-
The Unruly Life of Woody Allen
- Narrated by: Mary Woods
- Length: 15 hrs and 58 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $21.80
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
After almost 40 years in the spotlight, as a comedian, author, director, amateur musician, and professional neurotic, Woody Allen is a living legend whose prolific achievements are all but unparalleled in cinematic history. To fans, his films have always represented a sort of ongoing autobiography, through which Woody bared his self-deprecating, over-analytical soul to the world. It was not until 1992, when his stormy private life turned into sensational headlines, that the cracks in the familiar persona began to appear. The lines separating art and fact, myth and reality, and public and private life became increasingly blurred.
The first book to answer all the lingering questions surrounding the "Woody-Mia Scandal", The Unruly Life of Woody Allen also investigates Woody's first two marriages and gets the inside scoop on the financing of his films. In the final analysis, it has a great deal to say about the cult of celebrity in America, how it is our own infatuation with the rich and famous that has made it possible for this supremely talented man to shrewdly manipulate both the media and the movie-going public.
Critic reviews
"This is the complete Woody Allen, perhaps more than you wanted to know, a portrait of a complex, unfathomable human being who holds a high place in the entertainment industry." (AudioFile)
"A psychologically nuanced, tough-minded portrait." (Publishers Weekly)
More from the same
Related to this topic
-
Possessed
- The Life of Joan Crawford
- By: Donald Spoto
- Narrated by: Christina Delaine
- Length: 12 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New York Times best-selling author Donald Spoto has brilliantly explored the lives and careers of numerous Hollywood stars and entertainment icons. In Possessed, his subject is the inimitable Joan Crawford, one of the most electrifying divas of the Golden Age of American film. A more thorough, revealing, and sympathetic portrait of the often maligned movie star - most notably lambasted, perhaps, in the scandalous best seller, Mommie Dearest - Possessed is a fascinating study of the real Joan Crawford, a remarkable actress, businesswoman, mother, and lover.
-
-
Waste of money
- By bkw74 on 07-19-21
By: Donald Spoto
-
Get Happy
- The Life of Judy Garland
- By: Gerald Clarke
- Narrated by: Erin Bennett
- Length: 16 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
She lived at full throttle on stage, screen, and in real life, with highs that made history and lows that finally brought down the curtain at age 47. Judy Garland died over 30 years ago, but no biography has so completely captured her spirit - and demons - until now. From her tumultuous early years as a child performer to her tragic last days, Gerald Clarke reveals the authentic Judy in a biography rich in new detail and unprecedented revelations.
-
-
A good book, but...
- By Donna Deal on 08-27-21
By: Gerald Clarke
-
When Women Invented Television
- The Untold Story of the Female Powerhouses Who Pioneered the Way We Watch Today
- By: Jennifer Keishin Armstrong
- Narrated by: Nan McNamara
- Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It was the Golden Age of Radio and powerful men were making millions in advertising dollars reaching thousands of listeners every day. When television arrived, few radio moguls were interested in the upstart industry and its tiny production budgets, and expensive television sets were out of reach for most families. But four women - each an independent visionary - saw an opportunity and carved their own paths, and in so doing invented the way we watch TV today.
-
-
Must Read T.V.
- By cindy on 05-18-21
-
Philip Roth
- The Biography
- By: Blake Bailey
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 31 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"I don't want you to rehabilitate me," Philip Roth said to his only authorized biographer, Blake Bailey. "Just make me interesting." Granted complete independence and access, Bailey spent almost 10 years poring over Roth's personal archive, interviewing his friends, lovers, and colleagues, and listening to Roth's own breathtakingly candid confessions. Tracing Roth's path from realism to farce to metafiction to the tragic masterpieces of the American Trilogy, Bailey explores Roth's engagement with nearly every aspect of postwar American culture.
