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Buster Keaton: The Persistence of Comedy
Buster Keaton was a master silent film comedian in the 1920s comparable to Charlie Chaplin. After 15 years, the advent of sound and his personal troubles with alcohol and interference from the studio caused the swift and sudden crash of his career and personal life. Recognized later by film historians and the public for his hilarious movies, Keaton continued to work until his death. In The Persistence of Comedy Imogen Sara Smith brings together all the historical research on Keaton and his films with a discerning, but loving eye and wonderfully readable prose. Illustrated with stills from Keaton's classic movies.
284 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 1, 2008
35 people are currently reading
223 people want to read
About the author
Imogen Sara Smith
13 books66 followersImogen Sara Smith is the author of In Lonely Places: Film Noir Beyond the City (McFarland, 2011) and Buster Keaton: The Persistence of Comedy (Gambit Publishing, 2008). She has written on topics ranging from photography and painting to cinema history. For the latter she has written articles for various publications, including Bright Lights Film, Criterion, Noir City Magazine, moving Image Source, etc.
Imogen Sara Smith is also a performing arts librarian and lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Articles:
http://brightlightsfilm.com/author/im...
http://www.movingimagesource.us/artic...
http://www.examiner.com/indie-movie-i...
http://chiseler.org/tagged/imogen%20s...
https://www.criterion.com/current/aut...
http://www.filmnoirfoundation.org/noi...
Interview (audio):
http://www.thecinephiliacs.net/2013/1...
Interview: http://aaroncutler.tumblr.com/post/71...
Imogen Sara Smith is also a performing arts librarian and lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Articles:
http://brightlightsfilm.com/author/im...
http://www.movingimagesource.us/artic...
http://www.examiner.com/indie-movie-i...
http://chiseler.org/tagged/imogen%20s...
https://www.criterion.com/current/aut...
http://www.filmnoirfoundation.org/noi...
Interview (audio):
http://www.thecinephiliacs.net/2013/1...
Interview: http://aaroncutler.tumblr.com/post/71...
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
April 17, 2019
When you read a biography of someone who's work you love, and it's written by an author who also loves the same subject, it's magic. Yes it's magic but it's not often a good biography because it can be fawning, obsequious or just plain sickening.
It's easy to see the author of Buster Keaton: The Persistence of Comedy, Imogen Sara Smith, clearly loves Buster, and may very well be in love with him. But...
What's not to love?
It seems anyone who picks up this or any book about Buster loves him in someway, if not, why try to find out more about someone whose greatest films are almost 100 years old?
No matter how you feel about Keaton you won't be disappointed by Ms. Smith's book.
I've seen Buster's silent movies multiple times and I've read most of the major biographies and explorations of his work. There was still a lot to be gotten from The Persistence of Comedy. It's not a linear biography which I actually appreciate. The author jumps around a little bit in order to fill-in certain points and information about Keaton's life. What I mainly got from the book that I had not known before were people's personal observation about Buster himself, aside from his work. It was very interesting to hear what an intensely private and shy man he was, although not at all surprising as this is exactly how many comedians interact with the world when they're not performing.
Many biographies people have devoted time and energy to his work but they present Buster himself as a kind of cypher, sometimes a dullard or as has he self-proclaimed, "The hole in the donut." The wonderful revelation in this book is just how good and kind and wonderful a man he was and how that never changed no matter what his fortunes were, whether he was on the top of the film world or on the bottom.
This book is not a psychological biography nor is it an in-depth exploration of his films, yet there was much here that was new to me and also a lot that was a pleasure to read again.
Ms. Smith doesn't shy away from Buster's troubled times after he joined MGM and control of his pictures were taken away from him, and his wife left him. The alcoholism and the adultery is all there but she doesn't dwell on this and she certainly does not presented him, as many authors have, as "Poor Buster"
There's a lot of information about Keaton's apprenticeship and friendship with Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, his relationship with his family and his relationship with his first wife.
The one quote that sums up this book and sums up Buster Keaton's life for me is by his third wife Eleanor. Buster was making his greatest films almost across the street from her when she first entered elementary school. She was 19 when she married him in 1940, he was then $100 a week gag man for the studio where he had once been the third highest paid star, MGM. They were together until his death in 1966.
