Edward McPherson (1)

The first essay, a history of Dallas intertwined with a history of Dallas, is brilliant. None of the others are as good, and McPherson inserts some self-congratulatory remarks to show his progressive bona fides; he's better writing about fracking than he is about Ferguson and his Monday-morning quarterbacking the use of the atomic bomb is both predictable and myopic. (The quotations he uses are fine but cherry-picked to suit what I assume was his position long before beginning his essay on Los Alamos, which is a shame, because so much of that essay is terrific.) Still, there's no denying the guy can write.… (more)

One would be hard-pressed to deny Keaton the attention of biographers. As one of a few key comedic actors who spanned vaudeville to television and as one of perhaps the best actor-directors to ever work, Keaton's impact on film and the American experience is formidable.

McPherson, who claims among his qualifications having watched lots of Keaton films in his Bronx apartment, seems a bit out of his depth. As a writer, he vacillates between wide-eyed enthusiast and would-be scholar. The enthusiasm does carry the biography, even if a few superlatives get out of hand and having McPherson fill pages with textual recreations of the films in question that drag. The work is carefully footnoted and brief and perfectly suitable as a starting point for those unfamiliar with the subject. It also isn't anything near a replacement for actually viewing the Keaton Co. era films, best collected in The Art of Buster Keaton DVD collection produced a few years ago by Kino.… (more)