Insomnia
by Robbie Robertson
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Description
"The rock legend tells the story of his wild ride with Martin Scorcese--as friends, adventure-seekers, and boundary-pushing collaborators--with all the heart of his New York Times bestselling memoir, Testimony. For three decades, Robbie Robertson has produced soundtracks for Martin Scorsese's films, a relationship that began when Robertson convinced Scorsese to direct The Last Waltz, the iconic film of the Band's farewell performance at the Winterland Ballroom on Thanksgiving 1976. The show more closing of the Band's story with that landmark concert opened a new door in Robbie Robertson's life--specifically the door to Scorsese's Malibu home. With both men on the outs with their wives, Robertson moved into Scorsese's place, inaugurating a two-year "lost weekend" of wild revelry and adventure. Though both men had already accomplished culture-changing feats, neither had reached thirty-five years of age, and each in his way stood at a creative precipice, searching for the beginning of a new phase of life and work. Their shared journey would take them around the world and down the rabbit hole of American culture in the long hangover of the seventies, a path lined with equal parts hedonism and paranoia, set against the backdrop of the disco-fueled streets of New York and the grand mansions of Mulholland Drive. With a cast of characters featuring Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel, Sam Peckinpah, and many more, Insomnia is part comedy, part travelogue, echoing the blissed-out ride of Fear and Loathing as taken by two titans of American arts. Insomnia is an intimate portrait of a remarkable creative friendship, one that would explore the outer limits of excess and experience before returning to tell the tale"-- Provided by publisher. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
Into and Out of a Dark Tunnel 🍁
A review of the Knopf Canada hardcover (November 11, 2025) released simultaneously with the ebook/audiobook.
I have to give a more reserved 4-star rating to Insomnia, which continues Robbie Robertson's (1943-2023) life story almost 10 years after the publication of [book:Testimony: A Memoir|25982551] (2016), which I 5-star rated and show more reviewed as Once Were Brothers.
This further book centres on Robertson's friendship with film director Martin Scorcese which began in 1976 during a 2-year obsessive descent into music and film, often fueled by copious amounts of cocaine. Out of that emerged the concert film The Last Waltz (1978). Combined with his concurrent work on New York, New York (1977), Scorcese burned himself out and had a near fatal collapse at the end of that period. After that, both men pulled themselves back from the brink.
See photograph at https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/b6eaad2/2147483647/strip/true/c...
Robbie Robertson and Martin Scorcese in 1978. Image sourced from the LA Times.
Scorcese went on to make Raging Bull (1980) in which Robertson worked as a music consultant, a role which he played in almost every subsequent Scorcese film until Flowers of the Killer Moon (2023), before his passing. Robertson also went on to his own brief film career, acting and producing Carny (1980) before settling into life as a solo musician with several unique albums.
The more modest rating is partially from the disappointment that over 40 years of the story post-1980 is left untold. There is nothing about the later film and music work. One is left to wonder whether it was written but deemed to be not dramatic enough for publication. That was perhaps a decision by the family and the editors and publishers.
Soundtrack
See album cover at https://i.discogs.com/fB-h0LXMWHy39w7vvzHkzKKNbeSrtTcjv7MPePpVabQ/rs:fit/g:sm/q:...
Image sourced from Discogs.
A limited edition vinyl LP containing some of Robertson's music for the films The Last Waltz, Raging Bull and Carny was released in conjunction with the book.
Someone has assembled a playlist of almost all of the songs mentioned in Insomnia, although not always necessarily the exact performance that was discussed. You can listen to the playlist at Spotify here. show less
A review of the Knopf Canada hardcover (November 11, 2025) released simultaneously with the ebook/audiobook.
Something rang true between us, and that's all we were going on. We became housemates, an odd couple, blood brothers, James Brothers, and Marx Brothers, all in one. A blessed intervention against the banality of the ordinary and the obvious. We went through a wild, creative, mad time together that sent us into a dark tunnel, trying to find the light. Then we woke up...
I have to give a more reserved 4-star rating to Insomnia, which continues Robbie Robertson's (1943-2023) life story almost 10 years after the publication of [book:Testimony: A Memoir|25982551] (2016), which I 5-star rated and show more reviewed as Once Were Brothers.
This further book centres on Robertson's friendship with film director Martin Scorcese which began in 1976 during a 2-year obsessive descent into music and film, often fueled by copious amounts of cocaine. Out of that emerged the concert film The Last Waltz (1978). Combined with his concurrent work on New York, New York (1977), Scorcese burned himself out and had a near fatal collapse at the end of that period. After that, both men pulled themselves back from the brink.
See photograph at https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/b6eaad2/2147483647/strip/true/c...
Robbie Robertson and Martin Scorcese in 1978. Image sourced from the LA Times.
Scorcese went on to make Raging Bull (1980) in which Robertson worked as a music consultant, a role which he played in almost every subsequent Scorcese film until Flowers of the Killer Moon (2023), before his passing. Robertson also went on to his own brief film career, acting and producing Carny (1980) before settling into life as a solo musician with several unique albums.
The more modest rating is partially from the disappointment that over 40 years of the story post-1980 is left untold. There is nothing about the later film and music work. One is left to wonder whether it was written but deemed to be not dramatic enough for publication. That was perhaps a decision by the family and the editors and publishers.
Soundtrack
See album cover at https://i.discogs.com/fB-h0LXMWHy39w7vvzHkzKKNbeSrtTcjv7MPePpVabQ/rs:fit/g:sm/q:...
Image sourced from Discogs.
A limited edition vinyl LP containing some of Robertson's music for the films The Last Waltz, Raging Bull and Carny was released in conjunction with the book.
Someone has assembled a playlist of almost all of the songs mentioned in Insomnia, although not always necessarily the exact performance that was discussed. You can listen to the playlist at Spotify here. show less
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Globe and Mail | Canadian Non-Fiction: November 22, 2025
10 works; 1 member
Author Information
20+ Works 907 Members
Robbie Robertson was born on July 5, 1943 in Toronto, Canada. He is most known for his work as lead guitarist for the music group "The Band", which began the Americana music genre. As a songwriter, Robertson wrote "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" and "Broken Arrow" among many others. His talent was recognized when he was inducted into the show more Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. He also worked as a soundtrack producer and composer when he teamed up with Martin Scorsese on the fims: The Last Waltz, Raging Bull and Casino. He also became an author with his titles Testimony and Hiawatha and the Peacemaker. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Classifications
- Genres
- Music, Biography & Memoir, Nonfiction
- DDC/MDS
- 782.42166092 — Arts & recreation Music Vocal music [formerly: Dramatic music and production of musical drama] Secular forms of vocal music Songs General principles and musical forms Traditions of secular songs {genres} Rock songs modified standard subdivisions History, geographic treatment, biography Biography
- LCC
- ML420 .R664 .A3 — Music Literature on music Literature on music History and criticism Biography
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 26
- Popularity
- 1,035,614
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (4.17)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 7
- ASINs
- 1
