Clint - The Man and the Movies

New York Times "Editors Choice," Los Angeles Times "Must Read Book for Summer," and a New Yorker "Best Book of the Year So Far"
"This is the biography of Clint Eastwood we've been waiting for." - Sir Christopher Frayling, author of Sergio Leone
From the acclaimed film critic and New York Times bestselling biographer of Paul Newman, a revelatory portrait of Hollywood legend Clint Eastwood, the most prolific and versatile actor-director in movie history and an imposing icon of American culture for six decades.
C-L-I-N-T. That single short, sharp syllable has stood as an emblem of American manhood and morality and sheer bloody-minded will, on-screen and off-screen, for more than sixty years. Whether he's facing down bad guys on a Western street (Old West or new, no matter), staring through the lens of a camera, or accepting one of his movies' thirteen Oscars (including two for Best Picture), he is as blunt, curt, and solid as his name, a star of the old-school stripe and one of the most accomplished directors of his time, a man of rock and iron and brute force: Clint.
To read the story of Clint Eastwood is to understand nearly a century of American culture. No Hollywood figure has so completely and complexly stood inside the changing climates of post-World War II America. At age ninety-five, he has lived a tumultuous century and embodied much of his time and many of its contradictions.
We picture Clint squinting through cigarillo smoke in A Fistful of Dollars or The Good, the Bad and the Ugly; imposing rough justice at the point of a .44 Magnum in Dirty Harry; sowing vengeance in The Outlaw Josey Wales or Pale Rider or Unforgiven; grudgingly training a woman boxer in Million Dollar Baby; and standing up for his neighbors despite his racism in Gran Torino. Or we feel him present, powerfully, behind the camera, creating complex tales of violence, morality, and humanity, such as Mystic River, Letters from Iwo Jima, and American Sniper. But his roles and his films, however well cast and convincing, are two-dimensional in comparison to his whole life.
As Shawn Levy reveals in this masterful biography-the most complete portrait yet of Eastwood-the reality is richer, knottier, and more absorbing. Clint: The Man and the Movies is a saga of cunning, determination, and conquest, a story about a man ascending to the Hollywood pantheon while keeping one foot firmly planted outside its door.

About the author

Shawn Levy is the author of the bestsellers The Castle on Sunset, Rat Pack Confidential, Paul Newman: A Life, King of Comedy: The Life and Art of Jerry Lewis, and Dolce Vita Confidential. The former film critic of The Oregonian, he has written for Sight and Sound, Film Comment, American Film, Interview, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, The Black Rock Beacon, and The Hollywood Reporter. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

Summary

New York Times "Editors Choice," Los Angeles Times "Must Read Book for Summer," and a New Yorker "Best Book of the Year So Far"
"This is the biography of Clint Eastwood we've been waiting for." — Sir Christopher Frayling, author of Sergio Leone
From the acclaimed film critic and New York Times bestselling biographer of Paul Newman, a revelatory portrait of Hollywood legend Clint Eastwood, the most prolific and versatile actor-director in movie history and an imposing icon of American culture for six decades.
C-L-I-N-T. That single short, sharp syllable has stood as an emblem of American manhood and morality and sheer bloody-minded will, on-screen and off-screen, for more than sixty years. Whether he’s facing down bad guys on a Western street (Old West or new, no matter), staring through the lens of a camera, or accepting one of his movies' thirteen Oscars (including two for Best Picture), he is as blunt, curt, and solid as his name, a star of the old-school stripe and one of the most accomplished directors of his time, a man of rock and iron and brute force: Clint.
To read the story of Clint Eastwood is to understand nearly a century of American culture. No Hollywood figure has so completely and complexly stood inside the changing climates of post–World War II America. At age ninety-five, he has lived a tumultuous century and embodied much of his time and many of its contradictions.
We picture Clint squinting through cigarillo smoke in A Fistful of Dol­lars or The Good, the Bad and the Ugly; imposing rough justice at the point of a .44 Magnum in Dirty Harry; sowing vengeance in The Outlaw Josey Wales or Pale Rider or Unforgiven; grudgingly training a woman boxer in Million Dollar Baby; and standing up for his neighbors despite his racism in Gran Torino. Or we feel him present, powerfully, behind the camera, creating complex tales of violence, morality, and humanity, such as Mystic River, Letters from Iwo Jima, and American Sniper. But his roles and his films, however well cast and convincing, are two-dimensional in comparison to his whole life.
As Shawn Levy reveals in this masterful biography—the most com­plete portrait yet of Eastwood—the reality is richer, knottier, and more absorbing. Clint: The Man and the Movies is a saga of cunning, determi­nation, and conquest, a story about a man ascending to the Hollywood pantheon while keeping one foot firmly planted outside its door.

