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The Twelve Lives of Alfred Hitchcock: An Anatomy of the Master of Suspense
Maybe someday
27
/100
I Index Overall Rating
Readers
37/100Critics
17/100Scholars
Author:
Edward White
Publisher:
W. W. Norton & Company
Date:
April 13, 2021
In The Twelve Lives of Alfred Hitchcock, Edward White explores the Hitchcock phenomenon--what defines it, how it was invented, what it reveals about the man at its core, and how its legacy continues to shape our cultural world. The book reveals something fundamental about the man he was and the mythological creature he has become, presenting not just the life Hitchcock lived but also the various versions of himself that he projected, and those projected on his behalf.
What The Reviewers Say
It’s said that more books have been written about Hitchcock than any other filmmaker. Edward White’s sleek and modest The Twelve Lives of Alfred Hitchcock does not offer grand revelation but a provocative new way of thinking about biography.
The many ways of being the world’s most famous film director are what Mr. White attempts to pin down in The Twelve Lives of Alfred Hitchcock.
Alfred Hitchcock (1899–1980) has been the subject of dozens of books in the last 20 years, but White (The Tastemaker) distinguishes his work with an inspired approach. Bypassing a traditional narrative, this necessary and perceptive study of the filmmaker and his cinematic impact is framed in 12 separate portraits, each focusing on a particular aspect of Hitchcock’s character.
While not essential to casual filmgoers, the study helpfully dissects, for Hitchcock obsessives, this most calculatingly self-conscious director’s methods and compulsions.
