Conversations With Brando

by Lawrence Grobel

Brando discusses many topics including acting, women, Native Americans and corporate America.

Genres: Biography, Film, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Art, History

214 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Lawrence Grobel (www.lawrencegrobel.com) is a novelist, journalist, biographer, poet and teacher. Five of his 31 books have been singled out as Best Books of the Year by Publisher’s Weekly and many have appeared on Best Seller lists. He is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship for his fiction. PEN gave his Conversations with Capote a Special Achievement Award. The Syndicat Francais de la Critique de Cinema awarded his Al Pacino their Prix Litteraire as the Best International Book of 2008. James A. Michener called his biography, The Hustons, “a masterpiece.” His The Art of the Interview is used as a text in many journalism schools. Writer’s Digest called him “a legend among journalists.” Joyce Carol Oates dubbed him “The Mozart of Interviewers” and Playboy singled him out as “The Interviewer’s Interviewer” after publishing his interviews with Barbra Streisand, Dolly Parton, Henry Fonda and Marlon Brando.
He has written for dozens of magazines and has been a Contributing Editor for Playboy, Movieline, World (New Zealand), and Trendy (Poland). He served in the Peace Corps, teaching at the Ghana Institute of Journalism; created the M.F.A. in Professional Writing for Antioch University; and taught in the English Department at UCLA for ten years. Since 2007 he has served as a jury member at the annual Camerimage Film Festival in Poland. He has appeared on CNN, The Today Show, Good Morning America, The Charlie Rose Show, NPR’s The Treatment, Marc Maron”s WTF and Adam Carolla’s podcasts, and in two documentaries, Salinger and Al Pacino’s Wilde Salome. His book, You, Talking to Me, highlights the lessons he’s learned from interviewing. His memoir, You Show Me Yours, takes him from the streets of Brooklyn to Marlon Brando’s island in Tahiti. Yoga? No, Shmoga! is his satirical take on staying healthy through stretching. His fiction includes 2 novels (Catch a Fallen Star, Begin Again Finnegan), a novella (The Black Eyes of Akbah), and 3 books of short stories (The Narcissist, Stuck, and Schemers, Dreamers, Cheaters, Believers). His most recent book is a memoir of his three years in the Peace Corps (Turquoise). His books are all available on Amazon and on his website. He is married to the artist Hiromi Oda and they have two daughters.

Reviews

[Tosh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marlon. Brando. Icon. Also a very thoughtful man, if he's interested in the subject matter or having a conversation with a writer/journalist he admires or likes. I never was obsessed with Brando or his films, I like them, like I like ice cream, but I don't obsess about the cream. On the other hand, many people do obsess over Brando, especially regarding his personality, and his dislike of the acting profession - which I think is not true.

He doesn't like 'professions' in general. But clearly he does like acting, and I think the reason he likes it, is because he's a very curious sort of guy. He likes to research and learn. And I think a big part of acting is the research part, and the ability to watch and listen to others. He's also quite funny in this book which is pretty much in the Q&A format. Clearly he asked for, and insisted, that this interview would deal with issues of the Native American world, and the horrible things that were done to these people. And in actuality, the best part of the book is Brando putting his thoughts and articulating his 'anger' regarding how the American Indian was treated in its past and also, in contemporary times. He's very observational and extremely smart fellow. And yes, he does talk about acting - but he doesn't gossip. Except for his dislike of Charlie Chaplin, because he treated his son very mean or rude manner. Also his brief commentary on Tennessee Williams, Kazan, is interesting. Again, he's a very talented observer and I suspect that if you are a friend of Marlon Brando, then he's a friend for life. It seems he has a series of long term friendships from people he grew up with. An interesting little book.

[Katarina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ukoliko očekujete da će ovde glavna tema razgovora biti gluma, varate se. Marlon je mnogo više od pukog glumca, makar bio i najbolji na svetu. Unikatna pojava neverovatnog mentalnog sklopa, istom merom mit i legenda.

