An exploration of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s artistic journey, revealing how the creator of the Broadway musicals Hamilton and In the Heights found his voice.
Worshipful, virtually-no-warts-at-all ... I am second to none in my admiration for Miranda’s accomplishments ... Still, my hat is off to Pollack-Pelzner, who over the span of more than 300 pages offers only the faintest indication of a life with any blemishes ... Perhaps Pollack-Pelzner’s most important contribution is the great skill he applies to analyzing Miranda’s musical brilliance ... [A] valentine of a biography.
Pollack-Pelzner is at his strongest when he delves into the fascinating nitty gritty of the collaborations that help productions come together ... But this is not a hagiography. Pollack-Pelzner is frank about Miranda's shortcomings ... Pollack-Pelzner uses these details to treat Miranda as the creator he is — enthusiastic, vulnerable, ambitious, innovative, fallible — instead of as a mere celebrity. A different biographer might have used this as an occasion for dishy name dropping.