-
-
moved
- By Michael on 08-18-21
By: Blake Bailey
-
Myrna Loy
- Being and Becoming
- By: James Kotsilibas-Davis, Myrna Loy
- Narrated by: Holly Palance
- Length: 15 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The actress recalls her long, rich, and varied career in Hollywood, on the stage, and as a political activist.
-
-
Great actress, great person, great book.
- By MikeEC on 10-15-20
By: James Kotsilibas-Davis, and others
-
The Castle on Sunset
- Life, Death, Love, Art, and Scandal at Hollywood's Chateau Marmont
- By: Shawn Levy
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 12 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Since 1929, Hollywood’s brightest stars have flocked to the Chateau Marmont as if it were a second home. An apartment building-turned-hotel, the Chateau has been the backdrop for generations of gossip and folklore: where director Nicholas Ray slept with his 16-year-old Rebel Without a Cause star Natalie Wood; Jim Morrison swung from the balconies; John Belushi suffered a fatal overdose; and Lindsay Lohan got the boot after racking up nearly $50,000 in charges in less than two months. Much of what has happened inside the Chateau’s walls has eluded the public eye - until now.
-
-
Was enjoying it until...
- By leigh on 04-22-20
By: Shawn Levy
-
Possessed
- The Life of Joan Crawford
- By: Donald Spoto
- Narrated by: Christina Delaine
- Length: 12 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New York Times best-selling author Donald Spoto has brilliantly explored the lives and careers of numerous Hollywood stars and entertainment icons. In Possessed, his subject is the inimitable Joan Crawford, one of the most electrifying divas of the Golden Age of American film. A more thorough, revealing, and sympathetic portrait of the often maligned movie star - most notably lambasted, perhaps, in the scandalous best seller, Mommie Dearest - Possessed is a fascinating study of the real Joan Crawford, a remarkable actress, businesswoman, mother, and lover.
-
-
Waste of money
- By bkw74 on 07-19-21
By: Donald Spoto
-
Get Happy
- The Life of Judy Garland
- By: Gerald Clarke
- Narrated by: Erin Bennett
- Length: 16 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
She lived at full throttle on stage, screen, and in real life, with highs that made history and lows that finally brought down the curtain at age 47. Judy Garland died over 30 years ago, but no biography has so completely captured her spirit - and demons - until now. From her tumultuous early years as a child performer to her tragic last days, Gerald Clarke reveals the authentic Judy in a biography rich in new detail and unprecedented revelations.
-
-
A good book, but...
- By Donna Deal on 08-27-21
By: Gerald Clarke
-
When Women Invented Television
- The Untold Story of the Female Powerhouses Who Pioneered the Way We Watch Today
- By: Jennifer Keishin Armstrong
- Narrated by: Nan McNamara
- Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It was the Golden Age of Radio and powerful men were making millions in advertising dollars reaching thousands of listeners every day. When television arrived, few radio moguls were interested in the upstart industry and its tiny production budgets, and expensive television sets were out of reach for most families. But four women - each an independent visionary - saw an opportunity and carved their own paths, and in so doing invented the way we watch TV today.
-
-
Must Read T.V.
- By cindy on 05-18-21
-
Philip Roth
- The Biography
- By: Blake Bailey
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 31 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"I don't want you to rehabilitate me," Philip Roth said to his only authorized biographer, Blake Bailey. "Just make me interesting." Granted complete independence and access, Bailey spent almost 10 years poring over Roth's personal archive, interviewing his friends, lovers, and colleagues, and listening to Roth's own breathtakingly candid confessions. Tracing Roth's path from realism to farce to metafiction to the tragic masterpieces of the American Trilogy, Bailey explores Roth's engagement with nearly every aspect of postwar American culture.
-
-
moved
- By Michael on 08-18-21
By: Blake Bailey
-
Myrna Loy
- Being and Becoming
- By: James Kotsilibas-Davis, Myrna Loy
- Narrated by: Holly Palance
- Length: 15 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The actress recalls her long, rich, and varied career in Hollywood, on the stage, and as a political activist.
