Billy Wilder: Dancing on the Edge by Joseph McBride is everything one could hope for in a critical biography of a major figure. While many biographies make for fun rereads they don't often reward them with new insights, yet this is one biography I expect to read again and gain new perspective on both Wilder and human nature in general.

Yes, my opening paragraph might seem a bit hyperbolic at first glance but I think it is justified. I tend to look at biographies of celebrities in a couple of ways, basically what it did do and, sometimes more importantly, what pitfalls (for my tastes) it avoided. This book scored high marks in both broad categories.

I want a biography, especially a critical biography, to encompass the person's whole life and to make connections that might otherwise go unnoticed when just reading a timeline type biography. By timeline type I mean the ones that may well include a lot of detail but does little more than say what happened and then what happened next and then, well, you get it. They are useful biographies for those writing or researching the subject but serve as little more than a chronology. McBride casts a wide net and then proceeds to connect the various elements that are pulled in.

I particularly appreciated the way he kept the chronology of the biography throughout (no, he did not jump around on whims) but brought in connections when they presented themselves. This did mean addressing some future events (though not in detail, more as letting us know that this will be mentioned again later) and sometimes referring back to an event, which was usually covered in detail earlier in the book. But the flow, the basic chronology of Wilder's life, was structurally apparent to any active reader, though some lazy readers may get a little confused and feel lost.

While this can be considered an academic book (just because a university press publishes a book doesn't mean it is always what the general public would think of as an academic book) it is also quite accessible to anyone with an interest in film and media history. Those who simply enjoy good biographies will also be able to appreciate this book as well.

Now for what I was thankful not to see, which is what many books, even good ones, do far too much, and that is spend too much time on the sensationalized topics or events in a person's life. McBride includes things that could, in lesser hands, have devolved into several chapters of gossip and sensationalistic biography. And many readers want that in a biography of a public figure. I happen to just want to know what happened, how it might have been portrayed or understood at the time, and how it affected the subject. McBride gives me that information without making me feel like I'm reading a gossip rag.

I would highly recommend this to readers who like Wilder's work, like classic Hollywood cinema, and those who like to read about 20th century history in general. This is an engaging read that will entertain and inform. I also think that, in understanding how Wilder responded to the events in his life we can better understand other people, celebrities or not, who have lived through personally difficult times.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. ( )