This is the first sustained critical collection on Albert Brooks, one of the key but under-examined figures in American stand-up, television comedy and Hollywood film comedy. Analysing every film written and directed by Albert Brooks, including Real Life (1979), Modern Romance (1981) and Lost in America (1985), as well as a number of his acting and voice-over roles, his stand-up comedy albums, talk show appearances and writing, the book argues that Albert Brooks not only merits a wider viewership, both critical and popular, but also that his career offers a useful lens through which to understand American film and culture since the late 1960s.
Rezensionen / Stimmen
This collection of 11 essays argues for the importance of Brooks not only as a comic force but also as a skilled filmmaker who has deftly documented the absurdity and disappointments of the "professional-managerial" class of the late 20th century. Notable contributions include those on the yuppie figure in Lost in America, Brooks's "ability to channel the female experience" through his collaborations with writer Monica Johnson, and the writer/director's criticism of media dynamic sutilizing "anti-humor" in films from Real Life to Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World. [...] Highly recommended. -- S. B. Skelton, Kansas State University * CHOICE * This collection of essays makes the case for Albert Brooks's multi-faceted significance as a pioneer of meta-comedy, a satirist of baby-boomer complicity, and a prophet of fail culture. America has spent the last half century trailing Brooks. This book catches up with him. * Robert J. King, Columbia University *
Reihe
Sprache
Verlagsort
Zielgruppe
Für die Erwachsenenbildung
Produkt-Hinweis
Fadenheftung
Gewebe-Einband
Illustrationen
24 black and white illustrations
Maße
Höhe: 234 mm
Breite: 156 mm
Dicke: 18 mm
Gewicht
ISBN-13
978-1-4744-3425-6 (9781474434256)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Klassifikation
Dr Christian Long is an Academic Language and Learning Educator at Queensland University of Technology.
Herausgeber*in
EducatorQueensland University of Technology.
Acknowledgments
1. Introduction, Christian B. Long
2. Irony Ends in Why, Thomas Britt
3. The Counterculture Squared: Albert Brooks' Saturday Night Live, Jeff Menne
4. Your General Humor Buildup: Constructing Albert Brooks, JD Connor
5. When Success is Failure, Christian B. Long
6. Easy Riders, Raging Yuppies: Lost in America and the Work of the Professional-Managerial Class, Derek Nystrom
7. Albert Brooks Channeling the Feminine, Rebecca Bell-Metereau
8. Defending Purgatorio: Dante, Brooks, and Finding One's Celestial Place, Frank Percaccio
9. Albert Brooks' Anatomy of Love, Enid Stubin
10. Finding Brooks: Animating the Baby Boomer Generation in Finding Nemo, Dietmar Meinel
11. Debt, Payback, and Economics in Nicolas Winding Refn's Drive, Tom Ue
Contributors