-
-
Great actress, great person, great book.
- By MikeEC on 10-15-20
By: James Kotsilibas-Davis, and others
-
The Castle on Sunset
- Life, Death, Love, Art, and Scandal at Hollywood's Chateau Marmont
- By: Shawn Levy
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 12 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Since 1929, Hollywood’s brightest stars have flocked to the Chateau Marmont as if it were a second home. An apartment building-turned-hotel, the Chateau has been the backdrop for generations of gossip and folklore: where director Nicholas Ray slept with his 16-year-old Rebel Without a Cause star Natalie Wood; Jim Morrison swung from the balconies; John Belushi suffered a fatal overdose; and Lindsay Lohan got the boot after racking up nearly $50,000 in charges in less than two months. Much of what has happened inside the Chateau’s walls has eluded the public eye - until now.
-
-
Was enjoying it until...
- By leigh on 04-22-20
By: Shawn Levy
-
Can I Go Now?
- The Life of Sue Mengers, Hollywood's First Superagent
- By: Brian Kellow
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 13 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A lively and colorful biography of Hollywood's first superagent - one of the most outrageous showbiz characters of the 1960s and 1970s, whose clients included Barbra Streisand, Ryan O'Neal, Faye Dunaway, Michael Caine, and Candice Bergen. Before Sue Mengers hit the scene in the mid-1960s, talent agents remained quietly in the background. But staying in the background was not possible for Mengers.
-
-
A little long.
- By Doris on 11-29-15
By: Brian Kellow
-
She Made Me Laugh
- My Friend Nora Ephron
- By: Richard Cohen
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Award-winning journalist Richard Cohen, wrote this about his "third-person memoir": "I call this book a third-person memoir. It is about my closest friend, Nora Ephron, and the lives we lived together and how her life got to be bigger until, finally, she wrote her last work, the play, Lucky Guy, about a newspaper columnist dying of cancer while she herself was dying of cancer. I have interviewed many of her other friends - Mike Nichols, Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, Meryl Streep, Arianna Huffington.
-
-
Loved it!
- By Leigh Lerro on 10-27-17
By: Richard Cohen
-
The Purple Diaries
- Mary Astor and the Most Sensational Hollywood Scandal of the 1930s
- By: Joseph Egan
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
1936 was a great year for the movie industry - the financial setbacks of the Great Depression were subsiding, so theater attendance was up. Americans everywhere were watching the stars, and few stars shined as brightly as one of America's most enduring screen favorites, Mary Astor. But Astor's personal story wasn't a happy one. Born poor and widowed at 24, Mary Astor had spent years looking for stability when she met and wed Dr. Franklyn Thorpe.
-
-
Impossible not to like for old movie buffs
- By Gary on 03-09-17
By: Joseph Egan
-
High Society
- The Life of Grace Kelly
- By: Donald Spoto
- Narrated by: George K Wilson
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In just seven years---from 1950 through 1956---Grace Kelly embarked on a whirlwind career that included roles in 11 movies. From the principled Amy Fowler Kane in High Noon to the thrill-seeking Frances Stevens of To Catch a Thief, Grace established herself as one of Hollywood's most talented actresses and iconic beauties.
-
-
Find a better Grace Kelly biography, I'd skip this
- By Daniel on 08-20-12
By: Donald Spoto
-
"The Rest of Us"
- The Rise of America's Eastern European Jews
- By: Stephen Birmingham
- Narrated by: Mel Foster
- Length: 18 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The wave of Eastern European Jewish immigrants who swept into New York in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by way of Ellis Island were not welcomed by the Jews who had arrived decades before. These refugees from czarist Russia and the Polish shtetls who came to America to escape pogroms and persecution were considered barbaric, uneducated, and too steeped in the traditions of the "old country" to be accepted by the more refined and already well-established German-Jewish community. But the new arrivals were tough, passionate, and determined.
