“Jim Henson: The Biography” by Brian Jay Jones – A Legend of All Trades
Though he was associated with them forever and they did help him to become a household name, Jim Henson: The Biography by Brian Jay Jones focuses on many different aspects of his life.
In this book, we are taken through the comedian’s life from start to finish. The periods of his life that were covered include his childhood in Mississippi, his teenage years, his meteoric rise to fame in America, his battle to bring The Muppets to television, and his last decade during which he was nothing less than an internationally-celebrated artist.
In this book, we are taken through the comedian’s life from start to finish. The periods of his life that were covered include his childhood in Mississippi, his teenage years, his meteoric rise to fame in America, his battle to bring The Muppets to television, and his last decade during which he was nothing less than an internationally-celebrated artist.
We get to see all the different aspects of his life through testimonies and interviews of those who knew him, taking a glimpse not only at the happy and go-lucky Jim Henson all are used to seeing, but also at the complete mind hiding behind that persona.
We get to see some of his failed adventures in life, his fears, his desires to stray from the comedic path, and the tragic final hours of his life.
I’ll be the first to admit it, as a child, I have never watched The Muppets, and until I dug into this book, I didn’t really know who Jim Henson was either. To get the more technical details out of the way, this book is superbly-written, giving us a clear and (from what I understand) complete image of the man Jim Henson was.
Though it does take a while to get on the topic of the shows that made him famous, Henson’s life apart from that was nothing short of fascinating. We get insights in his life we couldn't have imagined to be true, such as his long-standing resistance to becoming a puppeteer.
I’ll be the first to admit it, as a child, I have never watched The Muppets, and until I dug into this book, I didn’t really know who Jim Henson was either. To get the more technical details out of the way, this book is superbly-written, giving us a clear and (from what I understand) complete image of the man Jim Henson was.
Though it does take a while to get on the topic of the shows that made him famous, Henson’s life apart from that was nothing short of fascinating. We get insights in his life we couldn't have imagined to be true, such as his long-standing resistance to becoming a puppeteer.
The book even goes beyond that, giving extensive bios of the various characters to have appeared on his shows, chronicling their conception and evolution over time.
All in all, for someone like me (neutral towards Jim Henson), the book proved to be a pretty interesting read, one that kept me interested for large stretches of time.
It is a bit long in my opinion, but I am certain that any fan of Jim Henson won’t be able to put the book down and will be sad when it reaches its inevitable end.
 | Brian Jay JonesPersonal site Brian Jay Jones is a biographer who writes for New York Times who spent more than twenty years as a speechwriter and policy analyst. In 2007 he began his career as a full-time biographer, and to date arguably his most well-known works are Washington Irving and Jim Henson: The Biography. |
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