Buster: A Legend in Laughter

Library Journal

In this very entertaining and insightful work on one of the true film greats, Edwards manages to tell Buster Keaton's life story without the flab. In a few hundred pages, the reader will learn of the actor's childhood in a vaudevillian family, his start in films, his early successes and later failures, and, along the way, his encounters with other film legends, such as actor Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle and studio mogul Irving Thalberg. Writing with the cooperation of the Keaton estate, film historian Edwards provides particular insights into Keaton's highly influential silent films. Along with the analysis, the author entertains with tales of the dangers Keaton endured while performing his own stunts. Perhaps because this is an authorized biography, the only area that is a bit too trim is the treatment of Keaton's personal life. Still, as film festivals gear up for the centennial of Keaton's birth, this book will be a good addition to film and movie biography collections.Judy Hauser, Oakland Schs. Lib. Svcs., Waterford, Mich.

Donna Seaman

The great silent film comedian Buster Keaton was born a century ago this year. There may be more elaborate, analytical biographies in the pipeline; in case there aren't, this genial recital of facts and anecdotes that seems cobbled together from what's already been written by and about Keaton will somewhat serve. It is more an introduction for the curious noncinephile than anything serious film enthusiasts would appreciate. Indeed, it's rather like an instant bio of a current pop star. But, of course, Keaton's star was current some 70 years ago, and still it shines. Maybe its glimmer in this little package will encourage some who've never seen Keaton to seek out "The General", "Steamboat Bill, Jr.", or some of his short films and, laughing in astonished delight, bask in its radiance. REVWR Ray Olson *** BOR H1 Adult Books H2 Nonfiction H3 The Arts AUTH Fitzgerald, Michael C. AUTH2 ILLUS TITLE Making Modernism TITLR Picasso and the Creation of the Market for Twentieth-Century Art 245C PUBD Mar. 1995 PAGES 302p PHD index. illus. PUBL Farrar FORM hardcover PRICE $27.50 ISBN (0-374-10611-8) FORM2 PRICE2 ISBN2 RFORM Galley CAT 759.4 Picasso, Pablo--Psychology || Picasso, Pablo--Influence || Modernism (Art) [CIP] 94-14062 REVIEW An art historian with an M.B.A., Fitzgerald is intrigued with the financial aspects of the art world. Working from a cache of correspondence between Picasso and his dealers and various curators, collectors, and critics, Fitzgerald reveals how crucial the business angle was to the establishment of modern art in general and to Picasso's phenomenal international success in particular. Fitzgerald focuses on the years between the two world wars when Picasso worked closely with two dealers, Georges Wildenstein and Paul Rosenberg. Fitzgerald characterizes Picasso's relationship with Rosenberg, the more conspicuous of the two, as an "intense collaboration" and contends that it "stimulated" Picasso's art as much as it secured his reputation. Picasso was pragmatic when it came to money, even stating that his shift from the Blue to the Rose period reflected the "spiritual tranquility" of material comfort. Fitzgerald also examines, in uncommon detail, the roles Jean Cocteau, patron Eugenia Errazuriz, Andre Breton, and Alfred Barr played in elevating Picasso to heretofore unknown levels of artistic fame and profit. The truth is, modern art had to make it big in the marketplace to survive.