Young Orson

The Years of Luck and Genius on the Path to Citizen Kane

De: Patrick McGilligan

Narrado por: Keith Szarabajka

Duración: 27 h y 58 m

Resumen del Editor

For the centennial of his birth, the defining wunderkind of modern entertainment gets his due in a groundbreaking new biography of his early years - from his first forays in theater and radio to the inspiration and making of Citizen Kane.

No American artist or entertainer has enjoyed a more dramatic rise than Orson Welles. In this magisterial biography, Patrick McGilligan brings young Orson into focus as never before. He chronicles Welles' early life growing up in Wisconsin and Illinois, as the son of an alcoholic industrialist and a radical suffragist and classical musician, and the magical early years of his career, including his marriages and affairs, his influential friendships, and his artistic collaborations. The tales of his youthful achievements were so colorful and improbable that Welles, with his air of mischief, was often thought to have made them up. Now, after years of intensive research, McGilligan sorts out fact from fiction and reveals untold, fully documented anecdotes of Welles' first exploits and triumphs, from starring as a teenager on the Gate Theatre stage in Dublin and bullfighting in Seville to his time in the New York theater and his fraught partnership with John Houseman in the Mercury Theatre, and to his arrival in Hollywood and the making of Citizen Kane. Filled with intriguing new insights and startling revelations - including the surprising true origin and meaning of "Rosebud" - Young Orson is a fascinating look at the creative development and influences that shaped this legendary artistic genius.

©2015 Patrick McGilligan (P)2015 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Everything you'd want to know about Orson

The narrative is loaded with excessive detail that doesn't illuminate Welles' personality. It remains a fascinating story and well told if long.

An amazingly interesting and in depth look

By far one of the most interesting and in depth looks at the rise of an artist. The narration was wonderful. The difficult and interesting part about Orson Well as is that there are so many conflicting stories, and opinions, depending on which biography you read, and even from Mr. Welles recollections. I find the rise of this enigmatic genius fascinating, and my compliments to the author and to the narrator ( a bad narration can destroy the best of audio books, but this one was a pleasure to listen to). I wish there were more books about the start and rise of actors and theater. Thank you.

Standard McGilligan bio; not great, not terrible

Patrick McGilligan has made a career out of publishing easily digestible film biographies of subjects who have already been thoroughly explored by other writers. Much of what McGilligan offers is a retread of other books (namely Simon Callow's The Road to Xanadu), but with occasional correctives and a far more objective tone. There is very little new information here, but as a standalone read it is a nice alternative to the vast majority of myth-heavy and gossipy Welles biographies. McGilligan's greatest attributes are his even-handed prose and attention to detail. Still, it is hard to get excited about a writer who is relying mostly on secondary research, lacks interpretive insight, and fails to make any new claims about his subject. As is the case with his biographies of Fritz Lang, Alfred Hitchcock, and Oscar Micheaux, for this book McGilligan is simply collating the work done by other historians and scholars. It is perfectly competent, but largely uninspired. Great for anyone exploring Welles' early career for the first time, but of limited use to anyone else.