Customer Reviews (12)

A great book for a great actor
Mr. Grobel's relationship with Al Pacino grows throughout this book.The book consists of numerous interviews by the author as well as magazine articles.Pacino talks about his many successful films, actors he admires, the Godfather III disaster, and his obsession with Richard III.This was a great read and allowed me to see inside the mind of one of my favorite actors.

A great reading
Lawrence Grobel is a masterinterviewer and get some original and surprising answers of Al Pacino. There is no flattery for the celebrityhere and if there's some is only in small doses. Pacino reveals himself as a down to earth guy who cares
a lot about his craft and about doing his job well(no more,no less) and shows an amazing sense of humour at times.This is the portrait of a true artist who loves his art.
Lawrence Grobel many times insist in questions that Mr. Pacino does not want to answer and many times out of insistence get an answer from the actor.
I truly find this book entertaining ,didactic and intelligent.

Fascinating and Compelling Portrait of Al Pacino
Excellent book in interview form which delves deep into the fascinating and complex psyche of one of the most accomplished and gifted actors in cinema history. Reknown journalist and writer Lawrence Grobel goes to where no other interviewer/reporter has gone before:deep into the mind and thought process of legendary film and stage actor extraordinaire Al Pacino. This fantastic and thorough book explains in great depth the complex and brilliant acting career of Al Pacino. If you love Pacino's work like I do you will love this book. Highly recommended and entertaining. Al is widely known not only for his remarkable work on film and in the theater but for his passion for his craft. He is passionate about acting and is a very serious actor but who would of thought that this dark and intense actor would have a sense of humor. Some of the answers that he gives to Lawrence Grobel are actually quite funny. He can be serious when he needs to be and quite amusing when he feels the need. Get this book and you will not be disappointed. He discusses in great detail his entire career from his humble beginnings when he was a homeless struggling actor to his defining status as an icon of American cinema.

The actor from the streets
This is a great book for several reasons:

1.Pacino gives insight on many of his movies, discussing why he feels they were hit or miss.

2.Pacino talks about off-the-camera stuff, such as his childhood, his struggles in trying to become an accomplished actor and much more.

3.Pacino elaborates on his true passion and where he returns when his career is in a slump.

The introduction is very strong and interesting because it summarizes his career work.If you like Al Pacino, you gotta have this book.

Whoaaa!Great Read!
Bought as gift for relative who is a tremendous Al Pacino fan.Paged through it myself, briefly, and realized it to be a interesting way to understand Pacino, the man, in a series of interviews dating back to 1979.Sure to be an easy and entertaining read. ... Read more

Book Description
PACINO...

The Name conjures up images of glamour and violence: Michael Corleone of the Godfather; Serpico, the renegade cop; and Tony Montana, the vicious gangster better known as "Scarface".

Andrew Yule, the critically-acclaimed biographer of Sean Connery and David Puttnam (Fast Fade) was given exclusive access to Pacino's friends and associates, making this the only authoritative biography of one of the most volatile and brilliant actors of our time. Includes many rare photos of Pacino and the women he has loved - on and off screen! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Simply Electric
Life on the Wire is an excellent book for anyone interested in living up to his/ her potential. It is powerfully narrated replete with examples and anecdotes. It is one of the greatest biographies i have read. Althought it lacks the actor's deep secrets or rather the actor's key learnings as a human being and as a profesisonal actor, the book certainly increases the desire of the reader to read more. Al Pacino is a genius that the book fails to truly capture entirely. Quality of the pages is poor and some grammatical errors are scatterred throughout. Nonetheless, a good read indeed.

Excellent Reading Material.
As a lifelong fan on Al Pacino, I purchased this book and could not put it down.It gives you private insight into a very private man and details the trials that he endured to get to where he is now.A must have for any Pacino fan!