-
-
Book 3 of 3
- By Etoile NEOhio on 11-15-22
-
The Twelve Lives of Alfred Hitchcock
- An Anatomy of the Master of Suspense
- By: Edward White
- Narrated by: Qarie Marshall
- Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Author Edward White explores the Hitchcock phenomenon - what defines it, how it was invented, what it reveals about the man at its core, and how its legacy continues to shape our cultural world. Illuminating different aspects of Hitchcock's life and work, the book's 12 chapters reveal something fundamental about the man he was and the mythological creature he has become, presenting not just the life Hitchcock lived, but also the various versions of himself that he projected and those projected on his behalf.
-
-
Very Good History of Hitch
- By aaron on 07-31-21
By: Edward White
-
Singular Sensation
- The Triumph of Broadway
- By: Michael Riedel
- Narrated by: Shaun Taylor-Corbett
- Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The 1990s was a decade of profound change on Broadway. At the dawn of the '90s, the British invasion of Broadway was in full swing, as musical spectacles like Les Miserables, Cats, and The Phantom of the Opera dominated the box office. But Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard soon spelled the end of this era and ushered in a new wave of American musicals, beginning with the ascendance of an unlikely show by a struggling writer who reimagined Puccini’s opera La Bohème as the smash Broadway show Rent
-
-
Why Didn’t Michael Riedel Read This Himself?
- By Tallulah on 01-17-22
By: Michael Riedel
-
Street Gang
- The Complete History of Sesame Street
- By: Michael Davis
- Narrated by: Caroll Spinney
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When the first episode aired on Nov. 10, 1969, Sesame Street revolutionized the way education was presented to children on television. It has since become the longest-running children's show in history, and today reaches 8 million pre-schoolers on 350 PBS stations and airs in 120 countries. Street Gang is the compelling and often comical story of the creation and history of this media masterpiece and pop culture landmark.
-
-
An important subject, but hardly gripping
- By Scott T. Hards on 09-24-10
By: Michael Davis
-
Chasing the Light
- Writing, Directing, and Surviving Platoon, Midnight Express, Scarface, Salvador, and the Movie Game
- By: Oliver Stone
- Narrated by: Oliver Stone
- Length: 14 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An intimate memoir by the controversial, Oscar-winning director and screenwriter about his rarefied New York childhood, volunteering for combat, and his struggles and triumphs making such films as Platoon, Midnight Express, and Scarface.
-
-
Impressive
- By Merle O. Tanner on 10-07-20
By: Oliver Stone
-
Pieces of My Heart
- A Life
- By: Robert J. Wagner
- Narrated by: Robert J. Wagner
- Length: 5 hrs and 46 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Robert J. Wagner has starred in more than 100 films and television series over the past 50 years. In this deeply personal story, he recalls his rise to stardom. He talks candidly about his relationships with some of the greatest stars of the 20th century, including Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor, Barbara Stanwyck, and, for the first time, he shares the details of his two marriages to Natalie Wood. Wagner also offers a fascinating look at Hollywood during the last half of the 20th century.
-
-
Wagner's life, told in a gracious manner
- By Chris on 12-18-08
By: Robert J. Wagner
-
Without Lying Down
- By: Cari Beauchamp
- Narrated by: Holly Palance
- Length: 20 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Cari Beauchamp masterfully combines biography with social and cultural history to examine the lives of Frances Marion and her many female colleagues who shaped filmmaking from the early teens through the 1940s. Frances Marion was Hollywood's highest paid screenwriter - male or female - for almost three decades, wrote almost 200 produced films and remains the only woman to win two Academy Awards for original screenwriting (The Big House and The Champ).
