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The book "La fraude mystique de Marthe Robin”– The Mystical Fraud of Marthe Robin– by the late Belgian Carmelite Fr Koen De Meester began as a study of her writings to support the cause for her beatification. Robin died in 1981 aged 78. Itzkoff goes into detail about the sheer joy Williams received from performing, the intense rush that it gave him. But he also explores how tough the lifestyle of a comedian really is, and how Robin leaned on drugs and alcohol to get him through it. Even though he often mined it for laughs it in his stand-up routines, he struggled with addiction throughout his life. One night, my mom announced we needed to get our minds off the divorce and decided we needed a fun night at the movies. A new movie just opened up, about a guy who dresses up like an old lady. His fake boobs catch on fire in the trailer- HILARIOUS ANTICS! I am of course talking about Mrs. Doubtfire . While it was and is still a hilarious movie with lines that will stand up through the test of time "My first day as a woman and I'm getting hot flashes!" "It was a run-by fruiting!", and my personal favorite, "We're his Goddamn kids, too!". The author, Dave Itzkoff, is a culture reporter who writes about film, television, and comedy for The New York Times. Itzkoff writes this book as a combination of straight reporting and insightful analysis. This is a bittersweet biography; the author portrays the artist, Robin Williams, not as a tormented soul who ends his own life, but more as a tender man desperate for talent validation.
A terrifying excursion into the world of medicine, money, manipulation and one of the most pressing ethical and public policy issues of our time. (Huffington Post)
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My favorite parts have to do with behind-the-scenes vignettes from the Robin Williams movies I most enjoyed. One interesting anecdote concerns the making of Dead Poets Society. Disney deemed the title to be too risky; nobody wants to watch something dead, they figured, and so why not change the title to “The Amazing Mr. Keating”? Robin and other cast members laughed; the producers laughed; then they told the Disney people that production would stop immediately if such an attempt were made. Nevare Burvelle is the second son of a second son, destined from birth to carry a sword. The wealthy young noble will follow his father—newly made a lord by the King of Gernia—into the cavalry, training in the military arts at the elite King's Cavella Academy in the capital city of Old Thares. Bright and well-educated, an excellent horseman with an advantageous engagement, Nevare's future appears golden.
After writing and publishing his debut novel, The Year of the Intern, he realized that it was not a very good book. It didn’t sell overly well, and it was, plainly put a failure. This is incredibly informative and marvelously written. Combine Fred Berman's excellent narration and you get a Fantastic end product.After Robin Williams passed away, my daughter turned to me and said, “I grew up with Robin Williams”. After a moment, I realized that in many ways, so had I. I was in my mid-teens when Robin burst onto the scene in that iconic episode of ‘Happy Days’ which led to ‘Mork & Mindy’. I loved that show and found Robin to be a fresh comedic talent who could pull off what appeared to be completely spontaneous dialogue and accompanied by high energy physical comedy. From that time forward I was a huge fan. I loved his stand -up routines and his movies. Reading about Robin’s struggles with his mind was utterly heartbreaking, because this was something he shared with my mother. But then, of course, neither have you and I, the latter-day readers of these tales. We recall the last of the Pooh stories. At the end, Christopher Robin and Winnie-the-Pooh set off together we know not whither. Lest our hearts should break, A. A. Milne adds a postscript. “Wherever they go,” he tells us, “and whatever happens to them on the way, in that enchanting place on the top of the forest a boy and his bear will always be playing.” The definitive biography of Robin Williams – a compelling portrait of one of America's most beloved and misunderstood entertainers.
