"Richard Gilman referred to How to Read a Film as simply "the best single work of its
kind." And Janet Maslin in The New York Times Book Review marveled at James Monaco's
ability to collect "an enormous amount of useful information and assemble it in an
exhilaratingly simple and systematic way." Indeed, since its original publication in
1977, this hugely popular book has become the definitive source on film and media.
Now, James Monaco offers a special anniversary edition of his classic work, featuring
a new preface and several new sections, including an "Essential Library: One Hundred
Books About Film and Media You Should Read" and "One Hundred Films You Should See."
As in previous editions, Monaco once again looks at film from many vantage points,
as both art and craft, sensibility and science, tradition and technology. After
examining film's close relation to other narrative media such as the novel, painting,
photography, television, and even music, the book discusses the elements necessary to
understand how films convey meaning, and, more importantly, how we can best discern
all that a film is attempting to communicate. In addition, Monaco stresses the still-
evolving digital context of film throughout--one of the new sections looks at the
untrustworthy nature of digital images and sound--and his chapter on multimedia brings
media criticism into the twenty-first century with a thorough discussion of topics like
virtual reality, cyberspace, and the proximity of both to film.
With hundreds of illustrative black-and-white film stills and diagrams, How to Read
a Film is an indispensable addition to the library of everyone who loves the cinema
and wants to understand it better."

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