Splendid ... Revelatory scholarship that gives full measure to this artist who despite obstacles and setbacks (some self-inflicted) is an exalted figure in the comedy pantheon, a distinct voice whose outlier creative life Courogen captures through original research, archival material and scores of interviews ... Like its subject, contains multitudes, and it captures the complexities and contradictions of the fiendishly funny and fiercely independent artist.
A deeply researched, psychologically astute new biography of May by Carrie Courogen...the author sees continuities and patterns in a career that is unified, above all, by the force of May’s character. Courogen also assesses May’s fortunes in the light of social history ... The book is written with a brash literary verve that feels authentic to its subject, and it does justice both to May’s mighty artistry and to the complex fabric of her life, linking them persuasively while resisting facile correlations between her personal concerns and her blazing inspirations ... The biography’s psychological acuity is all the more remarkable given May’s long-standing reluctance to speak about her life, or to speak to the press at all. Courogen develops a fine-grained and poignant view of an artist who has spent her adult years running from her background with a refugee’s desperation while also covering her tracks in order to keep her traumas away from the prurient and hypercritical gaze of the media and the public.
Casual, sympathetic and compulsively readable ... It’s an awkward title that, as the book goes on, begins to seem apt ... This is Courogen’s first book, and she relates it as if over Negronis. She casually drops a lot of f-bombs. At times, she rambles ... The author is an ardent fan who’s read everything and talked to whomever she could. Her intensity shines. Sometimes you’d rather ride along with a fan than with a professor.
Drawing on historical accounts, primary sources, and extant interviews, Courogen pieces together a comprehensive chronicle of May’s cinematic career. Well-researched and entertaining ... The book less successfully offers insight into May’s private life ... Courogen’s biography helps correct the record too, making May’s genius more tangible for her longtime fans, and offering incontrovertible proof for those yet to discover her that Miss May — and her remarkable talent — do indeed exist.
A vivid picture of a woman who teetered at the top of Broadway and Hollywood for decades ... Miss May Does Not Exist is repetitious, and the second half lacks some of the wit and energy of the first. Ms. Courogen writes in a breezy style, often calling her subject by her first name and intruding personally with casual "dear reader" comments... but her admiration for Elaine May, a woman who endured on her own terms in a man’s world, is always present.
Brisk, agreeable ... Courogen treats May with the respect her talent deserves without overselling the "Hollywood done her wrong" angle or falling into too much rapture ... If Courogen can’t match May’s wit, it’s to her credit that she doesn’t try.
Courogen presents primarily a career biography with large dollops of the intense relationship between Nichols and May scattered throughout. Still, this is a captivating look at an influential, one-of-a-kind talent in the performing arts pantheon whom comedy, theater, and film fans should know about.
May's admirers will welcome a long-overdue survey of her career and a tribute to the comic genius whom the director Clive Donner called 'better at everything--writing, acting, directing--than almost anyone else I know.'