Great book about a great actor
This is a extremely well written book..andrew yule does a great job on this book which i can imagine was not too easy judging by how private al pacino is..al pacino is one of if not my favorite actor and i thought i knew about him but after reading this i feel like i really came way seeing al pacino in another light.

the book can be perceived as not a true bio by some as it doesn't go real deep into al's life...it mainly explores and reveals his work..but then you will find that al pacino's life is "the work"..al pacino is the definition of what a actor is..and you will see that after reading this book..the author yule is given access to lots of sources and it is a authorized bio..as he gives lots and lots of great quotes from marty bergman,charlie laughton,and pacino himself...which are great.

how it goes it is will basically go in order by all the work he's done and it will tell stories about what happened behind the scenes it will give quotes of all the people involved and will show what happened..then afterwards it will always show you what "professional" critics wrote about the work..which i think is a good idea..it sheds light into how the work was perceived at the time...

and what i really took to heart from this book is how much critics are scum..not that the author portrayed them as this..i just can't believe how much critics have without mercy assaulted and attacked pacino...pacino gives his blood to his work...he gives everything...he immerses himself so deeply into his characters that it is almost scary...and sometimes he will put so much work in and so much sweat and then you see these critics sitting on their fat butts just bashing his work..these talentless nobodies destroying all pacino has done..and it is really sad and really angers me..i have really never payed that much attention to "critics" but now i see just how disgusting these people are...to spit on someones art is shameful.

you will learn alot from this book..about al pacino and dustin hoffman and their quiet rivalry of sorts...you will learn about john cazale and james hayden who's careers and lives were ended too short..and you will learn alot about pacino and his work.

i highly reccommend this great book by andrew yule if you are a pacino fan or if you are just an actor or like acting..this should be in every actor's library as an example of what a true actor is.

Great Read
Al Pacino: A Life on the Wire is a great book! I am very impressed because even though Al Pacino went through a lot of hard times in his life, he made it. He is a real fighter, and he has proven that people should never give up; they must follow their dreams. Yule presented Al Pacino's life in general in an easy-to-follow way, and the reader can understand things well about Al Pacino as a person. I especially like Al's sense of humor, his passion for his job, and his attitude towards marriage. Al is definitely a free spirit and an accomplished actor!

Kirkus Review in error.
In response to the Kirkus Review of Life on the Wire:The book does not report that Al Pacino's mother left him at three.She died when Pacino was 22 years old.Pacino's father left the family when Pacino was 3. The bookclearly states these facts. ... Read more

Product Description
A shared love of acting and common Bronx origins sparked the friendship between Al Pacino and acclaimed drama coach Ed De Leo. This candid and insightful memoir chronicles their divergent paths as Al climbs to stardom and Ed falls short at every turn. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

HILARIOUSLYFUNNY!
A must read for both actors and non-actors!!! Pretty helpful for aspiring actors as well!

Check your kinks, leave your kooks at the door!
An engaging,tremendously written account of the lives of two actors. Ed DeLeo's journey through the acting world was full of mishaps and never reached the success level that he'd hoped for but it is fascinating nonetheless.Al Pacino should feel lucky to have known such a seasoned person as Ed DeLeo.

ADynamic Blueprint For Today's Actor !
"As David Sheldon and Joan McCall point out in "When I Knew Al,"Ed De Leo entered Al Pacino's life when Al was at an early crossroads bordering on success or failure.I studied acting with Ed.He took great pleasure in his student's successes in the industry, more so than his own. He was a natural born teacher.VEE GENTILE, former student of Ed De Leo and actor ("Two Bits," "Gettysburg").

Powerful and compelling
This book gives a rare insider look at the life of Al Pacino. The journey this books takes you on shows how the choices people make influence their careers.If you want to see how two people starting off in the same spot can go in completely different directions while still remaining friends, this book is for you!

John Livesay
Author The 7 Most Powerful Selling Secrets

... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Edward Will Be Missed...
For us that knew Ed, he was not a money hungry person nor was he trying to hit up Pacino for money. Ed was a beautiful person and he cared for Pacino very much. Ed passed away on June 29,2004. He was only 72 years old.He will be very missed and we all love you Ed.Rest In Peace and God Bless.