When asked why she married a man twice her age whose fortunes were at their lowest ebb she said, "Everyone who met Buster fell in love with him and I just went with the crowd."
It's clear to see from this book that people, myself included, are still going along with the crowd.
It's easy to see the author of Buster Keaton: The Persistence of Comedy, Imogen Sara Smith, clearly loves Buster, and may very well be in love with him. But...
What's not to love?
It seems anyone who picks up this or any book about Buster loves him in someway, if not, why try to find out more about someone whose greatest films are almost 100 years old?
No matter how you feel about Keaton you won't be disappointed by Ms. Smith's book.
I've seen Buster's silent movies multiple times and I've read most of the major biographies and explorations of his work. There was still a lot to be gotten from The Persistence of Comedy. It's not a linear biography which I actually appreciate. The author jumps around a little bit in order to fill-in certain points and information about Keaton's life. What I mainly got from the book that I had not known before were people's personal observation about Buster himself, aside from his work. It was very interesting to hear what an intensely private and shy man he was, although not at all surprising as this is exactly how many comedians interact with the world when they're not performing.
Many biographies people have devoted time and energy to his work but they present Buster himself as a kind of cypher, sometimes a dullard or as has he self-proclaimed, "The hole in the donut." The wonderful revelation in this book is just how good and kind and wonderful a man he was and how that never changed no matter what his fortunes were, whether he was on the top of the film world or on the bottom.
This book is not a psychological biography nor is it an in-depth exploration of his films, yet there was much here that was new to me and also a lot that was a pleasure to read again.
Ms. Smith doesn't shy away from Buster's troubled times after he joined MGM and control of his pictures were taken away from him, and his wife left him. The alcoholism and the adultery is all there but she doesn't dwell on this and she certainly does not presented him, as many authors have, as "Poor Buster"
There's a lot of information about Keaton's apprenticeship and friendship with Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, his relationship with his family and his relationship with his first wife.
The one quote that sums up this book and sums up Buster Keaton's life for me is by his third wife Eleanor. Buster was making his greatest films almost across the street from her when she first entered elementary school. She was 19 when she married him in 1940, he was then $100 a week gag man for the studio where he had once been the third highest paid star, MGM. They were together until his death in 1966.
When asked why she married a man twice her age whose fortunes were at their lowest ebb she said, "Everyone who met Buster fell in love with him and I just went with the crowd."
It's clear to see from this book that people, myself included, are still going along with the crowd.
December 6, 2015
I really enjoyed this book, which doubles as a biography AND critique of Buster Keaton's major works from 1917 to 1966. It dispels with the myth of Keaton as a modern Pagliacci, which was enlightening. I didn't always agree with the author's critiques, especially when it came to some of the sound shorts of the early 40's (Pest From the West is trashed here, while I find it very strong). The breakdown of Keaton's 1st two marriages and time spent being a ladies man was dealt with in an eloquent fashion. I also liked that the author didn't dwell too much on the years lost to alcoholism - Buster didn't, so why should everyone else? There is a timeless quality to Keaton's work and Imogen Sara Smith does an exceptional job of capturing why.
April 7, 2020
The best book on Keaton in print-- and I've read most of them. Smith gets Keaton's comic philosophy, artistry, and style like no other. She puts into words what so many of us BK fans feel about the man and his work, the emotional attachment we have to this allegedly unfeeling, "stone-faced" comedian and filmmaker.
I read this book often. I always take it with me on trips.
I read this book often. I always take it with me on trips.
September 20, 2015
I loved this book.
It has its faults - a tendency to spend too much time explaining plots, and the occasional lapse into gushing adoration - but it presents a rounded and subtle exploration of Keaton's character and art. Not that Buster ever called it art. In fact, he mistrusted all the intellectual theories about what his work meant. For him it was a craft, and nothing more.
However, Smith shows how this was in some ways a defence mechanism, for he was sensitive to his lack of formal education and never analysed his art.
Keaton comes across as an incredible resilient and stoical person, who never showed an ounce of self-pity for his fall onto hard times after the coming of sound films. He was an intensely shy man who seemed to be liked and admired by all those around him.
