Coppola - Hardcover

PETER COWIE is a film historian who has written extensively on the work of Francis Coppola, and in particular The Godfather trilogy. He is the author of some 30 books (including biographies of Ingmar Bergman, Orson Welles and Louise Brooks, and Carlton's recent book on The Godfather) and was formerly International Publishing Director of the show-biz bible Variety.

On the heels of Michael Goodwin and Naomi Wise's On the Edge: The Life and Times of Francis Coppola ( LJ 9/15/89) comes another major biography of director Francis Ford Coppola. Cowie's book, first published in Great Britain (1989), is doubly unsatisfying. Although chock full of biographical details and occasional discussions of the films, its unbridled adoration of the man as hero-filmmaker makes it superficial for the scholarly reader. And matinee idolaters are likely to feel that they don't get enough inside dope on who the man really is and what makes him tick. The book doesn't have the clarity of the author's earlier Ingmar Bergman: A Critical Biography ( LJ 10/15/82), which provides much detail on the films and what they mean in human terms. Libraries should stick with On the Edge, which reads well, and is more scholarly to boot.
-Robert Rayher, Sch. of the Art Inst. of Chicago
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