Concord, Massachusetts
Two weeks of talks, readings, and discussions celebrating the written and the spoken word.
Nathaniel Philbrick
Gish Jen
Andrew Bacevich
Pauline Maier
How You Can Participate
- Attend: Most events are free. All events are open to the public. Events that require a ticket are so indicated and include information about how and where to obtain tickets.
- Donate: The festival is produced by a non-profit foundation and depends greatly on individual support. Tax deductible donations in any amount are encouraged and can be made online.
- Sponsor: Corporate sponsorship is welcomed and is available. For information please .
Mitchell Zuckoff
Events: The Life, Career, and Films of Robert Altman
Book: Robert Altman: The Oral Biography
Mitchell Zuckoff is a professor of journalism at Boston University. He is the author of three previous books, most recently Ponzi’s Scheme: The True Story of a Financial Legend. As a reporter with The Boston Globe, he was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize and the recipient of numerous national writing awards.
Zuckoff, who was working with Robert Altman on his memoirs before he died, weaves the interviews together into a seamless oral biography. Visionary director; risk-taking producer; eccentric family man; Hollywood icon; Altman comes brilliantly to life in this riveting tale. Altman burst onto the scene as a major film-director in 1970 with M*A*S*H. His groundbreaking style helped usher in a new era of American filmmaking, and his films — Nashville, Short Cuts, and The Player, among them — manipulated the genre and form in ways that had never been done before.
In a chorus of voices that can only be called Altmanesque, the director’s life and career are recounted. We hear from Meryl Streep, Warren Beatty, Tim Robbins, Julianne Moore, Paul Newman, Julie Christie, Elliott Gould, Robin Williams, and many others. We even hear from Altman himself.