Mike Nichols: A Life

Couldn't stop reading, incredibly informative and enjoyable.

Mark Harris' MIKE NICHOLS: A LIFE is a rich, beautifully assembled portrait of an artist through the lens of his career and process, and it stands out for being an incredibly fun read. Nichols seems to have been a complex subject about whom to write because there is a clear fracturing of his personality between the smart, droll public persona he affected (which I love) and the artist whose emotional life was cracked open by the process of making theater and films (which I also love). His ability to process the text of a story through performance and staging underscores his inability to deeply analyze his own life; his addictions, relationships, his childhood, himself. Still, Harris gives the sense that there is something in the act of making comedy and drama that released what was inside of Nichols and. as someone who shares that impulse– I am always opened up somehow when the lights go down in a theater or cinema– I found the tension between Nichols' public/creative/inner selves incredibly moving and perfectly conveyed in the book. I was also fascinated by his complex relationship with Elaine May, another hero of mine, and the unique energy between the two of them (she absolutely demands her own book!)... I will 100% be re-visiting his filmography; I already love it, but now feel a much deeper connection to his work. On top of it all, the book is laugh out loud funny (so many absolute mic drops!), dishy, knows which details matter and when to move on (a masterclass in biographical pacing) and is a joy to read. Enjoy!

The definitive biography of a very interesting life. The book tails off toward the end - his later work gets a fraction of the attention of his first three films. However, we get a lot more backstory on his little discussed 70's work (Day of the Dolphin, The Fortune, the various Broadway shows) and a better perspective that the 70's were not a completely wasted decade from a creative standpoint. There was a lot of new information here - his secret work on Annie, which could have been the most profitable thing he ever did, was new to me. I enjoyed Mr. Harris' last book - Pictures at a Revolution - and a lot of his thoughtful discussion regarding The Graduate rightfully ends up in this book. I barely put this book down over the course of a week, and I promptly went out and starting watching his movies. Recommended.