Bailey was...eager to show another side of Gandolfini: a hard-driving, obsessive character actor who fretted over line memorization and sought out projects and roles that cut against what naturally became a tough-guy persona.
The pre- and post-Sopranos sections of this book can’t compete with its hefty, chewy middle. Professionally, the life was not unlike a sandwich with excellent ingredients nestled between slices of adequate bread. The book could have used trimming, but that is a minor downside to Bailey’s thoroughness as a researcher: he seems to have talked to everyone who would talk to him, and tracked down multiple revealing interviews ... A compassionate and judicious biographer, Bailey neither skirts nor dwells on Gandolfini’s drug and alcohol abuse, or on the turmoil in his romantic life, focusing instead on the guilt he suffered for his lapses ... Bailey makes us feel the loss of both artist and man, which is what you want from an account of a life cut short.
Judicious and deeply reported ... Dr. Melfi would...demand a robust interrogation of Gandolfini’s childhood, but Bailey’s investigations hit a wall here.
It must be tricky to write a biography of a celebrity you can’t interview (Gandolfini passed away in 2013), but Bailey does a masterful job of it here ... The book’s biggest draw is the author’s approach: to treat James Gandolfini not as a superstar, or a pop-culture icon, but as a regular guy who had never sought fame and who struggled to keep himself balanced once he was a global sensation. Bailey is a perceptive film critic and an equally perceptive biographer. Much has already been written about Gandolfini and The Sopranos, but Bailey’s fresh approach yields new insights. Consider this book a must-read.
A fast-moving, entertaining bio of a Hollywood mensch ... Displays a respect for Gandolfini’s craft and a sympathy for his sweet and salty nature off-screen.
