Filmmaker David Lynch asserts that when he is directing, ninety percent of the time he doesn't know what he is doing. To understand Lynch's films, Martha Nochimson believes, requires a similar method of being open to the subconscious, of resisting the logical reductiveness of language. In this innovative book, she draws on these strategies to offer close readings of Lynch's films, informed by unprecedented, in-depth interviews with Lynch himself.

Nochimson begins with a look at Lynch's visual influences-Jackson Pollock, Francis Bacon, and Edward Hopper-and his links to Alfred Hitchcock and Orson Welles, then moves into the heart of her study, in-depth analyses of Lynch's films and television productions. These include Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, Wild at Heart, Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet, Dune, The Elephant Man, Eraserhead, The Grandmother, The Alphabet, and Lynch's most recent, Lost Highway.

Nochimson's interpretations explode previous misconceptions of Lynch as a deviant filmmaker and misogynist. Instead, she shows how he subverts traditional Hollywood gender roles to offer an optimistic view that love and human connection are really possible.

"This is the best book on David Lynch that has yet been published. Nochimson's book is essential reading for anyone interested in contemporary cinema." -- Brian Henderson, Professor, State University of New York at Buffalo

About the Author
Martha P. Nochimson is Professor of Film and Literature at Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry, New York. She also has taught at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University.

Reviews
"This is the best book on David Lynch that has yet been published. Nochimson's book is essential reading for anyone interested in contemporary cinema." -Brian Henderson, Professor, State University of New York at Buffalo



Book Information
ISBN 9780292755659
Author Martha P. Nochimson
Format Paperback
Page Count 288
Imprint University of Texas Press
Publisher University of Texas Press
Weight(grams) 399g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 18mm