Robert Altman is the most quintessentially American of contemporary directors. His films cut across virtually all genres--from Western (McCabe and Mrs. Miller) and science fiction (Quintet) to detective story (The Long Goodbye) and musical (Popeye)--offering us what Vincent Canby once called a "Gallery of American Portraits." And though few of his movies have met with huge commercial success (apart from the blockbuster M*A*S*H) Altman's unique vision of our society, his distinctive directorial signature, and his defiance of conventional film "language" have all helped reinvent the way we look at America. In Robert Altman's America Helene Keyssar shows why it is time we consider this unusual auteur among the pantheon of great directors. Informed by a vast knowledge of both film history and the most up-to-date critical theory, Keyssar offers a new and much-needed context for evaluating and understanding Altman's ouevre. Divided into five sections, Robert Altman's America identifies the peculiarities of the Altman style, discusses his films from both a feminist and political perspective, and offers a chapter-length discussion of one of his most important films, the 1975 Nashville, a "gleeful vision of an American landscape perpetually exploding upon itself." An especially helpful film chronology is also included in an appendix. Through the course of the book, Keyssar shows how Altman's approach to filmmaking subverts the very notion of the idea of "authorship," or of a single creative force behind a picture. While his point of view is always present, Altman's films are to a great extent the result of collaborative efforts with screenwriters, playwrights, and actors. His montage of images, the cacophonous intermingling of conversations--in essence, his deliberate ambiguity--undermine, Keyssar demonstrates, the singular authority of the director. Altman's lens, we come to recognize, is a dispassionate "penetrator of culture": his films do not tell us about America; rather, they fuse the myths of American life with the facts of history and allow the viewer to make his own interpretation of the American Dream. Robert Altman's America is an indispensable guide to the work of one of our finest and most enigmatic filmmakers. Anyone interested in contemporary cinema--and contemporary society--will find its insights compelling and richly rewarding.

Robert Altman's America

Keyssar, Helene

Business & Money

Oxford University Press

Robert Altman is the most quintessentially American of contemporary directors. His films cut across virtually all genres--from Western (McCabe and Mrs. Miller) and science fiction (Quintet) to detective story (The Long Goodbye) and musical (Popeye)--offering us what Vincent Canby once called a "Gallery of American Portraits." And though few of his movies have met with huge commercial success (apart from the blockbuster M*A*S*H) Altman's unique vision of our society, his distinctive directorial signature, and his defiance of conventional film "language" have all helped reinvent the way we look at America. In Robert Altman's America Helene Keyssar shows why it is time we consider this unusual auteur among the pantheon of great directors. Informed by a vast knowledge of both film history and the most up-to-date critical theory, Keyssar offers a new and much-needed context for evaluating and understanding Altman's ouevre. Divided into five sections, Robert Altman's America identifies the peculiarities of the Altman style, discusses his films from both a feminist and political perspective, and offers a chapter-length discussion of one of his most important films, the 1975 Nashville, a "gleeful vision of an American landscape perpetually exploding upon itself." An especially helpful film chronology is also included in an appendix. Through the course of the book, Keyssar shows how Altman's approach to filmmaking subverts the very notion of the idea of "authorship," or of a single creative force behind a picture. While his point of view is always present, Altman's films are to a great extent the result of collaborative efforts with screenwriters, playwrights, and actors. His montage of images, the cacophonous intermingling of conversations--in essence, his deliberate ambiguity--undermine, Keyssar demonstrates, the singular authority of the director. Altman's lens, we come to recognize, is a dispassionate "penetrator of culture": his films do not tell us about America; rather, they fuse the myths of American life with the facts of history and allow the viewer to make his own interpretation of the American Dream. Robert Altman's America is an indispensable guide to the work of one of our finest and most enigmatic filmmakers. Anyone interested in contemporary cinema--and contemporary society--will find its insights compelling and richly rewarding.

