject matter with a massive grain of salt. You learn a bit more about Robert De Niro's film career than you did before, you get a better sense of his goals and motivations but you wind up feeling like you've dug through his dirty clothes hamper a little more than you would've liked to.
Untouchable... 
2003-12-26 - I'm a big fan of Robert DeNiro.This book help me to see him in different view.The way he's prepare for each role his endeless hard work and great performing.He's know as a private person and the book is not only talk about his great movies,but tell a lot of his private life.I learn so much and I recomended everybody who loves him.
De Niro 
2003-12-14 - UNTOUCHABLE is a decent book. I agree with the others that state some obvious errors, such as the famous Godfather quote. Another is the Scorsese/Raging Bull quote. Scorsese actually greatly admired Buster Keaton's work in Battling Butler (and Keaton never hit anyone over the head with a chair in it). Dougan has it all wrong.
Having said that, this is about the only biography of Robert De Niro available and Dougan does a good job of covering his personal life which is not well known.
GOOD BOOK LOTS OF INFO.
2002-03-21 - It took me a long time and I mean a very long time about 6 mths. to actually get into this book but after I did I enjoyed it and found out alot of information that I never knew about Deniro. The one thing that bothered me about this book and took me so long to get into it was the grammar in this book I mean I am no English lit. teacher but at least proofread the book before publishing it. I mean come on there was alot of mispelling of words and missing words that you just kind of had to fill in for yourself along the way, and it was a little confusing the way the author went back and forth with certain events and movies you really had to follow along every single step of the way. Overall I liked it because it was a good book as far as info. was concerned. I really only bought the book because I love Deniro as an actor and think he is THE sexiest man alive!!!
DEE-Cleveland,OHIO
