Travolta: The Life [Hardcover]

Nigel Andrews (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 15, 1998

No Hollywood star has risen so brightly, after so big a fall, as the man who returned from a decade in straight-to-video Hell to reclaim adulation as a lovable hit man in Pulp Fiction. Nigel Andrew wittily scans the mother-dominated childhood in New Jersey; the years of life- endangering fan assault; the refuge in Scientology; the night his piloting exploits brought three major airports to standstill; and, with unique insights and revelations from the film-makers who have worked with him, the "comeback" years of high achievement as an actor.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Few Hollywood careers in recent years have had so flamboyant a reversal of fortune as John Travolta's, from his early superstardom in Welcome Back Kotter and Grease, to the obscurity of straight-to-video flicks and the critically unacclaimed Look Who's Talking films, and his stunning redemption at the hands of Quentin Tarantino, who cast him as a drug-addled hitman in Pulp Fiction. In this lively, playfully written biography, Andrews, a Financial Times film critic, dutifully runs through the details of the erstwhile Barbarino's life?his youthful love for cancer-stricken Diana Hyland, his lifelong passion for aviation, his devotion to his son, Jett, his long-term loyalty to Scientology?and convincingly connects Travolta's universally acknowledged nice-guy status and empathetic openness with his mimetic talents and physical adaptiveness. But ultimately Andrews seems less interested in the man than in the phenomenon of American celebrity. Hence, the account is at its most engaging when the biographer turns cultural critic, trying to make sense of the superstar's career trajectory. The author's intelligence and lucid analysis do much to compensate for a self-conscious tendency to overread portents in Travolta's life, but his comments on Richard Gere as Travolta's doppelganger or on the echo of Diana Hyland's name in Travolta's preoccupation with Dianetics can begin to seem downright mystical. That the Travolta mystique exceeds the bare facts of biography is hardly surprising, but despite occasional rhetorical excesses, Andrews's Travolta does much to illuminate both, for disciple and cynic alike. 16 pages of photos in color and b&w.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Nigel Andrews is the film critic of the Financial Times and the author of True Myths: The Life and Times of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Birch Lane Press, 1996. After graduating from Cambridge University he worked at the British Film Institute as an editor on the Cinema One book series and was a frequent writer for Sight and Sound and the Monthly Film Bulletin. He has also broadcast regularly for BBC Radio, writing and presenting programmes on the arts and cinema. In 1985 he was named Critic of the Year in the British Press Awards.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA (August 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1582340021
• ISBN-13: 978-1582340029
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.7 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,291,898 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great biography of one of Hollywood's brightest stars., December 24, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Travolta: The Life (Hardcover)

TRAVOLTA: THE LIFE

by Nigel Andrews

The biography of a great and well-loved movie star is one of the toughest writes in town. The tendency is either to gush or to gutter-prose scandal search. British film critic Nigel Andrews has sharpened his pencil and employed his wit and wisdom to create TRAVOLTA: THE LIFE, a work of rare intelligence and wit. This book is the standard by which other star biogs will be judged. Yes, it's really that good. Andrews looks at John Travolta's films in a fresh and perceptive way marrying the public facts of JT's life, gleaned from a raft of sources, to demonstrate why John T. is the movie star who is also an "original". And then, to boot, he adds more interview material gleaned from Travolta's co-workers and friends (directors, stars, friends, etc.).

There are three problems - not too many really - with the book. Andrews has included three short semi-fictional "Prelude" chapters, which though fun, interrupt the narrative. Still, John Travolta dominates what is, after all, his own story. Though Andrews never met Travolta, he manages to nail down the nice guy that lurks beneath Travolta's image. In this biography he does it over and over right smack up to the last page. Then you want more - and when was the last time that happened? At least in a star-biography.

Arthur Miller

1.0 out of 5 stars Nigel Andrews needs to stop writing biographies., July 7, 2005

By 

John "MovieAddict" (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Travolta: The Life (Hardcover)

Nigel Andrews wrote a bio on Arnold Schwarzenegger. It was awful. He said Kindergarten Cop was an allusion to the Reagan era and the small children represented the divorce of modern society from the 1960s, or something like that. And just think, I always thought Kindergarten Cop was a comedy about a male macho cop who's stuck with some little kiddies for a week as a teacher. I was wrong, I guess. (End of sarcasm.)

Andrews has no "authorization" in his bios, meaning he hasn't been given exclusive permission by Travolta (or Arnie). In this case he's just pulling stuff out of his butt and most of it is garbage. He tries to become a film critic and fails. He tries to detail Travolta's life, and fails. He tries to come up with insightful facts - and fails, because he has no permission to write anything of substance.

A piece of garbage; the Schwarzenegger one is even worse.

5.0 out of 5 stars Stylish and informative study of John Travolta's film career, March 28, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Travolta: The Life (Hardcover)

John Travolta: the life, bounces along in a most entertaining,stylish and informative manner. Biographer Nigel Andrews has caught the flavour and detail of John Travolta's career, films and life. I write as a devotee of Mr.Travolta - always on the lookout for one who would do him wrong. That certainly isn't the case here and I do heartily recommend this book to any reader who still has a joy for living and a wonderment at John Travolta's genius.