READERS’ COMMENTS

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Without exaggeration, this book is the most important contribution about Kubrick ever published. It makes you feel you’re right there with Stanley and Emilio and it’s filled with unique stories about how Kubrick’s films were made. I also appreciated its style: sober, accurate, rich in details and lacking in the hideous intrusion of the writer that is often unfortunately associated with memoirs. I do think Ulivieri has succeeded where many others have failed, offering, through Emilio’s voice, the most exciting portrayal of Kubrick ever written.
Mauro Piras

I do hope your book will become a classic. It has everything to be regarded as such: authoritativeness, immediacy, exactitude, and a lucid refusal of sensationalism. It is highly recommended reading for any Kubrick fan, for cinema students, and it could also be a useful handbook for anyone interested in producing films.
Roberto Urbani

 

I read it in one sitting! A real page-turner. I had no idea Emilio played such an important role in Kubrick’s life and work. I’ve always thought he was just a driver. He was in fact so much more… It’s an incredible story.
Stefano

It is a very compelling read. It moved me several times. Between Emilio and Stanley there was indeed a formidable human bond. And it’s got plenty of laughs as well. The book is truly a well accomplished work: a vivid voice, great drive, and lots of goodies. I do think you both did something important here, a book that deserves a special place in Kubrick’s literature. In one word: extraordinary. Bravo!
Marco Vitelli

 

The portrait of Kubrick is so vivid that during the three days I spent reading the book I felt like living there, in that house, and I was very sad when I had to leave. The book has many merits: it makes you feel very close to someone proverbially remote, it teaches you how much work goes into making a film, and it is a monument to Emilio D’Alessandro for his complete lack of vanity (a very hard quality if you think about his position).
Leonardo Polato

 

It is without any doubt one of the most compelling books I have ever read. It is not only an incredible journey in movie-making, it is also a vivid tale of a profound friendship, told very fluently and with great empathy. Thank you for all the emotions you have given to me, because your book, apparently being about Kubrick, is in fact about life that is always worth living.
Barbara Ballerio

I read everything that has been written about Kubrick, but no other book had been able to make me connect with such intimacy with the director.
Davide Marengo

 

Until ten days ago I had no idea Emilio existed; now I’d like to shake his hand and drink coffee with him. I picture him with his candid smile, coming towards me spreading his arms: he’s one of my family now, it is as if he had always been with me.
Roberto Nesci

I read the 350 pages as if I was reading a good novel. Even the minutiae of the daily life have been rendered with such interest! The book has plenty of episodes of the day-to-day life of a genius, but it has also the warmth of real human bonds. The book has scratched away, piece by piece, the image of Stanley Kubrick I had, and it gave me a different portrait, with fewer colours but brighter, a portrait that possibly only Christiane Kubrick could have painted. This portrait is now everlasting.
Paolo Ciro

 

The book shows the humanity of a myth, of a genius, of someone we sometimes forget was in fact a man – and in this case a great man. I’d recommend it to everyone who loves Stanley Kubrick and even to everyone who hates Stanley Kubrick.
Mario Parruccini

The book helps you understand how much work really goes into producing a movie. What is usually rendered with superficial sentences like “for this movie Kubrick did a lot of research”, in this book is described thoroughly and in an engaging way. What you could infer from the other biographies, here becomes a vivid account. You learn a lot about moviemaking.
Luca

 

I don’t consider myself a Kubrick fan, even if I am familiar with his films. Equally, I don’t consider myself a hardcore reader, but when I find a book that has a direct impact on my daily life and my artistic work I can’t put it down. This book is a life changer. Bits of Emilio’s story with Stanley keep coming to my mind during my days and urge me to do the best I can, to push myself in everything I do. I heartily thank you for this masterpiece.
Matteo Tambussi