Finale: Late Conversations with Stephen Sondheim by D.T. Max

Finale: Late Conversations with Stephen Sondheim Reviews

• 
  Kimberly

  Stephen Sondheim was one of the great musical talents of our time. His genius will entertain us for generations to come. How wonderful that the author was privileged to spend some (not nearly enough) one on one time with him. Sondheim appears reticent about his life and I only wish he had been a bit more forthcoming. Excellent representation of a fascinating and talented man!
  
  My thanks to the author, D.T. Max, and to the publisher, Harper Collins Publishers, for my copy of this book. #Goodreads Giveaway
• 
  Kaye

  I finished this book on the same day I attended a concert featuring Bernadette Peters performing with our local symphony. Most of the numbers were by Stephen Sondheim. She was amazing and his songs genius. Sadly the same can’t be said for this book.
  
  D.T. Max working as a writer for the New Yorker transcribes five conversations he had with Sondheim in 2016-2017. But there isn’t a lot of context for the conversations. Evidently, Max wrote a 1000 word published piece but was hoping to create a major profile that never happens. The interviews are rambling and haphazard. I don’t need to know that they both once had a dog with the same name. I wanted to learn his process or thoughts on creating his shows or about legends he worked with. That isn’t this book. The most interesting story to me was Meryl Streep mentioning playing charades with him while they are listening to Audra McDonald perform. He comments about Andrew Lloyd Weber saying I don’t remember which ones (shows) I have seen. It is a conversation but it doesn’t tell me much.
  
  I think someone interested in Sondheim should read the two books he wrote himself or a Wiki page. Sadly I didn’t learn much here. Thank you to NetGalley and Harper for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
• 
  Susan Tunis

  The people reading this brief book are, presumably, die-hard Sondheim fans like me. So I'm fascinated by the diverse spectrum of responses to it. Some don't appreciate the rambling--and random--nature of the conversations that make up this book. It is, admittedly, what remains of an aborted profile that Mr. Sondheim withdrew from.
  
  I, however, simply love that I can "hear" the voice of this genius, a man whose work has moved and challenged me for decades. Yes, I want to hear him discuss his work, but if we're being honest, anything technical he says about music is beyond my understanding. On the other hand, hearing him talk about his dogs, or about playing charades with Meryl Streep, that gives me some sense of who he was as a person. And I'm as interested in the complex and contradictory person as I am the artist. And for me, Finale was a great success for that reason. There are a lot of interviews you can watch of him discussing his work. This is something entirely else.
  
  Throughout the profile, there is discussion of the unnamed project that Mr. Sondheim was working on--struggling with--for several years prior to his death. Mr. Max ends the book with the hope that one day he will be able to see it performed. Oh, me too! Me too!
• 
  Honah

  This guy definitely wanted to have sex with stephen sondheim
• 
  Victoria Weinstein

  Oy, this book.
  We and Sondheim deserved so much better than this self-indulgent piece that was far more a stultifying slog through the interviewer's fan boy feelings about the process of interviewing Sondheim than it was about the genius himself.
  
  When I found out on page 25 that Max HAD TO BE TOLD BY SONDHEIM HIMSELF that he had written two books about his own work (Finishing the Hat and Look Ma, I Made a Hat) I groaned. Are you joking me? Are you KIDDING? You have the temerity to waste Stephen Sondheim's time, and ours, with your presumption that you can write an interesting profile while being deficient in basic, universally-available Sondheimiana?
  
  Ugh, this book. Paragraphs and paragraphs of Max's interior struggle with how his "relationship" with SS was proceeding: tedious passages that should have been worked out with his best friends or therapists. Max and his editors seem not to understand that we were there for Sondheim, not D.T. Max, who repeatedly peppers his subject with the same dumb questions and flaccid attempts at rhyming and gets smacked down by SS during several delicious exchanges. Max is a nudnik. His constant framing of his professional arrangement with Sondheim in romantic relationship terms ("ditching me") is incredibly irritating. When Sondheim declines further work on the profile, Max goes into a tailspin of wounded feelings and claims, "My interviews had all been slowly closing in on the connection between Sondheim the person and the artist."
  Oh, honey, how delusional.
  Later on the same page, "And the relationship was ... worth fighting for. Sondheim was just too fascinating, too absorbing, and to unusual for me to let go of. . ... and we had come so far." LEAVE THE MAN ALONE!! I almost hid under my desk in second-hand embarrassment when Max describes sending Sondheim an e-mail quoting Maria's line to Anita in "West Side Story,"
  "You were in love, or so you said." LEAVE. THE. MAN. ALONE. Sondheim rips back, "You should know better." Iconic!
  