It has its faults - a tendency to spend too much time explaining plots, and the occasional lapse into gushing adoration - but it presents a rounded and subtle exploration of Keaton's character and art. Not that Buster ever called it art. In fact, he mistrusted all the intellectual theories about what his work meant. For him it was a craft, and nothing more.
However, Smith shows how this was in some ways a defence mechanism, for he was sensitive to his lack of formal education and never analysed his art.
Keaton comes across as an incredible resilient and stoical person, who never showed an ounce of self-pity for his fall onto hard times after the coming of sound films. He was an intensely shy man who seemed to be liked and admired by all those around him.
December 27, 2023
I found this work to be the author’s psychological commentary on Keaton’s wit and humor – not much else – with a smattering of what movies he made. The book was difficult to read since my copy had no definitive chapter breaks, much of it was written as stream of consciousness – it droned on for me – and this combination made this an odd biography best left for those who would rather an opinion from Miss Smith, rather than the how of one of the brilliant American film comedians.
While I did not care for this book, it may just be the ticket for other readers. There are a few black and white photographs, all of which are well-known to fans of Keaton and silent comedies.
🟣
🗑
While I did not care for this book, it may just be the ticket for other readers. There are a few black and white photographs, all of which are well-known to fans of Keaton and silent comedies.
🟣
🗑
February 22, 2016
A minor entry in the myriad number of Keaton biographies, but a good one. Neither muckraking (Buster's alcoholism and womanising is gone into, but fairly) or idolatrous (Buster is presented as the greatest of the silent clowns, but he's not put on a highly intellectual purely artistic level with the likes of Beckett or Picasso.) Smith's text is highly readable, I picked up on a few minor mistakes, but they are minor, and her portrait of Keaton is as good and enlightened a one as I have read.
April 25, 2013
Excellent overview of his films, career and life. A good balance of interpretation and biography, and also a very good survey of other books and articles about Keaton. I think I will re-read this at some point. Great insights about how interpretations of Keaton reflect the pop psychology of the day.
April 5, 2017
The reviews I read prior to purchasing this book said it was both a biography and a filmography. The biographical information was scant, and could hardly qualify as a biography. As for the filmography, when I read one, I prefer a synopsis of the plot and review of the film. I don't want to read a complete breakdown of the film, scene by scene; this dominated the book.
November 22, 2019
Keaton's films are funny and serious, silly and beautiful. My personal favorites are “Sherlock Jr.” and “One Week.”
Check out this great appreciation of Buster on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWEjx...
Check out this great appreciation of Buster on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWEjx...
April 21, 2023
Requires Persistence to Finish
The Persistence of Comedy reads like a graduate thesis for a cinematography degree with a dozen pages of biographical material randomly added. Each chapter seems endless and requires persistence to finish.
Reading more like a filmography, the book provides detailed summaries of Buster’s movies and gags. When referring to the character, plot summaries alternate between using Buster and his character’s name, which is confusing. Often the release year of the referenced movie is not included, and content does not appear to be in chronological order.
Works by scholars, philosophers, film critics, and other biographers are frequently quoted, which gives the appearance the author performed little independent research. Much of author’s content is her personal opinion. The footnotes in the back of the book are more interesting than the body of the book.
The reader will need to keep a dictionary nearby—words in one chapter alone include non-teleological, post-Nietzschean, semioticians, and Saussurian terms.
The book’s back cover promises rare stills. There are 13 blurry black and white photos, one before each of the 11 chapters plus one at the beginning and end of the book, which most Keaton fans have seen before.
After wading through roughly 250 pages, the book ends abruptly.
The Persistence of Comedy reads like a graduate thesis for a cinematography degree with a dozen pages of biographical material randomly added. Each chapter seems endless and requires persistence to finish.
Reading more like a filmography, the book provides detailed summaries of Buster’s movies and gags. When referring to the character, plot summaries alternate between using Buster and his character’s name, which is confusing. Often the release year of the referenced movie is not included, and content does not appear to be in chronological order.
Works by scholars, philosophers, film critics, and other biographers are frequently quoted, which gives the appearance the author performed little independent research. Much of author’s content is her personal opinion. The footnotes in the back of the book are more interesting than the body of the book.
