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Overview
Paul Mazursky's nearly twenty films as writer/director represent Hollywood's most sustained comic expression of the 1970s and 1980s. But they have not been given their due, perhaps because Mazursky's films--both sincere and ridiculous, realistic and romantic--are pure emotion. This makes films like Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, An Unmarried Woman, and Enemies, A Love Story difficult to classify, but that's what makes a human comedy human. In the first ever book-length examination of one of America's most important and least appreciated filmmakers, Sam Wasson sits down with Mazursky himself to talk about his movies and how he makes them. Going over Mazursky's oeuvre one film at a time, interviewer and interviewee delve into the director's life in and out of Hollywood, laughing, talking, and above all else, feeling--like Mazursky's people always do. The book includes a filmography and never-before-seen photos.Editorials
Library Journal
Along with Robert Altman, Paul Mazursky perhaps best represents the new counterculture spirit of 1970s filmmaking. Older than most other major directors of that period, Mazursky tried film acting, switched to screenwriting, then became a director when he felt dissatisfaction with another director's work on his script for I Love You, Alice B. Toklas. Wasson (Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and the Dawn of the Modern Woman) presents his series of conversations with Mazursky, whom he hails as a "great American humanist." The author highlights Mazursky's keen eye for social satire and his gift for capturing the moment, notably in Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice. Wasson provides additional perspective via interviews with Mazursky's colleagues and associates, particularly An Unmarried Woman star Jill Clayburgh. VERDICT With patience, humor, and insight, Mazursky describes his ups and downs in the movie business and gives his opinions on movie personalities like Shelley Winters, Woody Allen, and Marlon Brando. Recommended for anyone wanting to learn more about this unjustly neglected film figure.—Stephen F. Rees, formerly with Levittown Lib., Bucks Cty., PAFrom the Publisher
"It was called Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, and it was the first film directed by Paul Mazursky, who went on to make seven genuinely memorable movies in a fascinating 35-year career that offers some rueful lessons about the changing nature of the American film. That career is the subject of Paul on Mazursky, a delightful book of conversations between the film writer Sam Wasson and the garrulous octogenarian..."--John Podhoretz, The Weekly Standard"...Paul on Mazursky...reminds us that Mazursky's varied talents add up to a memorable legacy of filmmaking."--Benjamin Ivry, The Forward Blog
"...this book provides a fresh, innovative paradigm for biographical studies. ... Grab this book and a large cup of coffee, find an oversized stuffed chair, and slip into the funny heart of another human being."--
"...this book provides a fresh, innovative paradigm for biographical studies. ... Grab this book and a large cup of coffee, find an oversized stuffed chair, and slip into the funny heart of another human being."--T. Lindvall, Choice