“A great gift for any Coen fan-boy or fan-girl in your life.” ―NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour
Combining critical text—biography, close film analysis, and enlightening interviews with key Coen collaborators—with a visual aesthetic that honors the Coens’ singular mix of darkness and levity, The Coen Brothers: This Book Really Ties the Films Together is film critic Adam Nayman's carefully crafted effort to plot, as he puts it, “some Grand Unified Theory of Coen-ness.”
Ethan and Joel Coen have cultivated a bleakly comical, instantly recognizable voice in modern American cinema. They have given movie fans classics of all types—comedy, history, drama, romance. Their movies have a distinctive style and point of view: hilarious, sad, thoughtful, musical, sometimes all at once. When someone says a movie is Coen Brothers–like, every serious movie lover knows exactly what they mean.
Adam Nayman carefully sifts through their complex cinematic universe and covers their popular, award-winning, and unforgettable creations:
- The Big Lebowski
- Raising Arizona
- Fargo
- Inside Llewyn Davis
- O Brother, Where Art Thou
- Barton Fink
- Miller’s Crossing
- Blood Simple
- The Hudsucker Proxy
- And more!
Featuring film stills, beautiful and evocative illustrations, punchy infographics, and hard insight, this is the definitive exploration of the Coen brothers’ oeuvre.
“Filled with glossy, well-chosen pictures as well as thoughtful, eloquent analysis.” ―Filmmaker
Praise
“…fans of Joel and Ethan Coen will appreciate this oversized guide to their offbeat oeuvre…”Newsday
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“...it would make a great gift for any Coen fan-boy or fan-girl in your life.”NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour
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“…a marvelous mixture of well-designed coffee table book and thoughtful analysis of a filmmaking team…”Flavorwire
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“..this detailed compendium is a cinephile’s delight.”BookPage
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"… film critic Adam Nayman weaves biography, critical analysis, and interviews with Coen collaborators (including longtime cinematographer Roger Deakins) to present the definitive history of the Coen brothers oeuvre.”Indiewire
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“Packed with full page color stills, behind-the-scenes stories, interviews and insightful analysis of each film, this book will put a smile on the face of all film buffs.”The Detroit Free Press
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"...filled with glossy, well-chosen pictures as well as thoughtful, eloquent analysis..."Filmmaker Magazine
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"...a deep dive into the Coen cinematic universe."PureWow
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“...this book is sure to please the ultimate Coen brothers fan.”The Wichita Eagle
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"...a king-sized guide to the filmmaker’s offbeat oeuvre combining critical text, biography, close film analysis, and enlightening interviews with key Coen collaborators all in one big package."The Playlist
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