The thing about this biography, that really stands out, is that it gives the reader a clearer picture of the man behind the frenetic comedy. Robin's fears, his goals, his hopes, and the demons that plagued him... The beginning of Robin’s career was somewhat familiar to me, but I had forgotten a lot of the ups and downs in those early days. The drugs, alcohol, the sudden and intense success, followed by career fits and starts, with spurts of wide recognition followed by incredibly harsh critical bashing. Cook has been cranking out best-selling medical thrillers since the mid-1970s, and he long ago worked out a formula that works for his fans. [ Charlatans] is no exception, proving once again that there is comfort and entertainment to be found in the familiar.” (Booklist)
After Robin Williams passed away, I realized that one of the reasons I felt so deeply about this loss was because in many ways, I grew up with Robin Williams.
Currently, Robin Cook spends his time between Florida, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts, while he is working on his next book. I tore voraciously through this absorbing biography of this truly brilliant performer, but as the end neared, the pace of my reading slowed, because I knew, more or less, how it would end. I would have liked the chance to change it, but nobody can do that. It’s a sad, rotten thing to see such a bright star fall so tragically. His whole life, he served others. He lived to make us laugh. He was a master of improvisation.He could memorize a script in a single sitting,even after partying hard the night before. And he also became a great actor of movies, as well, taking on some very serious and deeply touching roles. He gave to others in many, many ways. He was a gentle and loving person. Not perfect, but none of us are. ....He helped to raise millions through "Comic Relief" and always made sure that the homeless were given jobs on his films. His final years were extremely difficult. What was diagnosed as Parkinson's Disease turned out to be something much more devastating, Lewy body dementia. He committed suicide after a valiant struggle to find a way to get better. For me, it's always Robin. I cannot believe that in a few months we will be approaching the 5 year anniversary of his death. It still hurts. It still makes me cry. Here it is, March 21 2019, and I'm watching clip after clip on YouTube of some of my favorite moments of his- going on David Letterman dressed as a surgeon after Letterman returned from heart surgery, his Broadway comedy special which still gets played on heavy rotation in my house, and my upmost favorite- him winning the 1998 Academy Award for my favorite movie, Good Will Hunting - the sheer joy and genuine laughter as he accepts the Golden trophy, and the heartfelt hug from host Billy Crystal as he embraces his longtime friend on stage. What a beautiful moment. And I still sob. But as his Academy instruction progresses, Nevare begins to realize that the road before him is far from straight. The old aristocracy looks down on him as the son of a "new noble" and, unprepared for the political and social maneuvering of the deeply competitive school and city, the young man finds himself entangled in a web of injustice, discrimination, and foul play.My earliest memory of Robin Williams includes my mom’s hysterical laughter mixed with my own, while watching re-runs of Mork and Mindy. Robin’s silly humor even translated to small children! My favorite memory of him is when he came to my college’s campus to film Patch Adams, and I walked right by him and managed not to faint! Patch Adams remains my favorite Robin Williams’ movie. Also included was information about his final diagnosis, Diffuse Lewy Body Dementia, which unfortunately, was not a diagnosis Williams’ received when he was still alive. One can only hope it would have offered him some understanding of what was going on physically with his body and cognitively with his thoughts. Medicine is about to go through its biggest shakeup in history. Who could better capture this in the form of a medical techno-thriller than Dr. Robin Cook? (Eric Topol) The concerns about Robin’s third marriage didn’t feel one hundred percent balanced and may have been the only place in the book where the author’s personal opinion was made evident. Nothing wrong with being independent or having a life which is not defined by your husband’s career. The subsequent estate disputes also painted her in a bad light, but I’m not sure the author approached these events in an entirely subjective manner. We all know that Robin was a comic genius. But not many, including myself, know that he had a great memory (some would say photographic). He could show up on sets, late and hung-over, often in the same clothes from the night before, to discover that the writers made major script changes while he was out partying. While other actors struggled and fumbled to remember the new lines, Robin would just glance it over once and proceed to nail it. This skill flabbergasted many over the years. From his breakthrough television role on “Mork and Mindy” to his long movie career, his stage shenanigans fascinated his audiences, especially when he switched characters on a dime. He was the king of improvisation. In the author’s (and my) opinion no other stand-up comedian came close. Just watching him perform, the man could exhaust you.