"What's with Baum?" by Mr. Woody Allen: Book Review by Nishant Mittal

"I'm a writer. If they said to me tomorrow, 'You can't make any more films. We're not giving you another penny,' I would still write. I'd write for the theater.

If they said to me in the theater, 'We're not going to produce any of your plays because we hate you'. I would say, 'Well, then I'm going to write books.' And if they said, 'We won't publish any of your books,' I would still write them, because if they're good, they will see the light of day eventually. And if they're no good, well, then I'm lucky nobody's publishing them, you know? So it's a win-win situation."

That's Mr. Woody Allen. He's written and directed 50 films that have collectively earned 53 Oscars nominations and 12 wins, out of which 4 were for himself. Nobody comes close to Mr. Allen when it comes to depth and breadth of body of work. Not Mr. Scorsese, not Mr. Tarantino, not Mr. Nolan, nobody. (Okay. Maybe Mr. Lumet could be up there.. but not really).

Mr. Allen started working as a teenager and never stopped. Releasing about a movie every year for 40 years straight, he probably gives a new meaning to the word workaholic. At age 84, he got banished from Hollywood after getting targetted with some seriously twisted (and disproven) allegations. So what did he do? He left American cinema behind and made a film in French (at age 87). As the cancel culture made it even harder for him to make films, he got his plays produced in Europe. And when even that got difficult, true to his word, he released his debut novel - at age 90. Which is the book in picture.

'What's with Baum?' is classic Woody Allen. A breezy read, sprinkled with great laughs, occasional profundity, and a serious amount of neuroticism in a talented, but underachiever of a guy. His protagonist is smart, funny, but encumbered by his own self-seriousness and extremely high standards in art and culture. He truly wants to "change people's lives" with his work, but the world wants him to first be "entertaining". He sees most people who are successful as frauds, which they actually are, and eventually turn out to be. At the end, life unravels as it always does; with great surprise, comedy, and a twist of fate that feels both crazy, and real.

All in all, it's a pretty good book. Fun to read. But like many other works by Mr. Allen, it left me thinking why and how are his protagonists always such underachievers? They're otherwise so close to his own public persona, yet somehow painted as b(a)ums. Why? This is especially strange because no matter how you see it, most writing is indeed autobiographical, and Mr. Allen's work isn't any different. Does he, perhaps one of the most successful guys in the history of his trade, look at himself as a bum? Or is he just a clever writer who likes to sell underdog stories to his audience?

Well, imposter syndrome is indeed quite a bitch. If it can get to Mr. Allen despite his self proclaimed "blue collar" work ethic, it's quite a big deal. But what if it's the latter? Well, then I want refund! :)

"What's with Baum?" by Mr. Woody Allen.

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