Author Description

<p><b>'This well-written page-turner is the definitive biography of the genius of Robin Williams, whose life redefines the highs and lows of the American dream' - Steve Martin</b><br> <br> <b>'Tenderly written . . . frequently hilarious'</b> <b>-</b> <b><i>Sunday Times</i></b><br> <br> From his rapid-fire stand-up comedy riffs to his breakout role in <i>Mork & Mindy</i> and his Academy Award-winning performance in <i>Good Will Hunting</i>, Robin Williams was a singularly innovative and beloved entertainer. He often came across as a man possessed, holding forth on culture and politics while mixing in personal revelations - all with mercurial, tongue-twisting intensity as he inhabited and shed one character after another with lightning speed.<br> <br> But as Dave Itzkoff shows in this revelatory biography, Williams's comic brilliance masked a deep well of conflicting emotions and self-doubt, which he drew upon in his comedy and in celebrated films like <i>Dead Poets Society</i>; <i>Good Morning, Vietnam</i>; <i>The Fisher King</i>; <i>Aladdin</i>; and <i>Mrs Doubtfire</i>, where he showcased his limitless gift for improvisation to bring to life a wide range of characters. And in <i>Good Will Hunting</i> he gave an intense and controlled performance that revealed the true range of his talent.<br> <br> <i>Robin</i> by Dave Itzkoff shows how Williams struggled mightily with addiction and depression - topics he discussed openly while performing and during interviews - and with a debilitating condition at the end of his life that affected him in ways his fans never knew. Drawing on more than a hundred original interviews with family, friends and colleagues, as well as extensive archival research, Robin is a fresh and original look at a man whose work touched so many lives.<br> <br> <b>______________</b><br> <br> <b>'[Itzkoff] has written a book about the truth and the pain that lies in comedy, and the price paid by a sensitive soul'</b> <b>-</b> <b>Amy Poehler</b><br> <br>