Stanley Kubrick: A Biography

by John Baxter

The most complete account yet of one of the most original and stimulating film-makers of the post-war Paths of Glory, Dr Strangelove, Lolita, 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, Barry Lindon, Full Metal Jacket ...A biography of this pre-eminent cultural figure is long overdue. Few film-makers have managed to maintain their mystique over forty years; Kubrick succeeded by preparing his films for years, so that each distilled the essence of the zeitgeist. To the generation of the 1950s, he was one of the few directors to achieve, with Paths of Glory, the dignity and stature of the European cinema in an American film. To 1960s audiences, he's the man who made both Dr Strangelove, the ultimate anti-war movie, and the counter-culture classic 2001: A Space Odyssey. In the 1970s he created that archetypal hymn to urban violence, A Clockwork Orange. In the 1980s, he put Stephen King on screen in The Shining. In continental Europe especially, Kubrick is regarded as one of the handful of great living film-makers. Born in the Bronx in 1928 of Central European stock, Kubrick still lives in moody seclusion in Borehamwood, where he bought a house soon after moving to the UK in 1961.

Genres: Biography, Film, Nonfiction, History, Autobiography, Media Tie In

416 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

John Baxter (born 1939 in Randwick, New South Wales) is an Australian-born writer, journalist, and film-maker.

Baxter has lived in Britain and the United States as well as in his native Sydney, but has made his home in Paris since 1989, where he is married to the film-maker Marie-Dominique Montel. They have one daughter, Louise.

He began writing science fiction in the early 1960s for New Worlds, Science Fantasy and other British magazines. His first novel, though serialised in New Worlds as THE GOD KILLERS, was published as a book in the US by Ace as The Off-Worlders. He was Visiting Professor at Hollins College in Virginia in 1975-1976. He has written a number of short stories and novels in that genre and a book about SF in the movies, as well as editing collections of Australian science fiction.

Baxter has also written a large number of other works dealing with the movies, including biographies of film personalities, including Federico Fellini, Luis Buñuel, Steven Spielberg, Stanley Kubrick, Woody Allen, George Lucas and Robert De Niro. He has written a number of documentaries, including a survey of the life and work of the painter Fernando Botero. He also co-produced, wrote and presented three television series for the Australian Broadcasting Commission, Filmstruck, First Take and The Cutting Room, and was co-editor of the ABC book programme Books And Writing.

In the 1960s, he was a member of the WEA Film Study Group with such notable people as Ian Klava, Frank Moorhouse, Michael Thornhill, John Flaus and Ken Quinnell. From July 1965 to December 1967 the WEA Film Study Group published the cinema journal FILM DIGEST. This journal was edited by John Baxter.

For a number of years in the sixties, he was active in the Sydney Film Festival, and during the 1980s served in a consulting capacity on a number of film-funding bodies, as well as writing film criticism for The Australian and other periodicals. Some of his books have been translated into various languages, including Japanese and Chinese.

Since moving to Paris, he has written four books of autobiography, A Pound of Paper: Confessions of a Book Addict, We'll Always Have Paris: Sex and Love in the City of Light, Immoveable feast : a Paris Christmas, and The Most Beautiful Walk in the World : a Pedestrian in Paris.

Since 2007 he has been co-director of the annual Paris Writers Workshop.

Reviews

[Tom Boniface-Webb · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know it’s really not the writer’s fault, but it would have been so much better had he waited just two years to write it. Then Kubrick would have made his last film, and then died in quick succession (I don’t think the two things were linked, it can’t have been that terrible working with Tom Cruise…). Loved it anyway. What a guy. What an arse, but what a guy.

[Ryan · Rating 1 out of 5]

While Stanley Kubrick is an extremely interesting figure for a biography (he being my favorite director), John Baxter is a terrible writer. Almost all of the material is culled from 2nd hand accounts, so the entire thing reads like it was cobbled together from here-say and conjecture. The parts which Baxter does not just whole sale lift from his quotes are consistently awful, exemplified by his hilariously out-of-context quotes to begin each chapter.

This book is certainly an enjoyable read, but only because Kubrick is such a fascinating person that there's probably room for dozens of biographies on him. The book works best when you forget that Baxter is even there, which is difficult as I cannot remember the last book that made me stop in the middle of a sentences from poor word choice and uneven flow. His critiques of Kubrick's work, both good and bad, are laughable as well.

Check out "Kubrick" By Thomas Allen Nelson. While not a biography per say, there is much of Kubrick's life in that work, and his films are explored in much greater depth, and with much greater scholasticism.

[Bryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Worth a read, even if the author seemed to have an ax to grind. If you can overlook the patronizing and resentful tone, there is a bit of content here. 'The Stanley Kubrick Archives' and 'Stanley Kubrick and Me' are much more satisfying though.

[Zach · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's a lot of great information in this book. It's unfortunate, though, that it falls into the trap that a lot of biographies do: "And then this happened. And then this happened. And then this happened."

[Hasan · Rating 2 out of 5]

More about the circumstances surrounding the making of his movies than about the man himself. Not the writer's fault but was hoping for more.

