Citizen Welles: A Biography of Orson Welles

Maybe a little bit too detailed. With Welles as the subject you can't fail to tell a good story.

good book

A very disappointing biography. Page after page of detail about projects that never reached the light of day, and virtually nothing on Welles’s personal life. No insights at all, just endless narrative, and badly written to boot.

I absolutely love this man think hes brill. Not Read it yet as reading another one first.

Exhausting read.... did he really do all that? Absolutely wonderful!

Citizen Welles by Frank Brady is an illuminating look at the unpredictable genius of the entertainer, Orson Welles. I first took this book out of the local library years ago to use in a research project. I bought the book and have used it several times on several research projects. Unlike most of the books written about Welles, Frank Brady saw Welles clearly. Brady did not always believe some of the stories told about and by Welles.I like Brady's writing style. Brady is not an author who belabors the reader with useless information.I would say that Citizen Welles along with the new biography, Young Orson by Patrick McGilligan are the essential books to read if you would like to better understand Orson Welles.The kindle edition of the book is outstanding and a great value.Highly recommended

This was a long book, but a great biography. I suppose I was just ignorant of Orson Welles' story but I was fascinated with the way this prodigy and genius began his career with such promise and momentum, and yet struggled to fully fulfill it. From his famous War of the Worlds broadcast, his infamous renditions of Shakespeare (using modern dress or African American actors), Citizen Kane, Welles was clearly one of the most brilliant people in the history of the entertainment business. His trouble was in shipping his final products and in navigating the politics and business of his industry. But given the accomplishments he did have, are we really fit to judge him at all? We need to see multiple Citizen Kane's from one man in order to be satisfied?Now this book does go very in depth into Welles films--at times perhaps too in depth. In many ways it gives a fuller picture of the movies than the man but all in all, probably the best place to start if you're looking to get started.

This seems to me to be as balanced , detailed and informative, while keeping the material interesting, as any biography on Welles I've read. It was a pleasure to read, and was, to me, never boring. Anyone who is interested in getting into Welles, or is already a devotee, will like this book. Frank Brady is an excellent writer.

If you are extremely interested in Welles' body of work, this is the book for you. Hundreds of pages of minute (and often boring) technical details of every single thing he has ever done. Unfortunately for me , I was more interested in who Welles was as a man and wanted learn more about his relationships with wives, lovers and family. There is almost nothing in this book about those things. But if you want to know who the key grip was on the Lady From Shanghai then this is the book for you. If you are interested in his marriages and his children this isnt the book for you.