Title: the worst of the Welles bios
Product review: If there is a word for David Thomson's writing that word might be: twee. Another word: self-infatuated. How about: pompous. Having been overpraised in the past he now sees himself as a fellow artist and equal of a legend like Welles. An intellectual Rupert Pupkin, Thomson doesn't much bother with original research or new interviews so much as mincing daydreaming about how he and Welles are such spiritual kin. Ah, the labors of shared genius! These sections are kind of funny in a way but not for long. The vanity of this approach is breathtaking.Stick with Simon Callow's exhaustive 1st volume bio, or the very good one by Brady, or Barbara Leaming's somewhat hagiographic but highly entertaining bio (the best for capturing Welles'charisma and his own take on his life) or even the rather plodding but informative Bogdanovich interview book.
Would you say this review depicts the product in a flattering or unflattering light?
