One of my students from my freelance class lent me "Al Pacino in Conversation with Lawrence Grobel". I'm sure there are mixed feelings about Pacino's work - there's mixed feelings about any prominent artist; I happen to be a fan myself. I saw him onstage twice in Boston, first in the '73 Richard III - which was also my first encounter with live Shakespeare - at a church and then later (I think it was later, my inner timeline gets a little fuzzy) in Arturo Ui at the Charles.
Any fan would enjoy this book, but taking it even deeper, this book is a wonderful look inside the mind of a serious, working actor. I don't agree with everything he says -- I will never like the Strasberg Method (as I've said, I lean more toward Meisner and actual Stanislavski) but I accept that many people swear by it. I also agree that Strasberg himself was an excellent actor. However, I will point out that many people we consider Method actors had other strong influences -- Brando had Stella Adler, Pacino himself studied at HB and was mentored by Charlie Laughton (not Charles Laughton, different person altogether).
This is consistent with my belief that it takes many teachers to create a master.
What is so wonderful about this book is the peek inside Pacino's mind - hints of his process and his values. There are insights about his characters and what he looks for when he's constructing them, what he aims to pull out of himself. It's a good book for any serious acting student. He is clear about his choices, good and bad. You may not agree with everything he does or chooses, but it will lead you to think about your own process, it will lead you to choose.
Also, I love that he freely quotes Shakespeare in normal conversation, he's not afraid to let his brains or his passions show. By the end of the book, I felt as if I'd been in a master class for actors.
This is a book that requires more than one reading - like Pacino himself, it reveals itself progressively.
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