Book Review: Bill Duke: My 40-Year Career on Screen and Behind the Camera

About:

Bill Duke: My 40-Year Career on Screen and Behind the Camera is a memoir of the prolific actor and director. Mr. Duke has been in many movies which are now considered pop-culture classics (American Gigolo, Commando, Predator, X-Men), he is also a director, producer and entrepreneur.

• 232 pages
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1538105551

 

My rating for Bill Duke: My 40-Year Career on Screen and Behind the Camera – 5
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Thoughts:

The first movie I remember watching Bill Duke is in the movie Commando, fighting Arnold Schwarzenegger in a hotel room. Mr. Duke left a very positive impression on me during the movie and I was always excited to recognize him in more movies.

The memoir Bill Duke: My 40-Year Career on Screen and Behind the Camera is not disappointing. I have always enjoyed watching Mr. Duke but never realized what an accomplished person he is, besides an acting career.

Mr. Duke talks about his upbringing, insecurities, and challenges which he had to deal with both personally and professionally. As a character actor he carved himself a place in an industry which is known to be brutal on many people.

Interposed within the book are poems the author wrote, I know nothing about poetry so I will not comment on them, but it shows that this is a work of love, not “just” a book. As a movie lover I enjoyed the anecdotes and behind the screen experiences, but even though this is what drew me to the book, Mr. Duke’s incredible story kept me reading.

The memoir is very well written, it’s easy to read and incredibly honest. The introspection and insight provided by Mr. Duke is something which many memoirs and biographies are lacking.

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More Books by Bill Duke*

Zohar — Man of la Book
Dis­claimer: I got this book for free.
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