"In this authoritative new biography of Woody Allen - the first since the tabloids headlined his rift with his long-term mistress Mia Farrow and his affair with her adopted daughter Soon-Yi - John Baxter maps the distance Allen has traveled to attain three-fold success as screenwriter, film director, and movie star. He also explores that more shadowy region where the real Woody Allen, a self-confident, steely professional with a fashionable New York address, meets his nebbishy movie twin." "John Baxter's biography illuminates Allen's preoccupation with sex and mortality, his personal quirks and obsessions, his manipulation of celebrity, his jittery avoidance of commitment, and his cinematic achievement as both the poet laureate and court jester of Manhattan's intellectual elite."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved