Robin Williams was an exceptional artist, extraordinary in many ways. I hadn’t known it before, but I know that now, after reading his biography “Robin” by Dave Itzkoff. I am glad that the author undertook the task of revealing the person behind the celebrity.
In all honesty, I cannot say that he has fully succeeded. Having read this lengthy book, detailing Robin Williams’s career and his personal life, I don’t have the feeling that I’ve come to know who he was. It is to be expected from a biography, though. Unlike a memoir, it contains a view from outside rather than the inner knowledge.
I am not saying that I didn’t enjoy the book. Quite the contrary, I was totally immersed. As always, when I read about how life used to be in the twentieth century, I marvelled at how much has changed in roughly several decades. What could elevate an artist’s career back then – participation in a popular TV show, for example – is the thing of the past now. I have to read some younger artists’ biographies to learn how the catapulting to stardom happens these days. Apart from a video going viral on YouTube or social media, nothing comes to mind.
I loved that the author made me see why Robin Williams was exceptional. He was different. Among the talented and the creative, he stood out. He was unique. Yes, there were plenty of stand-up comics who conquered the stage with him. And many of them were very talented. Still, Robin Williams had what no one else had. It wasn’t one single trait; it was a combination of them – and what a wild mix that was!
Reading this biography, I saw clearly what brought Robin Williams to the heights of stardom. It was clear why he enjoyed the kind of success that he achieved. And it is beyond contestation that he deserved it. I cannot say the same about every famous person whose biography or memoir I’ve read.
I have the highest respect for people who keep on doing what made them successful after they reached the top. If one quits the moment they have earned enough to do nothing and savour ‘life on the beach ’, it means that their heart and soul wasn’t in what made them rich and famous. In a way, it means that they have deceived millions of people, their fans. Of course, no one forced these fans to pay for the movie or concert tickets, and their enjoyment of an artist’s work should not be directly related to the sincerity of emotions the artist put into it. Still, it says a lot about an artist and places him in a separate category when, after earning millions and receiving a plethora of awards, he ‘stays in the game’ and continues making films and performing on stage. That’s what Robin Williams kept doing, despite bitter disappointments and failures that plagued the last part of his career. To me, this is a sign of a truest creative core.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this review, while I enjoyed the book, several things spoilt the experience for me slightly. One such thing was the abundance of the names of the people with whom Robin Williams had some connection during different stages of his life and career. While I understand the author’s willingness to present us with the most complete biography possible, I believe that many readers will find the multitude of names of unknown people confusing and impossible to follow. I think that it would be better if the author did not ‘attach’ a name to every comment someone made about Robin Williams. The references to their names would better fit at the back, accumulated using notes. Those interested would be able to look for the name there, but, honestly, I cannot imagine why an average reader would have been interested in doing that. Such things are there for legal compliance issues, not for the readers.
I recommend “Robin” by Dave Itzkoff to both devoted fans of the actor and also to those who, like me, know who Robin Williams was but never followed his career in detail.
Yes, sometimes we can get bogged down by all those names. Robin Williams always amazed me, from those first days in Mork and Mindy through the many roles in his career. I admired him, but I confess I was always uneasy with a new role; there was a creative unpredictability in all he did. I was afraid, frankly, of what he might do or say– could I handle it? And yet, he never disappointed. I would like to read this one, for it sounds like we will learn so much about the inner person behind the public presentation.
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This book indeed offers in-depth research on his life, step by step. From his childhood, with the privilege of being the son of a high-ranking executive and the disadvantages of frequently moving from place to place, until the very end, when he was misdiagnosed with Parkinson’s and suffered from a plethora of symptoms which, sadly, were totally incompatible with everything that he was and who he was. I felt that if he had some physical malady, no matter how severe, he would have survived it. He would even have learned to laugh at it, just like he learned to include his latest struggle with alcoholism in his comedy routines. But since it was his brain that was failing, and he still was able to realise it and where it was leading, he couldn’t overcome it. He was 90% his brain. His wit was what made him who he was. It is heartbreaking that it was attacked by disease.
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