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, this definitive Clint Eastwood biography is 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 actor-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 film history and 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 the iconic Spaghetti Westerns 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 the Oscar-winning 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.
This masterful biography goes beyond the screen persona to reveal the complex man behind the legend:
An American Icon: Explore how Clint Eastwood’s six-decade career mirrored, and often defined, the changing landscape of American culture, from the Old West to the new millennium.
From Spaghetti Westerns to Oscar Gold: Go behind the scenes of his most iconic roles―from the Man with No Name in Sergio Leone’s classics to his Academy Award-winning triumphs like Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby.
The Director’s Chair: Uncover the evolution of Eastwood as a prolific and acclaimed filmmaker, tracing his journey from actor to one of Hollywood’s most respected directors of films like Mystic River and American Sniper.
Definitive and In-Depth: Drawing on comprehensive research, this masterful portrait from a New York Times bestselling biographer offers the most complete look yet at the cunning, determination, and conquest of a true Hollywood legend.
