{"product_id":"book-bawk","title":"De Niro","description":"\u003cb\u003eREMARKABLE BIOGRAPHY OF AN ICON\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e There's little  debate that Robert De Niro is one of the greatest, if not the greatest,  screen actors of his generation, perhaps of all time. His work,  particularly in the first 20 years of his career, is unparalleled. \u003ci\u003eMean Streets, the Godfather Part II, Taxi Driver, the Deer Hunter\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eRaging Bull\u003c\/i\u003e all dazzled moviegoers and critics alike, displaying a talent the likes  of which had rarely--if ever--been seen. De Niro become known for his  deep involvement in his characters, assuming that role completely into  his own life, resulting in extraordinary, chameleonic performances. \u003cbr\u003e          Yet little is known about the off-screen De Niro--he is an intensely  private man, whose rare public appearances are often marked by  inarticulateness and palpable awkwardness. It can be almost painful to  watch at times, in powerful contrast to his confident movie personae. In  this elegant and compelling biography, bestselling writer Shawn Levy  writes of these many De Niros--the characters and the man--seeking to  understand the evolution of an actor who once dove deeply into his roles  as if to hide his inner nature, and who now seemingly avoids acting  challenges, taking roles which make few apparent demands on his  overwhelming talent. Following De Niro's roots as the child of artists  (his father, the abstract painter Robert De Niro Sr., was widely  celebrated) who encouraged him from an early age to be independent of  vision and spirit, to his intense schooling as an actor, the rise of his  career, his marriages, his life as a father, restauranteur, and  businessman, and, of course, his current movie career, Levy has written a  biography that reads like a novel about  a character whose inner  turmoil takes him to heights of artistry. His many friendships with the  likes of Martin Scorsese,  Meryl Streep, Harvey Keitel, Shelley Winters,  Francis Ford Coppola, among many others, are woven into this  extraordinary portrait of DeNiro the man and the artist, also adding a  depth of understanding not before seen. \u003cbr\u003e        Levy has had  unprecedented access to De Niro's personal research and production  materials, creating a new impression of the effort that went into the  actor's legendary performances. The insights gained from DeNiro’s  intense working habits shed new perspective on DeNiro’s thinking and  portrayals and are wonderful to read.  Levy also spoke to De Niro's  collaborators and friends to depict De Niro's transition from an  ambitious young man to a transfixing and enigmatic artist and cultural  figure.\u003cbr\u003e Shawn Levy has written a truly engaging, insightful, and  entertaining portrait of one of the most wonderful film artists of our  time, a book that is worthy of such a great talent.","brand":"Penguin Random House","offers":[{"title":"Audiobook","offer_id":49334176416048,"sku":"BDbawk","price":27.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0879\/2784\/9264\/files\/182078-bawk-Square.jpg?v=1733891432","url":"https:\/\/downpour.com\/products\/book-bawk","provider":"Downpour","version":"1.0","type":"link"}