[Pynk Moon · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't like this much at all. It was just a struggle to get it done in the end and I didn't even end up finishing it. I just felt that I needed to log it given the amount of days it has taken from me. This reads like one long wikipedia article. There is no creativity in the writing whatsoever which makes it a slog to get through. Also, I don't think that it was particularly investigative. I think I knew the majority of the information anyway, and I also think that the author fell into the legend of Kubrick at times. He writes that Kubrick only used to get driven around at 35mph which has not only been denied by Kubrick, but also something that the author goes on to cast doubt about later on.

[KeVLoG · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who already knew a fair bit about Stanley Kubrick from documentaries and podcasts (like the Rocket Beans “Plauschangriff”), this biography was both fascinating and frustrating. John Baxter offers plenty of behind-the-scenes anecdotes from 2001, The Shining, and Full Metal Jacket, which were my favorite parts, but it is hard to tell how much is truly well-sourced and what might be speculation or second-hand gossip.

The writing is engaging, and I appreciated the focus on Kubrick’s working methods and obsessions, but sometimes the tone feels a bit too close to tabloid journalism. Still, if you are already a Kubrick fan, it is an entertaining read. Just take it with a grain of salt.

[Full Metal Jacob · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not much of a reader. Books of this caliber generally strike fear into me. The size of the text. The number of pages. The words I don't understand are intimidating and the language I sometimes don't comprehend. But I muscled through this with a love of film and Kubrick himself. I found myself laughing out loud at certain points. But where I personally found it a challenge to read I also got great joy and a profound sense of who Kubrick was. Would recommend!

[Peter Burton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book but you need to know his movies to fully appreciate the tales he tells about actors,writers,other directors etc.Full of good stories and quite detailed.Published in 1997 so a bit dated but a good survey and study of his career.Interesting to see how movies change from an idea to being shown in a theatre.

[Michael Karpusas · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit dry writing

[Tracey Wheeler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting read. He was such a fascinating person, creating masterpiece after masterpiece.
If you admire his work, a definite must read.

[Spencer Lestina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quintessential kubrick book. Gotta re read this again

[Filippo Ulivieri · Rating 2 out of 5]

Al posto di un accurato lavoro di ricerca, Baxter si affida alle testimonianze dei collaboratori di Kubrick, correndo il rischio di scadere nel pettegolezzo. Gli intervistati si dimostrano interessati ad accentuare il lato "strano" del regista, con aneddoti sull'ossessione di Kubrick per le tette delle sue attrici o sulle sue abitudini igieniche, e lo stesso Baxter tradisce spesso la sua costante voglia di parlar male, non solo di Kubrick ma di tutti gli attori, produttori e funzionari di Hollywood. Quando invece si affida a fonti primarie, come riviste e altri libri, Baxter sbaglia puntualmente riferimenti bibliografici o cita articoli inesistenti. Tutto sommato un lavoro piuttosto sciatto che punta soprattutto al sensazionalismo. Inserto di 24 pagine con fotografie in bianco e nero.

[Jon · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Baxter writes as comprehensively as one can in a biography of Kubrick that was completed just before the Master died in 1999. It covers in great detail and with first hand testimony the difficulties of working with Kubrick but also captures Kubrick's own sense of self, his choice to isolate himself and create art in a way that was totally true to himself and his vision, no matter how it availed others. The result is a truly personal and up close account and one that is well recommended. If it lacks anything it is that opportunity for a reflection on Kubrick's work after his death and consideration of his body of film making as a whole - but that is not something for which the author can be faulted.

[Alejandro Orradre · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extensa y minuciosa biografía de uno de los grandes directores de cine de toda la historia, Stanley Kubrick: La biografía se sumerge en su vida de una manera exhaustiva y sin escatimar muchos detalles.

Especialmente interesante es todo lo que rodea a cómo fueron los rodajes de sus películas, antes, durante y después de ellos, el proceso creativo a través del cual vieron la luz y lo que supusieron para el mismo Kubrick.

Una obra que hará las delicias de cualquier cinéfilo.

[Matt · Rating 2 out of 5]

not that great...I've been fascinated by Kubrick the filmmaker and the man for a long time. I haven't had the chance top read any other bio of him, though of course there's better and more penetrating ones out there. This one's not so hot. there's some interesting information and anecdotes but it's not very detailed. Just an fyi....

[Djll · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good. I already knew Kubrick was another genius asshole (like many of my other heroes, Stockhausen, Miles Davis, Van Vliet, Godard), but this book really lays the shit bare. Ouch, ouch. A master chessman who used human beings as his pieces. But, shit, then there's the work.

[Jaime Bayona · Rating 4 out of 5]

EL libro está lleno de datos interesantes que son valiosos para cualquier seguidor de Kubrick, sin embargo, el estilo de escritura de Baxter cansa, por lo que en ocasiones la lectura se vuelve pesada.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a realy cool book about Kubrick. It has a lot of background biographical information about the director as well as interesting inside facts about the industry.

[Alexis]

Stanley Kubrick: A Biography by John Baxter (1997)

[Drew Raley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Galloping gossip-filled rehash of well-worn Kubrick stories. However, if gossip is junk food, Baxter's bio is pure rock candy. Enjoyably bitchy and generous in the spreading of purple prose.

[Francis J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not too detailed, but very interesting.

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

A biography, too much, by the numbers. Kubrick deserves better.

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved Kubrick's films when I was younger, I still do, and I thought this was quite a good book with lots of details of how he made his films. Gotta love Paths of Glory, Full Metal Jacket and 2001.

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read alotta books on Kubrick. I liked this one best.