The reader will need to keep a dictionary nearby—words in one chapter alone include non-teleological, post-Nietzschean, semioticians, and Saussurian terms.
The book’s back cover promises rare stills. There are 13 blurry black and white photos, one before each of the 11 chapters plus one at the beginning and end of the book, which most Keaton fans have seen before.
After wading through roughly 250 pages, the book ends abruptly.
October 6, 2018
I picked this up months ago and then kept forgetting to get back to it. I’m dumb because this is one of the finest pieces of film criticism and biography I’ve read. Smith’s descriptive skills are through the roof, with every twitch, every mechanical fall by Buster Keaton described grippingly. But more than that, her argument for Keaton’s worldview, one that blends the high and the low, ambition with humility, taking your actions as seriously as possible while humiliating yourself for the audience—balance, in other words—is inspired and inspiring.
January 31, 2019
So funny it hurts; so thoughtful it makes one glad to be a reader/ viewer of the films.
A giant Buster Keaton fan, the only real question is what took me so long to get around to reading this wonderful book. I've read many-- or perhaps all --of the biographies and Keaton's own autobiography. I've seen most of his features and most of the shorts, too. The author may have written this for me and others who are obsessed with the serious about comedy, but this book is also for people who are new to the Keaton ouvre. I'm very glad to have read it!
A giant Buster Keaton fan, the only real question is what took me so long to get around to reading this wonderful book. I've read many-- or perhaps all --of the biographies and Keaton's own autobiography. I've seen most of his features and most of the shorts, too. The author may have written this for me and others who are obsessed with the serious about comedy, but this book is also for people who are new to the Keaton ouvre. I'm very glad to have read it!
February 6, 2021
"Keaton’s brand of comedy is not a denial or turning away from reality, it is a facing of facts—the fact that, in many ways, human life is comic, whether we like it or not. Taking oneself too seriously shows a failure of proportion. Lacking a sense of humor signals not only an inability to take things lightly, but an inability to see things clearly. Keaton’s beloved long shots perfectly represent the stepping back, the detached, impartial point of view from which humor springs."
August 26, 2023
I found this book quite interesting and read it almost without stopping. I have seen several of Keaton's movies made during his best period, enjoyed them, and was interested in the man behind them. Years ago, I also read Rudi Blesh's excellent biography of him. The author mentioned several movies that were made about his life. One she didn't mention was "The Comic" starring Dick Van Dyke. This movie, while fictional, is based in part on Keaton's career and personal life.
February 14, 2025
"One does not need to be intentional to be a great artist."
This was a very heartwarming and informative biography which does a great job of painting an objective and vivid picture of who Buster Keaton was. I really enjoyed the analysis of his filmmaking
style and philosophy, and found his life story riveting. Imogen Sara Smith demonstrates how meticulous research can be transformed into a compelling and beautifully crafted story. Recommended.
This was a very heartwarming and informative biography which does a great job of painting an objective and vivid picture of who Buster Keaton was. I really enjoyed the analysis of his filmmaking
style and philosophy, and found his life story riveting. Imogen Sara Smith demonstrates how meticulous research can be transformed into a compelling and beautifully crafted story. Recommended.
August 22, 2022
I've read almost every book written about Buster Keaton and this one is easily my favorite. The author's writing about my film hero is honest and unflinching, admiring and accurate, deeply perceptive and joyously exalting. For fans of Keaton, this is a must-read.
November 28, 2023
Interesting
I found it an interesting read. It's not an in depth book as a biography would be but explores Keaton the entertainer and his view on comedy and its presentation
I found it an interesting read. It's not an in depth book as a biography would be but explores Keaton the entertainer and his view on comedy and its presentation
March 10, 2017
My first Keaton biography - but not a typical one, and all the better for it.
A good mix of analysis, biographical facts and...love.
A good mix of analysis, biographical facts and...love.
Read
January 15, 2016Solid; as other reviewers have said, Smith clearly appears to be in love with Buster. (I would hope so, as countless film books and articles suffer from being about a subject that the author isn't quite so passionate about. )
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews