Conversations With Woody Allen, by Eric Lax

Perhaps the most revealing book ever written about a living film director, this enthralling dialogue spans 36 years. Allen shows immaculate taste in picking out the best of his own films: "Manhattan Murder Mystery is a picture I like very much... I think Match Point came off... Purple Rose of Cairo, Bullets over Broadway." On the other hand, he insists, "The way people latched onto Manhattan was irrational... I've done better pictures than Annie Hall." Allen expresses astonishment that his film Hollywood Ending, never released in this country, "was not thought of as a first-rate comedy". This reviewer agrees. It is hilarious.