Author Description

<p><b><i>"This well-written page-turner is the definitive biography of the genius of Robin Williams, whose life redefines the highs and lows of the American dream." </i>Steve Martin</b><br><br>From his rapid-fire stand-up comedy riffs to his breakout role in <i>Mork & Mindy</i> and his Academy Award-winning performance in <i>Good Will Hunting</i>, Robin Williams was a singularly innovative and beloved entertainer. He often came across as a man possessed, holding forth on culture and politics while mixing in personal revelations - all with mercurial, tongue-twisting intensity as he inhabited and shed one character after another with lightning speed.<br><br>But as Dave Itzkoff shows in this revelatory biography, Williams's comic brilliance masked a deep well of conflicting emotions and self-doubt, which he drew upon in his comedy and in celebrated films like <i>Dead Poets Society</i>; <i>Good Morning, Vietnam</i>; The Fisher King; <i>Aladdin</i>; and <i>Mrs Doubtfire</i>, where he showcased his limitless gift for improvisation to bring to life a wide range of characters. And in <i>Good Will Hunting</i> he gave an intense and controlled performance that revealed the true range of his talent.<br><br>Itzkoff also shows how Williams struggled mightily with addiction and depression - topics he discussed openly while performing and during interviews - and with a debilitating condition at the end of his life that affected him in ways his fans never knew. Drawing on more than a hundred original interviews with family, friends, and colleagues, as well as extensive archival research, Robin is a fresh and original look at a man whose work touched so many lives.<br><b><br>PRAISE FOR <i>ROBIN<br></i><br></b>"In <i>Robin</i>, Dave Itzkoff manages to straddle the man and the myth of Robin Williams, all the while helping us see why we fell in love with both. He has written a book about the truth and pain that lies in comedy, and the price paid by a sensitive soul." Amy Poehler <br><b