Definitely get the audiobook version of this - you can’t transcribe Lynch’s pacing and delivery, and it’s essential.

"These were the days when Europe was very very far away. It was actually the same distance but it seemed far away."
"She had breasts that never seemed to end."
"It's time to get with the program. Walk away from suffering. Walk away from problems. Walk away from blowing the brains out of somebody."

One of the funniest books I've listened to, it's all in that deadpan delivery.

There's a dual biography/memoir thing going on, but the self-narrated bits by Lynch are the highlight of course. I don't think there's a bad word said about Lynch or by Lynch about anyone else. Everything has a vaseline haze of glamour and getting along, even down to his apparent cheating on women and breakups with wives, it's all just the best thing ever and everyone was the closest of friends. Even with his work; on Dune the worst he'll say is feeling like he sold out. When Mulholland Drive collapses, when Wild At Heart gets self-parody reviews, there's nothing with bite in this book about any of it. Lynch is just surfing the wave of life, man.
You don't get a sense of looking behind the curtain at any point here. It's an interesting comparison to the much starker [b:Every Man for Himself and God Against All: A Memoir|78292253|Every Man for Himself and God Against All A Memoir|Werner Herzog|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1685352349l/78292253._SY75_.jpg|103500838] Herzog memoir (also get the audiobook there), who essentially tells you up front he's going to lie his way through the telling of the memoir because he's uninterested in truth, and only interested in the story. Two highly independent visionary directors with completely different styles and aesthetics, many of the same struggles with funding their projects and navigating public reception, both having "sold out" at times to fund projects, but the memoirs are night and day, almost literally.

The most detailed account with some deeper insights about production concerns the development of Eraserhead, but while it covers most of his other works the detail is superficial and if you're interested you've heard most all of it before, including the tidbits on Twin Peaks. In between the shilling for TM, you get some idea of what Lynch is like as a person in the scatterbrained high and low approach he takes to narrating his own memoirs. While listening to this was very enjoyable, I'd struggle to itemize what I learned. Lynch's method for directing; first with just the actors, setting up the blocking, then involving the DP, and later the crew, after which they do the proper take is perhaps the most revolutionary and practical tip found in the book. In storytelling, his ability to follow hunches to the point of tearing up half the script to follow a new rabbit (the famous story of the creation of Bob is recounted here once again).
Oh, and of course I learned that TM is the truth, light and salvation for the entire human race of course. We'd better "get hip" to this teaching before "that fucking bunch in DC" destroy nature and let global warming become a nightmare killing the trees. Lynch really isn't subtle about the preaching portion. ( )

I did get one meeting. I met with a producer over at Universal Studios who had had some kind of a hit film. And he’d heard something about Eraserhead. And he brought me in and he said, “What do you got?”
And I said, “Well, I’ve got a story called Ronnie Rocket.”
And he said, “What’s it about?”
I said, “It’s about a guy who’s three feet tall, has a red pompadour, and runs on alternating current electricity.”
And the guy asked me to leave his office. ( )

As a cinephile and a fan of Lynch's work, this part-biography part-memoir is truly awe-inspiring. Not only does it over the nuts and bolts expected from a retrospective (everything from Lynch's first love to his decision to make Twin Peaks: The Return are covered here), but the sections Lynch writes offer an emotional resonance that is not common in these types of books.

But, on some level, I can't imagine this book being written any other way. This is Lynch, after all. He's not just going to run over the hits of his career and call it a day. With that truth comes some repetitive discussions (be prepared to hear about how much Lynch loves transcendental meditation, for example), but overall it's a fascinating insight into a notoriously elusive artist. ( )

A fascinating and comprehensive look at the life and art of David Lynch. I love the format of the book, which is set out with alternating sections by McKenna - in true biographical style, and Lunch - who gives his personal recollections of the time in question. One for the fans. ( )

We listened to the audiobook... what a goofy yet delightful mess. I found it interesting learning about the context of David's life when he was a boy and some of the smaller projects he's done that we'll now have to dig a bit to find and check out. The book does drag often at parts though and David's sections are just a rambling, jumbly mess--but still, you listen--because David Lynch is just that kind of guy. As the book mentions, no one really stays neutral on the subject of Lynch you either love him or you hate him, there's no in between. ( )