Robin

'In Robin, Dave Itzkoff manages to straddle the man and the myth of Robin Williams, all the while helping us see why we fell in love with both. He has written a book about the truth and pain that lies in comedy, and the price paid by a sensitive soul' Amy Poehler

Robin Williams was a singularly innovative actor and comedian. Possessing a mercurial, tongue-twisting intensity, he deftly inhabited and shed one character after another with lightning speed, from his breakout role in Mork & Mindy, to the legendary Mrs. Doubtfire, and his Academy Award-winning performance in Good Will Hunting.

But as this revelatory biography shows, Williams' comic brilliance masked a deep well of conflicting emotions and self-doubt. Robin shows how Williams struggled mightily with addiction and depression - topics he discussed openly while performing and during interviews - and with a debilitating condition at the end of his life that affected him in ways his fans never knew.

Drawing on more than a hundred original interviews with family, friends and colleagues, as well as extensive archival research, Robin is a fresh and original look at a beloved performer whose work touched so many lives.