"Robin," by Dave Itzkoff

Like so many people who live in the San Francisco Bay Area, my family had, over the past thirty-plus years, various brushes and contacts and overlaps of friends and classmates and neighbors with the great comic and actor Robin Williams and his family. I absolutely don’t mean to claim any closeness, not at all, but only the kinds of occasional fleeting contacts one has when living in the same neighborhoods, seeing each other on the street, one’s children going to the same schools and socializing in the same circles, seeing each other at local restaurants, etc. I was always a great admirer and fan of Williams, and knew quite a bit of his story already, but I was still very interested in his biography, “Robin” (Gale, 2018) by Dave Itzkoff. It seems to be very thorough, based on many interviews and much research. The prose is perhaps a bit workmanlike, but Williams’ personality, character, career, and story are well presented. The story is such a mixture of joy and sorrow, highs and lows. Robin Williams was such a gifted performer, and loved his family so much. It is true that he had his demons, became addicted to alcohol and drugs, and sometimes didn’t spend the time with his family members that he wanted to. He made some mistakes in his career as well. But everyone who knew him acknowledged his extraordinary talents, and that he was at heart a good man. One thing I wish Itzkoff had written more about was Williams’ many, many contributions to charities, to American soldiers, and to countless friends in need, sick children, and others, very often anonymously or with minimal publicity. The author does mention some of these, but not enough, in my opinion. In any case, I recommend the book “Robin” to anyone interested in Robin Williams and his complicated, unparalleled life and career, cut short too soon by a dreadful disease.