[Maciej · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me one evening to read it. I find Brando a fascinating figure. He never read the same line the same way just like Dylan never sang the same song the same way twice when performing live. Cheesy as it may be, I like to think of him as the Bob Dylan of the movie industry due to the way he revolutionised it, how he constantly evolved on the set and in real life, confused the interviewers by giving elusive and/or intelligent answers, guarded his privacy etc. This was a very interesting and lengthy interview (or interviews) with a legend who hated being called a legend and never thought of himself as an "artist". For Brando acting was just a way of quickly earning enormous amounts of money so that he could concentrate on things he considered more important and a way of escaping the 9-5 routine. The book may bore a lot of people, especially those hoping to read stories about his sexual shenanigans, wanting to learn all the details about his movies etc. but I enjoyed it a lot.

[Anita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marlon Brando was a surprisingly smart man. I've only known him from his roles and I was positively surprised by his work for minorities and the fact he is aware of all the wrong things Americans did to Native Americans and other nations.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

brando has some brilliant insight and critiques of society and as always, weird!

[Heather Shaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grobel begins this book (originally excerpted in Playboy) with a play-by-play from the January 1978 interview negotiations over the phone with Brando. (Brando wanted to talk about Indians.) Actually, by 1978 Grobel had already spent six months negotiating the interview with Brando’s secretary. And nearly another six months would pass before he and the actor would meet. In Tahiti. On Brando’s private island.


This is so much more than an interview. Grobel’s first-person descriptions are fascinating, but Brando is breathtaking: Complex, curious, witty, hilariously idealistic, profoundly wise, philosophical and maudlin, ironical and silly. What you think you know about Brando, you do not know, you could never know, but Grobel’s “conversation” won’t let you forget him, ever.

[goodreads · Rating 4 out of 5]

As elusive as he was insightful, this book gets as close to the 'real' Brando as he would allow. Often cryptic yet as often possessing a clarity of insight that is completely charming, Brando demonstrates his absolute determination to live his life as he see's fit, regardless of what others thought.

Packed with great insight, hilarious anecdote and sometimes the downright weird, this is a fascinating book starring one of the 20th centuries great personalities.

[Polevka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dziwna ksiazka. Na poczatku w ogole do mnie nie przemowila. Wstep byl meczacy, ciezki, dlugi, wypowiedzi Brando rozwlekle, zawile, przygnebiajace i negujace. Z kazda strona jego poglady stawaly sie co raz bardziej wciagajace i uzalezniajace. Zmuszaly do myslenia i wydawaly sie bardziej sensowne. Koncowke ksiazki polyka sie momentalnie a po jej skonczeniu ciezko otrzasnac sie z wrazenia jakie pozostawia i smutku, ktory przepelnia czytelnika az do kosci.

[Kris (My Novelesque Life) · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 STARS

A transcribed conversation between the legend Marlon Brando and writer Lawrence Grobel. Another prospective into the troubled Brando.

[Angela Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! I could hear Marlon talking as I read it. He was certainly one of the most interesting people to have ever lived... Intelligent, honest, witty... Brilliant.

[Dante Billups · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great interview. Lawrence was not afraid to push back against Marlon with some of his statements and inquire into certain claims.

I learned a lot about Brando that I didn't know before. Such as his strong connection to Tahiti and Tahiti culture. Living on an island there for months at a time that he'd purchased from an old woman to even funding experiments to be performed on the island.

I was slightly annoyed while reading the book because I had expectations of improving my craft with the book. I had expected conversations on acting and Marlons techniques. While there were inevitably talks of acting, Marlon would often gear the conversation to more deserving topics such as the plight of the Native Americans in the United States. He felt it abhorrent to talk about acting when there were such greater issues going on in the world.

Marlon's social consciousness as an entertainer was far ahead of its time. He would've fit smoothly into a 21st century Hollywood.

[M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leer la forma de pensar de Brando sobre política, la familia, el arte, la actuación, la sociedad y la prensa, entre otros, es toda una maravilla, aunque a veces se contradice, creo que muestra sin capas lo que este magnífico actor tenía en la cabeza y por ende, escogía mantenerse intolerante ante la hipocrecía del mundo.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Z cyklu ciekawe rozmowy z Marlonem Brando. Niby oschły, znudzony rozmowami i niedostępny, ale jak już się rozgada to wychodzi z niego inteligentny człowiek pełen kontrastów. Na podstawie tego wywiadu mam jednak mieszane odczucia względem jego osoby.

