A review by hmbarker
Charlie Chaplin: A Brief Life by Peter Ackroyd

2.0

It took me a bit to reflect on this and decide what rating I was going to give it. I wanted to like it; I wanted to love it, really. I've always had a fascination with Charlie Chaplin and was really quite excited to finally read this biography, but in truth, I was quite disappointed. I think I was expecting more detail about his work, his impact on the film industry at the time, and the way he changed pantomime and comedy forever. Instead, this seemed to focus on speculation and gossip and rumors, and while they very well could have been true, it's not what I had wanted to get out of this. So, my disappointment really wasn't a reflection of the work at all, just my own expectations. While I learned a lot, it wasn't necessarily what I was expecting to learn.