Gandolfini

Jim, Tony, and the Life of a Legend

Jason Bailey

$49.99

Hardback

Forthcoming
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English

Abrams
26 June 2025

Film, TV & Radio; Individual actors & performers; Films, movies & cinema; Television; Biography: arts & entertainment

A deeply reported, perceptive, and celebratory biography of beloved actor James Gandolfini from a prominent critic and film historian

Based on extensive research and original reporting, including interviews with friends and collaborators, Gandolfini is a detailed and nuanced appraisal of an enduring artist.

More than a decade after his sudden passing, James Gandolfini still exerts a powerful pull on television and film enthusiasts around the world. His charismatic portrayal of complex, flawed, but always human men illuminated the contradictions in all of us, as well as our potential for grace, and the power of love and family.

In Gandolfini, critic and historian Jason Bailey traces the twinned stories of the man and the unforgettable roles he played. Gandolfini’s roots were working class, raised in northern New Jersey as the son of Italian immigrants, and acting was something he loved for a long time before he could see it as a career. It wasn’t until he was well into his bohemian twenties that he dedicated himself to a life on the stage and screen.

Bailey traces his rise, from bit parts to character roles he enlivened with menace and vulnerability, to Tony Soprano, the breakout role that would make him a legend, and onto a post-Sopranos career in which he continued to challenge himself and his audience.

By: Jason Bailey
Imprint: Abrams
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 39mm
ISBN: 9781419767692
ISBN 10: 1419767690
Pages: 352
Publication Date: 26 June 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Jason Bailey is a film critic, historian, and the author of five previous books, including Richard Pryor: American Id and Fun City Cinema: New York City and the Movies that Made It. His work has appeared in the New York Times, Vanity Fair, Vulture, Bloomberg, Rolling Stone, Time, Slate, and more. He lives in the Bronx with his wife and two daughters.

Reviews for Gandolfini: Jim, Tony, and the Life of a Legend

“Jason Bailey’s richly reported biography of actor James Gandolfini is both entertaining and poignant, perceptive and vibrant. Best of all, it gives us the thing we’ve all been missing most: more time with the brilliant actor. You want to savor every anecdote, every insight and cherished memory shared by his friends, colleagues, and the entire Sopranos family. A true gift."" * Megan Abbott, New York Times bestselling author of The Turnout and Beware the Woman * “Jason Bailey doesn't spare telling the unflinching details of James Gandolfini's sometimes troubled life, but he does it with a necessary dose of empathy that makes this biography a guide to better understand the man, his work, and where the lines between the two blurred—and sometimes didn't."" * Jason Diamond, author of Searching for John Hughes and The Sprawl *