At a time when 40% of Americans have forgotten that the U.S. and the Soviet Union were allies during World War II, Remembering War comes as a timely and evocative reminder of that critical alliance. Here are juxtaposed the voices of Soviet and American citizens, some famous (Elliott Roosevelt, Gheorghi Arbatov), many unknown, recalling in vivid detail what life was like during the war years. Their stories, supplemented by dozens of rare photographs from Soviet and American archives, draw a vibrant portrait of both the battlefronts and the homefronts, illuminating the war's complex legacy in the relations between our two countries. Inspired by a U.S.-Soviet television exchange, Remembering War offers an unprecedented dialogue among Soviets and Americans, who present recollections of both shared and contrasting experiences, of mutual respect and distrust. A Soviet woman recalls how she and other teenage girls formed their own combat unit, and an American woman pilot tells of ferrying fighter planes to the Soviet air force. Civilians present the sharp contrasts between the two home fronts, and soldiers from both armies remember the famous meeting on the Elbe. Numerous striking photographs capture the drama and poignancy of these moments. These voices and images remind us that only a few years before McCarthyism, Russian War Relief was the most popular charity in America, and the Red Army marched with American supplies. The book also captures the bitter reality of war and the tensions between the two allies. Soviets such as writer Grigory Baklanov voice deep resentment at long delays in the allied invasion of France, and Americans detail and criticize Moscow's secrecy and paranoia. For the first time, Soviets discuss Stalin's actions, the secret protocols of the Soviet-Nazi pact of 1939, and other controversial aspects of their involvement in the war. Many of the photos offer chilling testimony to the horrors of the war, matched by bleak accounts from the survivors of Stalingrad. In Remembering War, Soviet commentator Vladimir Pozner and American producer and professor Helene Keyssar (key figures in the television exchange) have produced a truly remarkable book, a unique reminder of the stark contrasts and forgotten unity in our wartime experiences. Published simultaneously in the U.S. and the Soviet Union, it offers a powerful exploration of the war's legacy and a testament to a renewed spirit of cooperation.

Remembering War: A U.S.-Soviet Dialogue

Literature & Fiction

Pozner, Vladimir

History & Criticism

Examines modern plays by British and American writers, including Megan Terry, Caryl Churchill, Ntozake Shange, Beth Henley, and Nell Dunn

Feminist Theatre: An Introduction to Plays of Contemporary British and American Women (Modern Dramatists)

Humor & Entertainment

PALGRAVE~MACMILLAN

Feminist theatre: An introduction to plays of contemporary British and American women (Macmillan modern dramatists)

Provides an intimate portrait of the twentieth-century American "Reds" journalist, who became involved in the Chinese and Russian Revolutions and with such key personages as Trotsky and Mao

Right in Her Soul: The Life of Anna Louise Strong

Strong, Tracey

Biographies & Memoirs

Random House, Inc.

Examines modern plays by British and American writers, including Megan Terry, Caryl Churchill, Ntozake Shange, Beth Henley, and Nell Dunn

Feminist Theatre: An Introduction to Plays of Contemporary British and American Women (Grove Press Modern Dramatists)

Dramas & Plays

Olympic Marketing Corp

Curtain and the Veil: Strategies in Black Drams (American Cultural Heritage Series)

Burt Franklin

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Keyssar, Helene. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Keyssar, Helene

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Keyssar, Helene. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Robert Altman's America

Robert Altman's America

Remembering War: A U.S.-Soviet Dialogue

Feminist Theatre: An Introduction to Plays of Contemporary British and American Women (Modern Dramatists)

Feminist theatre: An introduction to plays of contemporary British and American women (Macmillan modern dramatists)

Right in Her Soul: The Life of Anna Louise Strong

Feminist Theatre: An Introduction to Plays of Contemporary British and American Women (Grove Press Modern Dramatists)

Curtain and the Veil: Strategies in Black Drams (American Cultural Heritage Series)