Steven Spielberg

A Biography

By: Joseph McBride

Narrated by: Edward Lewis

Length: 20 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

The most successful director in movie history, Steven Spielberg has been responsible for such box-office blockbusters as Jurassic Park, Jaws, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and the Indiana Jones trilogy. And yet throughout much of his career, Spielberg's work has been undervalued by critics who have questioned his emotional maturity and intellectual seriousness. It was not until he made Schindler's List in 1993 that he was widely recognized as a serious filmmaker.

Until now, much about Steven Spielberg's personality and the forces that shaped it has remained enigmatic, in large part because of his tendency to obscure and mythologize his own past. In this full-scale, in-depth biography, Joseph McBride reveals hidden dimensions of the filmmaker's personality and explains how deeply personal even his most commercial work has been. With the same breadth of research and clarity of insight that characterized his acclaimed biography of Frank Capra, McBride has gone in search of the true Steven Spielberg, interviewing more than 300 of the director's friends and associates, many of whom had never spoken about him before.

©1997 McBride (P)2000 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Good biography, not so good narration

The story of how Steven Spielberg came to be is a fascinating one, to say the very least, and many of the early experiences that shaped his life and career are covered here--his childhood home and setting, Jewish influences and prejudices, his father's career and influences, his mother's artistic talent and influences, the family's relocation to Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Arizona, his parents' divorce, etc.. The written book would be a very good read and, in fact, I would recommend that over this audiobook. Or you can watch "The Fablemans" and enjoy an abridged and much more dramatic reenactment directed by Spielberg himself, with names changed to protect the innocent.

The narration for this title is bad. Abysmally bad. Any accounting of someone so phenomenally talented and successful as Steven Spielberg should have received a more high-touch treatment than this. Instead, this audiobook is read by someone who has a voice better suited to reading disclaimers very quickly at the end of TV commercials ("offer void in California and Hawaii, ask your doctor before taking, not a substitute for diet and exercise..."). Technically, they did correctly pronounce all of the words from the text in the correct order, and they did recognize the beginning and ending of sentences and pause appropriately for commas. But I couldn't finish the audiobook, because I couldn't stay interested in the voice reading it.

Maybe one day we will be able to synthesize Morgan Freeman's or James Earl Jones' voice and read this book with the flair and intensity that it deserves. Or perhaps Mr. Freeman or Mr. Jones will record it personally before they depart this Earth. Until then, however, I strongly recommend that anyone interested in Mr. Spielberg's life story refer to the written account, perhaps even let Kindle read it to you.

Tough to get through but great story.

This does read like a textbook at times but I really enjoyed the story. The narrator is probably very talented but this was not his best work. Was very robotic and difficult to finish. Still, enjoyed the story of the greatest film maker of all time.

an extensive Freudian psychoanalysis and criticism of Steven

I was ultimately disappointed as I got this book because I love the childlike wonder of Steven Spielberg’s films like ET, Indiana Jones, Hook, and Jurassic Park. I wanted to understand the genius who made these films and how I can emulate that in my own creative endeavors.

However McBride can barely hide his contempt for these films as mere “popular entertainment” made by a giant baby man who won’t grow up. If you want to read an extensive Freudian psychoanalysis and criticism of Steven then this is the book for you.

I should say I did read the whole thing and am glad I got the book as I loved the subject of the material, but I could have forgone the cynicism.

Great story. Awful delivery.

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Absolutely. I found the book to be very informative and I have a much deeper appreciation of Spielberg's work after reading it.

What did you like best about this story?

It's very comprehensive. Great details on all of his films and lots of information that I didn't already know.

What didn’t you like about Edward Lewis’s performance?

Wow. I almost stopped thirty minutes in because Edward Lewis was so boring. Admittedly, I just came off Kirby Heyborne's reading on Jim Henson which is the best I've ever heard, but Lewis' narration is so boring and monotone, it made driving and listening very difficult, especially for the first eight hours, before getting into Spielberg's film work. At that point, the material elevated my interested above Lewis' speech and made for a more engaging experience.

Could you see Steven Spielberg being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Nope. There are plenty of other good stories out there and Spielberg is a very deep character.

Out of date but nevertheless interesting.

Any additional comments?

A great read/listen, but the way the narrator's voice changes when he's quoting someone makes whoever he's quoting sound like a whining child. In spite of this the content is very interesting with a generally well-balanced look at Spielberg and his films. Only other problem is that it's out of date and ends around 1997 or so. I would have loved to hear about the making and reception of A.I. at least and any of his more recent work.

Insights into who Spielberg is

Where does Steven Spielberg rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Great., A look into Spielberg history , his childhood and what shaped him

Who was your favorite character and why?

Spielberg's parents.

What about Edward Lewis’s performance did you like?

Interesting tone and pacing.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

yes

Any additional comments?

Great audio book, compelling listen to filmmakers and anyone whose interested in who Spielberg is and some ideas and thoughts on how his process has come together.

More like a long term paper

While it has its positives, the book is written more like a term paper, filled with lots of facts and references that aren't necessarily interesting. At least the narrator pronounces most of the Jewish terms correctly.

My Thoughts on Steven Spielberg (the book)

I did like the book a bit, but I struggled to finish it sometimes. While it does look into most of Spielberg's life and career, it would be nice if it would have looked at his movies after Schindler's List, as well as his other ventures. While it's not bad, it isn't as good as I hoped it would be.

i cant make it through..

This book needs new audio from a different person reading it. I tried to get through this before premier of The Fablemans but its just way too difficult. Please get a younger voice actor with more flexibility in their voice.

A biography mired in criticism and opinion...

McBride’s text offers an in-depth and thorough chronology of Spielberg’s youth and his formative years. Likewise, it meticulously follows the efforts that Spielberg put forth in achieving his career as a filmmaker and provides a comprehensive view of his projects from his homemade films, to his career as a television director, and on to his feature films up to and including the ‘Jurassic Park’ sequel, ‘The Lost World’.

While I appreciate the author’s completeness in recognizing all projects of Spielberg from a director to a writer and producer, the introduction of his personal opinions on each only serves to detach the reader from the profile of Spielberg. These critiques come in forms ranging from the film’s script to the way in which it was photographed and directed. It was only after that I was well into the text that I learned that one of Mr. McBride’s former careers was that of a movie critic. The traces of this prior vocation are abundant throughout the book as he often editorializes or expresses his own personal feelings on the films after he presents them. Several of these tend to be negative. In many cases, some of these opinions could serve to influence a reader who is not familiar with Spielberg’s work to avoid his films altogether. For me, the details of Spielberg’s career, without the opinion, would have been more appealing and made a better bio.