Edward De Leo
I think that this book is very good and well written i had a good time reading it and i think that if you want to read a tale of two actors read this book i highly recommend it. Edward De Leo should write more books i look forward to seeing your next book.Thanks and Good Luck

Wannabe
This book tells the story of two people whose careers took totally different paths - one to success and one to near complete failure. The author of this book, Edward De Leo, worked with Al as a mentor very early on in Pacino's acting career, and probably helped him a great deal, but once Al became successful, De Leo was little more than a nuisance to him, hitting him up for movie parts and money over the years. The story of Edward De Leo's life is really pretty pitiful and the introduction of little bits of information about Pacino, although somewhat interesting at times, fail to disguise this book as anything other than one more attempt by a man who perhaps feels entitled to a piece of Al's success, to exploit it.Kudos to Pacino, who, by all accounts, treated this "old friend" with kindness and generosity. For Pacino fans, there are some interesting tidbits... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

awful commentary, but nice pictures
Don't get me wrong, I've been a fan of Al Pacino ever since I saw him in "The Godfather" when I was ten, and I personally love everything about him.He's one of the gods of acting, and Schoell's book does no justice to him or his films.

The first 15 pages are some kind of attempt to outline his life.Some of the anecdotes are amusing; however, many sound more speculative than true.For example, the discussion of Al Pacino's love life reads like a gossip magazine.Maybe all of it really happened, but lines like "things went hot and heavy with Ms. Praeger for a while" and "there have also been many rumors about how Pacino managed to get by between acting gigs and part-time employment in the days before stardom" make the book sound cheesy and hokey.

I'm also not sure why the author chose to write a book about the films of Al Pacino, as he doesn't really like any of them.Even for the Godfather movies, two of the mostly widely revered movies of all the time, the author has only lukewarm praise at best, as shown when he says, "The Godfather is an 'amusing' potboiler but hardly a work of art..there isn't the care in each shot and setup that would indicate TRULY GREAT filmmaking...it lacks a subtext of humanity, people that we could root for and care about."I had to wonder if we were even watching the same movie.His criticism of the film is scanty at best, and he spends about a paragraph mentioning Pacino's performance, and somehow manages to ignore his wondrous transformation from Michael the naive, sweet war-hero to Michael the new Godfather.It is arguably cinema's finest portrayal of the "hardening of the human heart," and the author still can't find "a subtext of humanity."

His other reviews are also scanty at best and are mostly bogged down by plot summary.He seems fixated mainly on Pacino's appearance in the film, and not necessarily his wonderful performances.Now, again, don't get me wrong, I think Pacino is a very, very handsome, sexy, good-looking man, but we all know that.I wouldn't have a problem with the author mentioning it again and again, but it seems as if that is ALL the author wants to do.For example, he prefaces all his descriptions with comments like, "Although far more attractive than the real Sonny, Pacino does an excellent imitation of him" (Dog Day Afternoon), or "Pacino looks oddly geeky in the opening scenes, but is still attractive and masculine, 'lethal' to the ladies" (Panic in Needle Park).I completely agree that Pacino is a very attractive guy, but there needs to be more in a review than just that.

Another problem I had with this book was the numerous inaccuracies.In his review of "Dog Day Afternoon" (a wonderful movie, and his so-called review doesn't do the film justice at all), the author writes that "Pacino, (Chris) Sarandon, and (John) Cazale were all nominated for Oscars."No, Cazale was NOT nominated for an Oscar, despite appearing in only 5 films that were all Best Picture Oscar nominees.It isn't very relevant, admittedly, but this is just one example of the glaringly obvious inaccuracies in this book.Also, another reason to wonder if the author actually watched Pacino's movies at all is he often gets the quotes all wrong.Some are incomplete, some have words juggled around, and some are out-of-context.I've seen most of Pacino's films, and believe me, whether deliberate or not, the mishandling of Pacino's powerful lines detract from the films and Pacino's performances.

Also, the reviews of the films often contain many, many spoilers, so I would not recommend reading this before watching his movies (actually, there's no real need to read this at all).Al Pacino is a legend, and he deserves much more than this lame attempt.So, why did I give it two stars instead of one?Well, I suppose the book's saving grace is its wealth of lovely pictures, much of which I have never seen before.So, if you really want to buy the book, I suppose you can just buy it for its pictures, which only enhance the charm, grace, and magnetism of Al Pacino.

