Description
Book SynopsisThis book provides the most complete account of Paul Thomas Anderson’s career to date, encompassing his evolution from a self-anointed auteur to one of his generation’s most distinctive voices. It is at once an unconventional primer on Anderson’s films and a provocative reframing of what makes his work so essential.
Trade ReviewThe Cinema of Paul Thomas Anderson is a feast of a book. With consummate clarity and inventiveness, Warren brings the films into rich, often fractious dialogue with one another. The results are extraordinarily illuminating. The entire book is infused with the kind of energy and delectable unpredictability that I associate with Anderson’s art at its best. Warren’s study shakes up conventional approaches to director-centered analysis in a fashion that will have lasting influence. -- George Toles, University of Manitoba, author of
Paul Thomas AndersonEthan Warren should be commended for his razor-sharp analysis and rich knowledge of Anderson’s unique perspective and worldview, as well as Anderson’s contribution to American cinema. Warren leaves no stone unturned in this book, and his insightful enthusiasm makes these multifaceted films come alive through his careful study of Anderson’s life and influences. -- Whitney Crothers Dilley, author of
The Cinema of Wes AndersonSmart and compelling. -- Christopher Schobert * The Film Stage *
[Warren] brings his cinephilic eloquence to bear upon unknotting the enigmatic plots of, or characters in, Anderson’s films as well as Anderson’s ethos. To be sure, this is not a film theory text. Rather, Warren’s biography holds this boy genius (or brat) up to the light like a prism and slowly allows every refraction of Anderson to shine. -- Hannah Bonner * Senses of Cinema *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Foreword, by Lindsay Zoladz
Introduction
1. On Paul Thomas Anderson’s Career to Date
2. On Places and Spaces
3. On Influence
4. On Domesticity
5. On Screenwriting
6. On Gender Performance
7. On Alienation Effects
8. On Faith and Belief
9. On Music Videos
10. On History
Notes
Index