  We had come so far? They didn't go far at all. Mostly because D.T. Max is a fan -- and a rather lazy one -- who went into his project with no real knowledge or insight about musical theatre and a very limited knowledge or interest in Sondheim's artistic legacy. I longed for just one or two really interesting questions about the artistic process that would have allowed Sondheim to share memorable insights, but again and again Max stuck to the basics that we've all heard Sondheim talk about already. "What comes first, the lyrics or the music?"
  
  How about, "Is there any character you can recall being especially difficult or pleasant to write songs for?"
  "I think most Sondheim fans would recognize the French horn solo at the end of 'Sunday' as two of the most emotionally powerful notes in the musical theatre canon. Do you remember when that particular interval came to you in the composing of "Sunday in the Park...?"
  
  "I was thinking about 'A Little Priest,' a six-minute number that contain an incredible series of clever rhymes -- how many verses ended up on the chopping block? Forgive the pun."
  
  "Over the years as you've had conversations with actors in your productions, is there any particular song or songs that come up repeatedly as being especially challenging to get through? Like, I am thinking about Sara Jane Moore in 'The Gun Song' ("Assassins") pulling props out of her bag and getting through the lyrical and musical complexities of her verse, it's a killer. Do you ever get affectionate grief about moments like that?"
  
  "A lot of people are shocked when they see 'A Little Night Music' and find out that the entire score is comprised of waltzes: was that a natural development as you began writing, or was it part of your initial concept?"
  
  "I think 'Pretty Women' is one of the most beautiful and saddest duets ever written. My own interpretation of it is that Sweeney and the Judge are both singing about the same women in the conflicting context of evil and grieving -- and the reason it works dramatically is that Judge Turpin is a connection to Sweeney's wife and daughter, which makes it harder for Sweeney to just slit Turpin's throat. So they get this devastating duet. Am I onto something?"
  
  The interviews are only as lively as Mr. Sondheim makes them as he fields boring questions and bears the weight of the D.T. Max's neediness. The book picks up some energy when Meryl Streep and Paul and Alex Gemignani join the conversation, but on his own, Max doesn't know what to do with his magnificent subject but badger him about the Bunuel project and fuss about how Sondheim is reacting to him.
  
  Oh well, at least we have Sondheim's own marvelous two-volume examination of his art.
• 
  Evelyn

  The uncomfortable story of a weird guy trying to convince Stephen Sondheim to be friends with him. If I had been in a parasocial relationship with the most accomplished Broadway composer who ever lived, I simply would not have acted like this
• 
  Breanne

  I found the writer of this unbearable - and learning he lives in the same town as me cemented it. The writer was self-absorbed in a piece that’s supposedly about Sondheim. The conversations were interesting, and Sondheim is fascinating enough of a brain to enjoy hearing his anecdotes, but this seemed to be more of a book about DT Max rather than Sondheim. Not the end of the world, but not the book I wanted to read.
• 
  Scott

  Some wonderful insight from Sondheim (and Streep and Gemignani père et fils). But the book was a bit maddening because the author showed a complete lack of awareness about aspects of Sondheim. For instance - as a reader, I don't care that he kept failing in crafting rhymes of which Sondheim approved. It made him (Max) look amateurish and desperate.
• 
  Eva B.

  Babe wake up, new Sondheim book just dropped
• 
  Derrick Contreras

  Loved the interviews but it’s not a good book. The journalist gets in the way of what we really want which is Sondheim. The additional writing is sparse and also not great. It’s a 2 star book but the interviews were warm hugs from Sondheim so I gave it 3 stars as a wholistic grade.
• 
  Lynn

  5 lengthy conversations that D. T. Max, a writer with The New Yorker had with Stephen Sondheim beginning in 2017, until his death. Very good and insightful. A breeze to read.
• 
  soup

  I very much enjoyed Sondheim’s rambles, the way his mind works very much connected with me. I was not a huge fan of the authors interview style, and his lack of general theater knowledge was slightly bothersome, but not atrocious. Definitely recommend if you like Sondheim or 70s musical theater, not sure if it’s a book for a very wide audience outside of that.
  
  Also dude, stop bugging him about his project that’s not how the creative process works omg
• 
  Kevin

  FINALE is an entertaining expansion on the four interviews New Yorker writer D.T. Max (Every Love Story Is a Ghost Story: A Life of David Foster Wallace) conducted between 2016 and 2019 with Stephen Sondheim (1930-2021). At the time, the composer was working on a musical based on two Luis Buñuel movies, a project that was never completed.
  