-
-
A Must Read
- By Robert Wallace on 03-19-19
By: Cari Beauchamp
-
Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted
- And All the Brilliant Minds Who Made the Mary Tyler Moore Show a Classic
- By: Jennifer Armstrong
- Narrated by: Amy Landon
- Length: 11 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mary Tyler Moore made her name as Dick Van Dyke's wife on the eponymous show; she was a cute, unassuming housewife that audiences loved. But when screenwriters James Brooks and Allan Burnes dreamed up an edgy show about a divorced woman with a career, network executives replied: "Americans won't watch television about New York City, divorcées, men with mustaches, or Jews." But Moore and her team were committed, and when the show finally aired, in spite of tepid reviews, fans loved it.
-
-
An Interesting Story That Never Quite Gets Told
- By S. Blythe on 07-26-13
What listeners say about The Unruly Life of Woody Allen
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Chris
- 07-08-12
Great Listen
Really enjoyed this book, Woody Allen is a complex man and this book attempts to deal with the conflicting dimensions of this man's psyche.
A great book for anyone who is interested in his film process.
A good portion of the book deals with his meltdown with Mia Farrow and the subsequent allegations of child molestation. Fans of Mia Farrow need not purchase this book.
Interesting listen though the narration by Mary Woods is a bit bland.
To me Woody Allen's greatest cinematic moment is the opening scene of Manhattan with Rhapsody in Blue playing in the background. New York never looked so beautiful even in black and white.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- Lloyd
- 01-03-09
too much (sordid) information
I liked this book up to the last couple of chapters when it totally bogged down in the legal battles between Woody Allen and Mia Farrow. I'm not sure who gets painted worse with the ugly brush in this book. Woody certainly comes off as a guy with serious neuroses and problems, but Farrow gets her share of criticism for her near-pathologic need to adopt children. The best parts are the ones that provide insight into Allen's moviemaking. If you like his stuff, buy the book and turn it off when the courtroom junk starts.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Chris
- 08-01-09
The heart gets what it wants
An interesting look at the life of Woody Allen, a man who always manages to get what he wants, mostly through dint of hard work and talent. If that fails, Meade suggests, he's not above manipulation and blaming others. This isn't a sympathetic biography, but it isn't destructive, either: Meade acknowledges Mr. Allen's talent as a filmmaker while continually reminding readers (toward the end of the book) about his indifference to anything that gets in the way of getting him what he wants, including Soon-Yi Previn. Meade reports that whole episode in detail, although other features of his life and creative process generally get equal attention (except for his work with Diane Keaton, which gets less).
The book ends before Mr. Allen's recent hits such as MATCH POINT, so its conclusion hints that his career as a filmmaker is pretty much over because of his personal life. But Meade forgets that the American public has the historical attention span of a gnat when it comes to news and an infinite capacity for forgiving anyone who provides entertainment. You won't like Woody Allen more after reading this book, and you may be inclined to buy Meade's thesis that he's stuck at about age 18 emotionally, but you will be impressed at his work ethic and his attempts to protect his art from all outsiders, especially his fans.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Snorre
- 11-23-08
Too heavy on celebrity
The book provides a biased and not complete picture of Woody Allen and his life. Almost as much time is spent on Mia Farrow as on Mr. Allen. Several parts of the book seems to rely more on gossip than fact. Perhaps the book is too long, and should be abridged to about 4h.
The narrator is unfortunately not to my liking, and she hsounds like a computer generated voice. I found that to be stressful after a while.
I would recommend the book to those who likes to read about celebrities and who enjoys gossip. I would not recommend it to those who would like to understand and learn more about Mr. Allen.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anna
- 04-04-13
Very boring!
This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?
Nobody, it's lengthy and too much about his work and names, who cares.
Would you ever listen to anything by Marion Meade again?
Never.
How could the performance have been better?
Much more reading like a story of his life rather than a list of movies and books and names and years of all his works, who cares.
If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Unruly Life of Woody Allen?
All of the exact years and names of people he worked with. It seems the author did not know much of his life and who the man really is.
Any additional comments?
Very boring, the author had to fill the book with something so she used names and dates of his work, not much about , Woody Allen, the person.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful