Yet despite once being one of the most consequential American cultural figures, Allen is now persona non grata. In this judicious biography, acclaimed biographer Patrick McGilligan charts the meteoric rise and fall of the comedian whose nonconformity proved both his secret genius and Achilles’ heel.
Drawing on meticulous research, McGilligan reconstructs Allen’s Brooklyn boyhood, his salad days as a television comedy writer, his rise to stand-up, and the thoughtful, award-winning filmmaking of his golden years in the 1970s and ’80s. His messy relationships with wives and girlfriends, including Annie Hall costar Diane Keaton, were essential to his artistic development and undoing. Yet no one could have predicted his tumultuous personal and professional relationship with actress Mia Farrow, his alleged abuse of their adopted daughter Dylan, and his subsequent marriage to Mia’s daughter Soon-Yi Previn.
In this comprehensive, sweeping, and rigorous account of Allen’s life and career, McGilligan astutely reveals the writer’s writer beyond the smoke and controversy, and paints a compelling portrait of the most creative, productive, and influential filmmaker of his time.
