Twelve Lives of Alfred Hitchcock

the long version

In The Twelve Lives of Alfred Hitchcock, Edward White explores the Hitchcock phenomenon--what defines it, how it was invented, what it reveals about the man at its core, and how its legacy continues to shape our cultural world. From Hitchcock’s early work in England to his most celebrated films, White analyzes Hitchcock's oeuvre and provides new interpretations. He also delves into Hitchcock's ideas about gender; his complicated relationships with "his women" as well as leading men. White also writes movingly of Hitchcock's devotion to his wife and lifelong companion, Alma, who made vital contributions to numerous classic Hitchcock films, and burnished his mythology. He shows that the Hitchcock persona was so carefully created that Hitchcock became not only a figurehead for his own industry but nothing less than a cultural icon. -- adapted from jacket