NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER •
An unprecedented look into the personal and creative life of the visionary auteur David Lynch, through his own words and those of his closest colleagues, friends, and family
“Insightful . . . an impressively industrious and comprehensive account of Lynch’s career.”—The New York Times Book ReviewIn this unique hybrid of biography and memoir, David Lynch opens up about a life lived in pursuit of his singular vision, and the many heartaches and struggles he faced to bring his unorthodox projects to fruition. Lynch’s lyrical, intimate, and unfiltered personal reflections riff off biographical sections written by close collaborator Kristine McKenna and based on more than one hundred interviews with surprisingly candid ex-wives, family members, actors, agents, musicians, and colleagues in various fields who all have their own takes on what happened.
Room to Dream is a landmark book that offers a onetime all-access pass into the life and mind of one of our most enigmatic and utterly original artists.
With insights into . . .EraserheadThe Elephant ManDuneBlue VelvetWild at HeartTwin PeaksTwin Peaks: Fire Walk with MeLost HighwayThe Straight StoryMulholland DriveINLAND EMPIRETwin Peaks: The Return
On sale: June 11, 2019
Grade: Grades 9-12 + AP/IB
Page count: 592 Pages
ISBN: 9780399589218
David Lynch advanced to the front ranks of international cinema in 1977 with the release of his first film, the startlingly original
Eraserhead. Over the course of his career, Lynch was nominated for three Best Director Academy Awards (
The Elephant Man, Blue Velvet, and
Mulholland Drive), won the Palme d’Or for
Wild at Heart, swept the country with
Twin Peaks mania in 1990 when his groundbreaking television series premiered on ABC, and established himself as an artist of tremendous range and wit. He is the author of a previous book,
Catching the Big Fish, on Transcendental Meditation. David Lynch died in January 2025.
Kristine McKenna is a widely published critic and journalist who wrote for the
Los Angeles Times from 1976 through 1998, and has been a close friend and interviewer of David Lynch since 1979. Her profiles and criticism have appeared in
Artforum, The New York Times, ARTnews, Vanity Fair, The Washington Post, and
Rolling Stone. Her books include
The Ferus Gallery: A Place to Begin and two collections of interviews.
“Insightful . . . an impressively industrious and comprehensive account of Lynch’s career.”
—The New York Times Book Review“A memorable portrait of one of cinema’s great auteurs . . . provides a remarkable insight into [David] Lynch’s intense commitment to the ‘art life.’ ”
—The Guardian“This is the best book by and about a movie director since Elia Kazan’s
A Life (1988) and Michael Powell’s
A Life in Movies (1986). But
Room to Dream is more enchanting or appealing than those classics. . . . What makes this book endearing is its chatty, calm account of how genius in America can be a matter-of-fact defiance of reality that won’t alarm your dog or save mankind. It’s the only way to dream in so disturbed a country.”
—San Francisco Chronicle
