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Kubrick

An Odyssey

Published by Pegasus Books
Distributed by Simon & Schuster

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About The Book

The definitive biography of the creator of 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining, and A Clockwork Orange, presenting the most in-depth portrait yet of the groundbreaking film-maker.

The enigmatic and elusive filmmaker Stanley Kubrick has not been treated to a full-length biography in over twenty years.

Stanley Kubrick: An Odyssey fills that gap. This definitive book is based on access to the latest research, especially Kubrick's archive at the University of the Arts, London, as well as other private papers plus new interviews with family members and those who worked with him. It offers comprehensive and in-depth coverage of Kubrick’s personal, private, public, and working life. Stanley Kubrick: An Odyssey investigates not only the making of Kubrick's films, but also about those he wanted (but failed) to make like Burning Secret, Napoleon, Aryan Papers, and A.I.

Revealingly, this immersive biography will puncture the controversial myths about the reclusive filmmaker who created some of the most important works of art of the twentieth century

About The Authors

Robert P. Kolker, Professor Emeritus, University of Maryland, taught cinema studies for almost fifty years. He is the author of A Cinema of Loneliness and The Extraordinary Image: Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick and the Reimagining of Cinema; editor of 2001: A Space Odyssey: New Essays and The Oxford Handbook of Film and Media Studies; and co-author of Eyes Wide Shut: Stanley Kubrick and the Making of his Final Film.

Nathan Abrams is a professor in film at Bangor University in Wales. He is a founding co-editor of Jewish Film and New Media: An International Journal, as well as the author of The New Jew in Film: Exploring Jewishness and Judaism in Contemporary Cinema, and Stanley Kubrick: New York Jewish Intellectual, and co-author of Eyes Wide Shut: Stanley Kubrick and the Making of his Final Film.

Product Details

  • Publisher: Pegasus Books (February 6, 2024)
  • Length: 640 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781639366255

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Raves and Reviews

"The filmmaker emerges from this biography as a contradictory and enigmatic man. Fanlike in their deep respect for his work, the authors describe his perfectionism in relentless detail. The biography celebrates its subject as a man who lived his life 'in the service of making great art,' whose films are 'cinematic masterpieces."

The Wall Street Journal

“The spine of Kubrick: An Odyssey is his journey from oddball independent, funded by a pharmacist uncle, to oddball studio maverick with 'complete total final annihilating artistic control' (his words). Stanley lives on, his dreamlike hold unbroken.”

Air Mail

"[Kubrick: An Odyssey] aims to evaluate Kubrick in the round, weighing achievements against methods, and clearing away some of the apocryphal dead wood."

The Telegraph

“This thorough, detailed and fascinating biography should be commended for looking into areas of Kubrick’s personal and professional life that have never previously been discussed, as well as offering lucid critical commentary on his films, their themes and his reputation. Myths are debunked, and everyone from the Kubrick obsessive to the casual fan will be beguiled.”

The Guardian

"Though Stanley Kubrick and his body of work have been well documented, this book adds considerably to our knowledge of both the man and his masterpieces. Kubrick left the world his remarkable, enduring films, and this volume pays homage to his considerable legacy. A welcome new biography of a cinematic genius."

Kirkus Reviews

"An in-depth biography about filmmaker Stanley Kubrick. In a conversational yet authoritative tone, the book delivers a vast amount of detail about every aspect of Kubrick’s career, from his formative days as a Look magazine photographer, his early cinematic missteps, and his documentary shorts, to the years he devoted to unrealized projects. An admiring look at a fascinating figure. Likely to be the definitive word on Kubrick for years to come."

Library Journal

"Kubrick challenged everything, but I loved that about him...in his mind,
a film came down to how it was filmed, the cinematic look of the film, and
it's what separated him from other directors and film makers."

– John Boorman

Praise for Eyes Wide Shut: Stanley Kubrick and the Making of his Final Film:

"The book is an immaculately researched account of the film's creation."?Christopher Schobert, The Film Stage

– Christopher Schobert, The Film Stage

"With Eyes Wide Shut: Stanley Kubrick and the Making of his Final Film, we finally have the great book this film deserves. Every chapter in this book is valuable to the Kubrick scholar or the casual cinephile; thoughtful yet readable throughout, it hits that golden spot of being a scholarly page-turner."

Whitlock & Pope

"I'm not sure if it will spur Eyes Wide Shut haters to reevaluate the film, but Eyes Wide Shut: Stanley Kubrick and the Making of his Final Film will give them some fresh insight into the seemingly impenetrable mind of Stanley Kubrick.”

– Mike Segretto, Psychobabble

"Two leading Kubrick scholars have joined forces for this hugely impressive study of the filmmaker's final masterpiece. Examining the film from every conceivable angle, they offer unique insights into its form and themes—and also, more broadly, into Kubrick's working methods, his personality and his place in twentieth century culture.”—Peter Krämer, author of BFI Film Classics on Dr. Strangelove and 2001: A Space Odyssey, and co-editor of Stanley Kubrick: New Perspectives

– Peter Krämer, author of BFI Film Classics on Dr. Strangelobe and 2001: A Space Odyssey, and a co-editor of Stanley Kubrick: New Perspectives

"Through obsessive research and details within details worthy of the man they chronicle in Eyes Wide Shut: Stanley Kubrick and the Making of his Final Film, film scholars Robert P. Kolker and Nathan Abrams prove decidedly that the last movie of a great film director not only sums up their career but defines and illuminates it with clarity. This is a must-read for admirers of Stanley Kubrick and his work and the cinema itself.”

– Vincent LoBrutto, author of Stanley Kubrick: A Biography

"As recounted in a new book by Robert Kolker and Nathan Abrams—an essential resource for anyone interested in the film's development and production—Eyes Wide Shut was a project that Kubrick had been seriously contemplating for decades."

MidCenturyCinema

"Loved it. I thought I knew everything about Eyes Wide Shut but discovered much more. I think it's the most significant book on a single film since Stephen Bach's Final Cut."

– Matt Thorne, Senior Lecturer in Creatve Writing, Brunel University London

"Though Stanley Kubrick and his body of work have been well documented, this book adds considerably to our knowledge of both the man and his masterpieces. Kubrick left the world his remarkable, enduring films, and this volume pays homage to his considerable legacy. A welcome new biography of a cinematic genius."

Kirkus Reviews

"An authoritative portrait of the director. Filled with striking behind-the-scenes stories and elevated by a keen understanding of Kubrick’s style, this is a biography as monumental as its subject."

Publishers Weekly, starred review

"In this wide-ranging new biography from Robert P. Kolker and Nathan Abrams, Kubrick's life and work are explored through private documents and interviews with his friends and family to help tell the largely unknown story of a man whose work helped define our culture."

Town & Country

"Drawing on access to the Kubrick archive, Kolker and Abrams have unearthed some superb new facts about the director."

The Times (London), "Book of the week"

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