For real commentary of his performances, read Roger Ebert's reviews of Pacino's movies.Ebert adores the man, and has written numerous glowing reviews of his acting, even when he criticizes the movie as a whole.Check out, especially, his review of "Scarface."

Perfect Pacino
This was apresent for my husband, but I just had to read it first! Great book, gets right into the heart and soul of the man. Many stories and anecdotes I have not read before. Good buy!

Al is the man...
If u r a Al Pacino fan then this is the book u need .I my self love everylitle thing about that man.Everything from his acting , his look , the wayhe dresses and his personality.But it was alot i didnt know about him wichi got answers to after reading William Schoells bok Al Pacino. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from El Ritmo de la Noche, published by Editorial Sur, Inc. on February 1, 1998. The length of the article is 1598 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Famosos encarcelados. (Al Pacino y Jane Fonda son algunas de las celebridades que en algún momento pasaron por la cárcel)(TT: Celebrity mug shots) (TA: Al Pacino and Jane Fonda are some celebrities that at some point were in jail)
Author: Gabriel Liberatori
Publication: El Ritmo de la Noche (Magazine/Journal)
Date: February 1, 1998
Publisher: Editorial Sur, Inc.
Volume: v4Page: p50(4)

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Product Description
Any actor can become a star, but it takes a special kind of man to become an icon and a legend. Men like Clark Gable, John Wayne, Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Jack Nicholson, and Tom Hanks were possessed by a passion to be the best, a burning thirst for success transformed them into Gods of the Silver Screen. These men of action, romance, comedy, and drama have delighted audiences for generations. Hear the intimate details of their journeys to stardom. Explore their personalities, as divulged by those who knew them best. Listen to the secrets of their private lives in these revealing confessions. ... Read more

Product Description
PLAYMATE: Candace CollinsCOVER: Raquel WelchPICTORIALS: Rachel Welch- 8 pages; Playmates Foreverfeatures the centerfold and more recent photos of notable Playmates including DeDe Lind, Nancy Scott, Jo Collins, Lisa Baker, Liv Lindeland, Miki Garcia and others; Sex Stars of 1979showcases films stars Laura Antonelli, Richard Gere, Farrah Fawcett, Sylvester Stallone, Jaclyn SmithCheryl Tiegs, Susan Anton, Corinne Clery, Barbara Bach, Susan Sarandon, Suzanne Somers, Dorothy Stratton, Cyndi Wood, Bo Derek and many others; INTERVIEW: Al PacinoFEATURES: Fiction by John Updike, The Holy Land,Frederick Forsyth, Used In Evidence; conclusion (part 3 of 3) of Norman Mailer's story on serial killer Gary Gilmore, Executioner's Song; David A. Fryxell offers The Great Comic Heroes Trivia Quiz; LeRoy Neiman Sketchbook - 1/2 page painting of Cuban Boxer Teofilo Stevenson; profile of Richard Pryor by William Brashler; College Basketball Preview; Playboy Funnies; Nick Nolte, Peter Fonda, Federico Fellini in "Grapevine" segment; Little Annie Fanny goes out dancing.PAGES: 414 ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Better than the movie?
If you enjoyed the Al Pacino movie, treat yourself to its superb print version. Written by Leslie Waller, under the pseudonym Patrick Mann, this base-on-true-story novel is woefully unknown and underrated, but thanks to Internet bookstores, no longer hard to find. Waller, writing in third person, pulls you right into the life of Joe Nowicki, aka Littlejoe, who plans to rob a Queens Chase Bank so he can pay for a sex change operation for his transvestite lover. Topical and raunchy were two words used to describe the book and movie in the early 70s. The dialogue is a treat to the ear and the suspense is unyielding, even if you know the ending from the movie. I don't know why the novel didn't have a long shelf life, but it deserves to be back in print and read by a larger audience. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Pacino is a genius
al pacino is truly a legend and this book is a must for anyone even remotely a fan of his work . A Must read . ... Read more