21. Camera Man: Buster Keaton, the Dawn of Cinema, and the Invention of the Twentieth Century. Dana Stevens. 2022. 447 pages. [Source: Library] [nonfiction, biography, history, culture] [3 stars]
First sentence from the introduction: I first fell for Buster Keaton twenty-five years ago, when he had just turned one hundred. It was the spring of 1996, and I was spending the year studying at the University of Strasbourg, close to the French-German border in Alsace.
Premise/plot: Camera Man is closer to a book of essays than a 'proper' biography. For better or worse. (I am not saying that it is 'for the worse' for every reader.) The focus is rarely solely on Buster Keaton. He's merely a piece of a puzzle in her discussing broader subjects. Her interest is in history, culture, theatre, film, and to a certain degree how terrible, horrible, and obviously wrong (aka cringe-worthy) 'the past' was about anything and everything since it doesn't align [close enough to suit] with contemporary opinions, values, morals, and beliefs. The book is certainly not celebrating Buster Keaton's legacy, examining his films for what they are, or diving with any depth into the subject of his life (aka proper biography).
My thoughts: This is my third book about Buster Keaton. I read James Curtis' Buster Keaton: A Filmmakers Life and Buster Keaton's own autobiography My Wonderful World of Slapstick. I was disappointed with this one. I wanted more of the focus to be on Buster Keaton--professionally, personally, the work itself. He was ACTOR, DIRECTOR, EDITOR, GAG WRITER, STUNT MAN. Plenty of angles the book could have examined. Though perhaps the author's way of viewing Keatons' work with the lens of who could possibly be offended by this and how outraged should I be on their behalf it is perhaps a blessing in disguise that she limits her discussion of Buster Keaton to what she does. Though the author claims to have fallen for Buster Keaton, it seems more like a shallow fall that she has long since recovered from. She also takes the approach that his life might as well have ended after Steamboat Bill Jr. [And she's no fan of The General. In fact at times I get the idea she isn't really even a fan of slapstick comedy].
While I was mainly disappointed with this one, I will share what I appreciated. The first third of this one--perhaps a little more--where the focus is on the history of vaudeville and Buster Keaton's stage career as a child/young man--was solidly engaging. I had high hopes that her examination of his film career would be equally so. But here the focus shifts to other filmmakers, other films, other actors, film critics. More specifically in what voices were being heard and which were being "suppressed" or "oppressed" and the like. Obviously, the author's feminist world view is central to who she is and how she views the world. So I think depending on YOUR expectations, this one might prove worth reading? It was not for me in the end. I don't want someone telling me how I should react to Buster Keaton's movies.
© 2025 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
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