[Rafal Jasinski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Książka ta, to przede wszystkim starcie dwóch intelektualistów i erudytów. Lawrence Grobel nie waha zadawać się trudnych pytań, prowokuje i jątrzy. Brando, nie przebiera w słowach, ucieka w dygresje - niezwykle zajmujące dygresje, trzeba dodać - sięga granicy geniuszu, by kilka wypowiedzi później dotrzeć do pokładów swoich najgłębszych paranoi, czasem absurdu. Dyskusja o świecie filmu, którego Marlon Brando jest jedną z największych ikon, stanowi zaledwie niewielki promil tego obszernego i niezwykle interesującego wywiadu - na tym etapie swojego życia, aktor zdaje się wręcz brzydzić kinem i drwić z tych, którzy w X muzie dopatrują się znamion sztuki.

Książkę Grobela uzupełnia epilog, dotyczący tragicznych wydarzeń związanych z zabójstwem chłopaka córki aktora - Cheyenne - dokonanego przez jej przyrodniego brata w posiadłości Brando w Beverly Hills, i piętna jaki następujące po nich postępowanie procesowe odcisnęło na samym Marlonie, jak i jego rodzinie.

Mająca dziś status kultowej, książka "Brando. Rozmowy" to jedno z najznamienitszych dzieł tego gatunku, której wszyscy wielbiciele dorobku aktora - jak również każdy miłośnik kina - nie powinni pominąć. To absolutny dziennikarski majstersztyk!

[TrumanCoyote · Rating 3 out of 5]

He mainly just babbles like a beatnik pain in the neck--and he's spending so much energy being eminently nobody. A lot of the facts he brings up aren't even so; I get the feeling (like with Hitler) that if he hadn't been so renowned he'd've just been thought a blowhard (maybe that's why he didn't give interviews). It's like the Kissinger quote: "The best part about being famous is that now when you bore people, they think it's their fault." But it was still pretty entertaining and absorbing on the whole--and not just because (like with Bobby Fischer) of the difficulties of the subject. Actually he comes across pretty cool and regular in the second half--once they've broken the ice. And I liked the things that repulsed him (also that he would answer the question): the inside of a camel's mouth and someone's sticky saliva in a stringer while they talk.

[Shervin · Rating 3 out of 5]

بی تردید مارلون براندو اسطوره بازیگری است و کم تر بازیگری با توانمندیها و افتخارات او در سینما ظهور کرده است، بازی های بی نظیر و تیپ و شخصیت جذابش از او بتی ساخت که به مدت حدود نیم قرن مرکز توجه بینندگان، خبرنگاران و اصحاب سینما بود.
به دلیل روحیات شخصی همواره از خبرنگاران فراری بود به همین دلیل آنطور که انتظار می رود و در مقایسه با هم ترازهای خود کمتر در مصاحبه ها شرکت کرده است، از این نظر این کتاب جز معدود آثاری است که نظرات مارلون براندو را از طریق یک مصاحبه صمیمانه و بدون سانسور مطرح کرده است.
بینندگان و ستایشگران فیلم‌های براندو در این کتاب با شخصیت و ویژگی های جدیدی از او آشنا می شوند:
به شدت صریح و صادق، منتقد شدید جامعه غربی، مدافع حقوق اقلیت‌ها به خصوص سرخپوستان، شوخ طبع و حاضر جواب، بدخلق و کم حوصله، همه چیز دان، دشمن نشریات پاپاراتزی و برنامه های تلویزیونی.

[Christine Bissonnette · Rating 3 out of 5]

An excellent and very telling look into the legend. This interview says little about Brando as an "actor" and more about who he was as a person. He had his flaws, and his challenges, but he fought for what he believed in and it is from this quality that my respect for him has blossomed.

[Scoobs · Rating 5 out of 5]

This guy Brando is a real character. I mean it. A CHARACTER.

[Sa'shel Del · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book wish it got more into the art of acting

[Timothy Schinsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book on being consciously aware of life from someone who through many years, was.

[Pardiss · Rating 3 out of 5]

چطور می شه دانلودش کرد یا خوندش؟