  Besides the sharp interviews, Max demonstrates the finesse used in wooing a reticent interview subject, writing, "I had never tried to be his friend, but I had tried to be his ideal conversational partner." He describes the friendly but prickly Sondheim as "humorous, sardonic, and appealing, beloved but not lovable, in the Shavian way." A large portion of these interviews mines Sondheim's creative process and how he worked with collaborators. But Max also coaxed some childhood tales out of Sondheim, with a few caustic remarks about his mother, who sent him to boarding school: "She didn't want me in the first place, so it was to her taste to get rid of me--and to my taste to get rid of her."
  
  There are some fun random opinions, such as that he enjoyed the Beatles and Radiohead but wasn't a fan of jazz music or social media. "At my age, what I don't want to do is meet anybody else," he told Max. As Sondheim neared 90 and his pace slowed, he also reflected on his mortality: "I don't mind dying. I just hate--I just don't want it to be uncomfortable. And I don't want it to be prolonged."
  
  These tantalizing interviews should delight theater fans.
• 
  Marcos Teach

  This is an engaging series of interviews that The New Yorker journalist DT Max wrote profiling the indomitable Stephen Sondheim from 2017-2019. Like Mr. Max, I have an affection and a connection to the work of Sondheim’s. Being a gay man trying to find and process work, art and love- these are things about Mr Sondheim’s personal life I’ve always related to.
  
  These interviews are Mr. Max attempting to document the creation of a new musical Sondheim
  announced he was writing, a musical vignette inspired by the films of Luis Bunuel. As he attempts his project, Mr. Max finds himself outwitted by. Sondheim know all too well that there is a writer attempting to get information out of him, which often made him quite cantankerous and ornery. But Max was trying to do his job, and even if he didn’t get the project he wanted done, he was helped by interviews with the Paul and Alexander Gemignani, and Meryl Streep, who were a part of Sondheim’s inner circle. Overall, Finale is a beautiful glimpse into the words and genius of a composer that changed music and drama forever.
• 
  Ethan Bridges-Garcia

  I’m biased, what can I say? Stephen Sondheim will forever be my favorite composer/lyricist of all time. He always put something extra in every single one of his lines to where it is different every time you listened to it. He put in humanity. He put in realness. And after reading some of his final interview conversations, I began to realize that I am more like him than I thought. I hate being praise, but I crave it. I hate and need people. I can’t have too many distractions because I won’t work. “It’s the little things.” I laughed and I cried. There will never be another Steve.
• 
  Ginger

  An Inside Look at a Legend
  
  This book is more than just D.T. Max’s transcripts of conversations with Stephen Sondheim. It’s a fascinating look at what goes into quality long form journalism. It’s all the things that usually don’t make it in and more. And I’m grateful that Max kept it all and was willing to reflect on it, and his editor saw the potential in it. Even if you’re not into musicals or Sondheim, this book is worth a read as a glimpse into good interview techniques and storytelling.
• 
  Gordon Blitz

  Finale: Late Conversations with Stephen Sondheim is a fascinating look at how Sondheim composes. Although there are a lot of insider information that might only appeal to musical oficianadas, there is enough about the man to make this a worthwhile portrait. And because D.T. Max is an excellent writer, the book is a joy to read
• 
  Daniel Krolik

  A fitting (and fittingly frustrating) capsule of a very human giant. It's funny and candid, and the appearances of Meryl and the Gemignanis are very illuminating. Sondheim reveals himself in his controlling of how much he chooses to reveal. The progression of the Buñuel piece is a little heartbreaking to read in retrospect. But Max leaves us with great hope and gratitude.
• 
  Glenn Hopp

  The reviews here seem to be either wholly endorsing or wholly hating. I don’t disagree with all the remarks about the preparation of the author, but I enjoy the music of Sondheim so much I still liked the book. It’s for sure a book for people who treasure Sondheim’s music, but also probably one for people who enjoy hearing a good conversationalist talking about many things.
• 
  BookTrib.com

  FINALE: LATE CONVERSATIONS WITH STEPHEN SONDHEIM by non-fiction author D.T. Max is essential reading for every Sondheim fan and recommended for anyone studying or interested in American musical theater history!
  
  
  Read the full review on Booktrib.com
• 
  Kate Cronin

  Very disjointed, which I suppose was inevitable given the nature of the interviews and the timing. Still, fascinating to get a tiny glimpse of someone you admire. And certain phrases..."I have a very fleet right hand and a lox left hand." "Lower your eyebrow and pay attention. " endear me further.
• 
  Robyn Martin

  Audible