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.

... thoughtful and nuanced.

Edward White divides the legendary director's life into 12 categories, including his Catholicism, childhood, weight and artistry. The approach can be confounding—early on, White refers to Hitch's formative 20s in Germany but doesn't get to why they were formative until the end—but when it works, it really works. By far the most compelling of the chapters is 'The Womanizer,' which grapples with whether the mind behind 'Vertigo' and 'Psycho' was a total perv. White balances admirers (Grace Kelly and Ingrid Bergman loved him) with detractors such as Tippi Hedren.

... incisive.

White regards Hitchcock as 'the emblematic artist of the 20th century'...occasionally he over-reaches in trying to prove his ambitious case.

... what is especially interesting are chapters covering his attitudes regarding style and fashion, religion, and even his own weight issues.

There probably will never be a definitive book about Hitchcock (like his movies, he is open to infinite interpretations), but this one adds much to our understanding of the man and his movies. The approach is certainly intriguing, the writing is engaging, and the author provides us with a wealth of new insights into Hitchcock. White engages in some fine detective work, too, trying to get to the truth behind some of the most intriguing Hitchcock legends, including an oft-told origin story that might be more fiction than fact. A solid entry in the voluminous literature of Alfred Hitchcock..

White (The Tastemaker) suggests legendary director Alfred Hitchcock had more lives than a cat in this sweeping biography. In his coverage of Hitchcock’s 60-plus-year career, White examines 12 'lives' that shaped what he terms the 'Hitchcock brand'.

A fresh assessment of the legendary director.