Sandford deftly portrays a disturbed, disturbing man who happens to be a great filmmaker.” New York Times Book Review
“In this fine biography, Sandford gives [Polanski's] films the praise they deserve, and he is fair as well to Polanski the man.” Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post Book World
“Engrossing, lucid presentation of a uniquely complicated and productive life... In slyly playful prose... Sandford admirably extracts all of the salient information from the maelstrom of controversy and urban myth surrounding Polanski.” Kirkus Reviews
“…Sandford's obvious knowledge and critical estimation of Polanski's work conveys a tough but appealing fairness that should be welcomed by scholars and lay readers alike.” Library Journal
“...clear-eyed, entertaining...” L.A. Weekly
“Sandford's emphasis on accuracy... is impressive.” The Seattle Times
“Polanski fetishists will luxuriate in Sandford's details of Polanski's schizophrenically fascinating life.” New York Press
“At a certain point in his well-researched, decently written biography of Roman Polanski, Christopher Sandford characterizes his subject as 'a permanent alien,' which is about as good a summary of the director as you are likely to encounter.” Richard Schickel, Los Angeles Times
“Respectful but smoothly objective... Using material drawn from more than 270 interviews with friends, relatives, and acquaintances, Sandford's biography is rich with the sort of anecdotes and minutiae true fans of an artist love to devour... all brought together by a lively style that manages to be sympathetic but also miles from being hagiographic.” Chad Denton, http://liheliso.com/
“Incisive, gripping and carefully-researched biography of one of the most polarizing figures of modern cinema. Sandford has clearly devoted considerable efforts to teasing out the myth from the reality of Polanski's extraordinary life.” Andrew Morton, author of Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography
“Biographies of living figures are generally embarrassing. This one, unauthorized, critically admiring, expertly put together, is an exception, a notable tribute to a rascal genius with an unending capacity for surprise.” The Spectator
“Sandford's Polanski emerges as a cross between Oliver Twist and Artful Dodger, and is by and large sympathetic.” The Guardian
“A loving yet unflinching portrait ... a deft account based on exhaustive research and interviews.... The book is most compelling, in its description of how Springsteen's social conscience grew as he matured ... a worthy analysis of rock's most generous soul ... This book makes one realize Springsteen deserves any peace he has found.” Boston Globe on Christopher Sandford's book, "Springsteen: Point Blank"
“A solidly researched and coherently argued portrait of Nirvana's front man.” Amazon.com on Christopher Sandford's book, "Kurt Cobain"
“Sandford does an expert job of capturing a complicated subject ... his easy storytelling style and expert musical knowledge make for a satisfying read.” Publishers Weekly on Christopher Sandford's book, "Keith Richards: Satisfaction"
Polanski has lived for his work, and it is by his work that he must be judged. It is a pity that there are so many stains on his record, but there are few stains on his films. In this fine biography, Sandford gives those films the praise they deserve, and he is fair as well to Polanski the man.
The Washington Post
Celebrity biographer Sandford (McCartney, etc.) tackles the life of director Roman Polanski, but only scratches the surface of one of cinema's most controversial figures. Born in Paris in 1933, Polanski, with his family, moved to Poland in 1936 on the eve of World War II. His mother died in Auschwitz and his father was imprisoned for the duration of the war, leaving Polanski to fend for himself in the Kraków ghetto. He later attended Lódz's National Film School and began attracting attention for themes that would become his trademarks: voyeurism, sexual tension and latent violence. Polanski took full advantage of the "swinging" '60s in Paris, London and later America, and developed a reputation as a lothario with an eye for younger women. His life and career in America, which included the classics Rosemary's Baby(1968) and Chinatown(1974), were marred by two pivotal events: the 1969 slaying of his pregnant wife, actress Sharon Tate, by members of Charlie Manson's "Family" and Polanski's own arrest in 1977 for the statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl. (Sept.)
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Biographer Sandford (McCartney; Kurt Cobain) delivers the latest work to explore Roman Polanski, notoriously controversial director of Rosemary's Baby, Chinatown, and The Pianist. Recounted are many of the hideous events Polanski witnessed as a child in German-occupied Poland, from which he formed a worldview often reflected in his films. Sandford takes every opportunity to address the transformative events of Polanski's life, often initiated by Polanski himself; not surprisingly, the author speculates on the possibility that many a metamorphosis was, and is, intentional fabrication. Drawing from firsthand interviews with the director's associates and colleagues, as well as Polanski's autobiography, Roman by Polanski, Sandford writes this life-spanning survey with casual fluidity-seemingly appropriate for a man so well known for his nonchalant personal exploits. Stories of Polanski are seemingly always up for dispute and practically by default evoke conflicting views of his personal moral character. Nonetheless, Polanski's artistry is generally held in high regard, and Sandford's obvious knowledge and critical estimation of Polanski's work conveys a tough but appealing fairness that should be welcomed by scholars and lay readers alike.
Eric Pasteur
The tumultuous story of a director whose signature movies-dark, bleakly funny, shot through with perversity and paranoia-reflect the sensibility of an artist shaped by circumstances more harrowing, unpredictable and absurd than any Hollywood melodrama. Roman Polanski's troubles began in 1939, when the Nazis invaded his native Poland. The family was confined to Krakow's Jewish ghetto, and in 1943 his parents were sent to concentration camps, leaving their ten-year-old son to fend for himself. (After the war, reunited with his father, he learned that his pregnant mother had been gassed at Auschwitz.) Cunning and possessed of a ferocious drive, Polanski eventually attended film school in Lodz, where he quickly became the star pupil and developed a reputation for lavish spending, partying and prodigious sexual conquests. In slyly playful prose, Sandford (McCartney, 2007, etc.) limns the young artist as a mercurial changeling, alternately arrogant, tender, hilarious, boorish and charming, always striving for (and coming thrillingly close to) technical perfection in his cinematic technique. After he emigrated to America, Rosemary's Baby and Chinatown helped define a new era in movies and cemented their director's status as one of the greats. Polanski's personal life remained gothic: In 1969 his pregnant wife, Sharon Tate, was horrifically murdered by the Manson Family; eight years later, the director pled guilty to the charge of "unlawful intercourse" with a 13-year-old girl, fled the country before sentencing and has lived in Europe since. Sandford admirably extracts all of the salient information from the maelstrom of controversy and urban myth surrounding Polanski's often lurid personalhistory, neither damning nor exonerating him. When he won the Academy Award for Best Director in 2002 for his Holocaust drama The Pianist (obviously, he could not attend), the driven, 69-year-old director was in Paris, preparing his next film. Engrossing, lucid presentation of a uniquely complicated and productive life. First printing of 100,000