The Dark Side of Genius Audiobook By Donald Spoto cover art

The Dark Side of Genius

The Life of Alfred Hitchcock

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The story of the man who changed people’s relationships with their showers forever, thanks to Psycho, this is the classic, Edgar Award-winning biography of the enigmatic and intensely private Alfred Hitchcock. One of America’s greatest film directors, his suspenseful subject matter ranged from the dark drama of a man possibly trying to kill his wife, to the humorous problem of disposing of a body, to the ecological underpinnings of an attack by fowl fiends in a sleepy harbor town.

Acclaimed biographer Donald Spoto explores the roots of Hitchcock’s obsessions - with food, murder, and idealized love, among others - and traces the origins of his incomparable, bizarre genius, from his childhood and education to the golden years of his career. Based on interviews with his writers, actors, and longtime associates, and on exhaustive research, The Dark Side of Genius is the definitive biography of Alfred Hitchcock.

Donald Spoto is the author of more than 20 books, including best-selling biographies of Alfred Hitchcock, Tennessee Williams, Laurence Olivier, Marlene Dietrich, Ingrid Bergman, and Audrey Hepburn. He lives with his husband, Danish artist and school administrator Ole Flemming Larsen, near Copenhagen, Denmark.

©1983 Donald Spoto (P)1998 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Accolades & Awards

Edgar Award
1984
Edgar Award Film & TV Biographies & Memoirs Entertainment & Celebrities Funny Entertainment & Performing Arts History & Criticism Witty

Critic reviews

"The finest book about a filmmaker yet. Sensational in its revelations; at the same time, a biography of unassailable integrity. I could not put it down." (Gregory Peck)

"Absolutely compulsory reading." (New York Times Book Review)

"A vivid and perceptive portrait…. Knowledgeable and revealing." (Time)
Comprehensive Biography • Fascinating Insights • Pleasant Tone • Well-researched Content • Psychological Depth

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The Dark Side of Genius is a biography of Alfred Hitchcock. A fan of Hitchcock movies will relish Donald Spoto’s insight to Hitchcock’s fascinating and enigmatic genius. A listener with little interest in movies may be put-off by Spoto’s psychological dissection of Hitchcock, but Spoto’s intimate understanding of Hitchcock’s films; his personal acquaintance with Hitchcock, Hitchcock’s family, Hitchcock movie’s stars, writers, and producers, make The Dark Side of Genius highly entertaining and intuitively believable.

Hitchcock taps into a subconscious reservoir of human repression, present in the nature of human beings. Spoto illustrates Hitchcock’s genius for translating male’ repression into film; it is there for the entire world to see but, sadly, for few to fully appreciate or care to understand.

ALFRED HITCHCOCK

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Okay - so I went into this biography knowing very little about Alfred Hitchcock. Probably like most people, I enjoy the majority of his movies. There is no question about his creative ability. However, his business practices will raise one or both eyebrows. Some of the things he put his actors and actresses through were despicable. Definitely an eye opener and brow raiser.

Eye Opener

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Having read this book decades ago, I was thrilled to purchase this audiobook. It's just as fascinating as I remembered. If you are looking for technical details of Hitchcock's movies, forget this one. However, if you want a psychological analysis of Hitch's life and his many phobias, you will be spellbound. Born the son of a Cockney grocer, Alfred Hitchcock began writing titles for silent movies. All Hitchcock's movies contain his fears, fascinations (especially with his leading ladies), and phobias. The author, Donald Spoto, was the first to dehumanize Hitch's genius by revealing his dark side, but somehow this makes future viewings of Hitchcock's films more fascinating.

Hitch's life and phobias keep you "Spellbound"

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Mr Riggenbach's reading, though smooth, was somewhat off in spots, with some words mispronounced and/or with emphasis in the wrong part of the sentence, There was something robotic about it.

The story itself was not very interesting, seeming to get bogged down in meaningless detail while skipping over the most interesting part (his relationship with Tippi Hedren and its effect on her career). Its tone toward its subject was a little tentative.

I don't think I would purchase another book written by Mr. Spoto in any form.

a boring story

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Positives: This has been the classic Hitchcock biography for most of 30 years. It's frank and very specific about his salacious personal problems, as well as his personal traumas and behind the scenes conflicts, but it's credible. It contains a scholarly examination of his production practices and the thematic content of his films.

Negatives: The narrator is very low key, almost robotic. The author belabors some of his over-arching points.

The definitive biography

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