Look at Me

For nearly six decades, Dustin Hoffman has been one of the most compelling and unpredictable figures in American culture. From his breakthrough performance in The Graduate to his unforgettable roles in Midnight Cowboy, Tootsie, Rain Man and beyond, he has spent a lifetime inhabiting extraordinary characters. Now, in Look at Me, Hoffman turns his remarkable powers of observation on himself.

Warm, candid, hilarious and deeply moving, Look at Me is an intimate memoir about art, ambition, family, friendship, love, ageing and the mysteries of a creative life. Written with acclaimed author Ariel Levy, the book traces Hoffman’s journey from a young actor searching for purpose to a two-time Academy Award winner reflecting on what matters most as he approaches his tenth decade.

Along the way, Hoffman shares stories that are by turns outrageous and poignant: an unexpected clash with Steve McQueen; adventures in Greenwich Village during the turbulent 1960s; encounters with legends including Laurence Olivier, Maggie Smith, Gene Hackman, Mike Nichols, Robert Duvall and Arthur Miller; and the personal experiences that shaped some of his most celebrated performances.

But Look at Me is more than a chronicle of a storied career. It is a meditation on mortality, identity and the enduring need to create. With the wit, vulnerability and emotional honesty that have defined his finest work, Hoffman invites readers into the private world behind the public icon. The result is a memoir as distinctive as the man himself: funny, searching, wise and impossible to forget.

About the Author

A two-time Academy Award winner and seven-time nominee whose arrival in Hollywood helped usher in a new and revitalized approach to filmmaking, Dustin Hoffman continues to add singular performances to a career rich with characters that have obliterated the line previously dividing the archetypes of "character actor" and "leading man." He plans to live to be at least a hundred years of age, and he does not plan to retire. Ever.