Just Out Of Reach

- Jesse Mulligan

‘The definitive biography,” writes Steve Martin on the cover, and it is hard to imagine any better book will be written about Robin Williams’ life. New York Times reporter David Itzkoff has watched every minute of videotape, interviewed family members, colleagues and ex-wives and pored over 40 years of playbills and reviews. The research was exhaustive and journalistic, and included extended conversations with the man himself.

So, there is nothing more in the world we can learn about this unrivalled talent – and yet we are left knowing not much more than when we began reading. Williams’ death at 63 was unexpected and unsignposted. Without a suicide note, we are left to guess at his state of mind. Was he unable to continue a life defined by mental agility but rapidly succumbing to Lewy body dementia, or was the act spontaneous, fuelled by the hallucinations that come with that disease? There is nobody left to ask.