Burstyn — Lessons in Becoming Myself (2006)

Ellen Burstyn, Lessons in Becoming Myself (Riverhead, 2006). Book overview ↗

Good for

The power dynamics behind Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974) told from the inside: a star fresh off The Exorcist using her leverage to develop a film about a woman's actual life, hiring Martin Scorsese off a Mean Streets screening, and shaping the script and improvisations that won her the Oscar. Primary-source ballast for Commerce (star power as financing), Acting, and The women's picture, 1974.

Handle with care

A memoir written three decades on, with a spiritual-autobiography frame; generous to collaborators. Use for perspective and texture, and pin dates and figures to Criterion — At Home in the World or trade records where it matters.