Report

"Levy provides an unbiased and exhaustive study of Clint Eastwood's life and career, following five decades of filmmaking with detailed precision and candid critical analysis. He presents the personal trials and tribulations of the lifelong philanderer (he fathered at least eight children by six different women) without judgment. After a rocky childhood and a stint in the Army, Eastwood began acting. Eastwood blossomed in spaghetti westerns shot abroad. After moving into directing and producing, he earned four Oscars (two Best Director statues and two Best Pictures). Levy portrays Eastwood as a micromanager, nicknamed 'SkinClint' on sets as he penny-pinched, preferred first-takes, took over marketing, and chose or wrote the soundtracks. He ran for mayor of Carmel when the city rejected his proposed office space. Levy studies the frequent themes of Eastwood's work, including sexual assaults against women, sadism, firearm violence, and cynicism, and compares them to the lifestyle of a lifelong conservationist who supported gun control and relaxed through meditation. While lacking Eastwood's participation or interviews with those closest to him, Levy still presents a fascinating, well-researched portrait of a complicated visionary talent." - Library Journal (starred review)
"Film critic Levy (King of Comedy) argues in this sharp biography that Clint Eastwood is 'an inkblot in whom we see a variety of opposing ideas at once.' Eastwood was born in San Francisco in 1930, and after performing in a school play as an eighth grader, he told his drama teacher that, despite her praise, 'I don't want to do that again, ever in my life.' That changed after his military service ended in 1953, thanks to fellow soldiers who urged him to take 'a shot at Hollywood.' Taking a wide angle, Levy covers Eastwood's rise to stardom starting with some lucky breaks; his forays into politics, including his bizarre speech at the 2012 Republican National Convention, where he addressed an empty chair as if Barack Obama were in it; his complex personal relationships; and how sexual assault functions as a 'personal obsession' in his films. Levy has a knack for memorable phrasing, describing 1997's Absolute Power, for example, as 'a B-movie story requiring significant momentum so as to keep the audience from falling into the holes in the plot.' It makes for a solid account of the good, the bad, and the ugly in the life of one of Hollywood's biggest stars." - Publishers Weekly
"Film critic Levy (King of Comedy) argues in this sharp biography that Clint Eastwood is 'an inkblot in whom we see a variety of opposing ideas at once.' . . . Levy has a knack for memorable phrasing . . . It makes for a solid account of the good, the bad, and the ugly in the life of one of Hollywood's biggest stars." - Publishers Weekly
"This is the biography of Clint Eastwood we've been waiting for, bringing us closer to the man himself, and what makes him tick, than ever before." - Sir Christopher Frayling, author of Sergio Leone
"For more than 60 years, audiences have been projecting their own images of and ideas about American masculinity onto Eastwood, obscuring the man himself. Levy digs into Eastwood's upbringing, relationships, and politics to create a three-dimensional portrait of one of our most enduring and enigmatic stars." - A.V. Club
"Shrewd. . . . Eastwood is not an easy person to biographize. The many things that make him a fascinating figure make him both a rich and risky subject. . . . Levy's own assessments are routinely insightful. . . . Levy captures the profound efficacy of Eastwood's 'masterpiece,' Unforgiven." - Washington Post

Product details

• Authors: Shawn Levy, Levy Shawn
• Publisher: Harpercollins Uk
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 01.07.2025
• EAN: 9780063251021
• ISBN: 978-0-06-325102-1
• No. of pages: 560
• Dimensions: 152 mm x 228 mm x 37 mm
• Weight: 755 g
• Illustrations: 16-pg photo insert
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Art > Theatre, ballet; Popular Culture, 20th century, c 1900 to c 1999, United States of America, USA, Ethnic groups and multicultural studies, Biography: arts and entertainment, Biography: historical, political and military, BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY: Entertainment & Performing Arts, PERFORMING ARTS: Film & Video / History & Criticism, FILM STUDIES: HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY: General, BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY: Rich & Famous, FILM STUDIES: REFERENCE, FILM STUDIES: ART OF FILMMAKING, FILM STUDIES: ACTING, PERFORMING ARTS: Film / Genres / Westerns, Film Studies / History, Film Studies / Art of Filmmaking, Film Studies / Reference, Film Studies / Acting