Solid Ivory: Memoirs

Product Description
The irreverent, brilliant memoirs of the legendary filmmaker James IvoryIn Solid Ivory, a carefully crafted mosaic of memories, portraits, and reflections, the Academy Award–winning filmmaker James Ivory, a partner in the legendary Merchant Ivory Productions and the director of A Room with a View, Howards End, Maurice, and The Remains of the Day, tells stories from his remarkable life and career as one of the most influential directors of his time. At times, he touches on his love affairs, looking back coolly and with unexpected frankness.From first meeting his collaborator and life partner, Ismail Merchant, at the Indian Consulate in New York to winning an Academy Award at age eighty-nine for Call Me by Your Name; from seeing his first film at age five in Klamath Falls, Oregon, to memories of Satyajit Ray, Jean Renoir, The New Yorker magazine’s film critic Pauline Kael (his longtime enemy), Vanessa Redgrave, J. D. Salinger, George Cukor, Kenneth Clark, Bruce Chatwin, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, and Merchant―Ivory writes with invariable fluency, wit, and perception about what made him who he is and how he made the movies for which he is known and loved.Solid Ivory, edited by Peter Cameron, is an utterly winning portrait of an extraordinary life told by an unmatched storyteller.
Review
“As memoirs go, Solid Ivory is candid, informative and infused with warmth, verve and humor. Sit back and enjoy a series of well-executed master shots and captivating close-ups.” ―Malcolm Forbes, The Wall Street Journal“Over twenty films. Over forty years. What collaboration in any medium has lasted so long, been so successful, so personal, so happy? James Ivory met Ismail Merchant (in 1961) and Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (in 1962), and one of the earliest, most durable, most independent of independent film families came to life. The widest varieties of stories (neorealist memoirs, literary adaptations, avant-garde experiments) and settings (England, France, Italy, India, the Americas North and South); the broadest collection of superb actors and artists (Vanessa Redgrave, Paul Newman, Anthony Hopkins, Shashi Kapoor, Maggie Smith, Subrata Mitra!). Read this wonderfully entertaining book: a unique story of a unique life in the world of world cinema.” ―WES ANDERSON“It's a touching, illuminating story about growing up in a world to which he didn't quite belong―seasoned, of course, with delicious stories of a life in showbiz―that's essential reading for any fan of his work on screen.” ―Town and Country Magazine“A memoir as eloquent and gracious as his films, James Ivory’s page-turner brims over with the boldness, candor, and modesty that only great minds can claim. Places, objects, bodies, people, and so many names all have a place in his unassailably brilliant life.” ―ANDRÉ ACIMAN, author of Call Me by Your Name“Jim is as eloquent and elegant with words as with the camera; here are almost a series of short stories of his life, vivid snapshots, told with an exacting eye. Every sentence is filled with his wry cadence, guided by his appreciation of things beautiful, amusing, and unusual. We take the tour of his life, which has as fascinating a cast and is set in locations as far-flung and exotic as his films―except with way more sex. Jim is now in his ninth decade, and I believe his secret elixir is a delight in life―read it and drink it in!” ―HELENA BONHAM CARTER“The producer-director's memoirs are as stately and intimate as his indelible films.” ―Michelle Hart, Oprah Daily"“It is this sense of perspective, good humor, and a willingness to go with the flow that shines through in his writing. Ivory’s book makes for a charming, yet unconventional, entertainment industry memoir.” ―David Vogel, The Chicago Review of Books“How does someone become James Ivory? How does someone become one of the finest moviemakers of his time? These pages provide us with a key to unlock this enigma: friendship, travels, love, desire, and, of course,