Just a Shot Away

Named a Best Book for Fall by The Chicago Tribune

“An epic biography … a vivid and vital portrait of a one-of-a-kind filmmaker.”
–Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

“Just a Shot Away is a detailed, funny, and insightful biography worthy of its subject’s mighty stature.”
–The American Scholar

“Wry, the quips and dish plentiful … Superb.”
–Kirkus

“A true biography rather than a greatest-hits compendium or a superficial survey of his films… . Think of this portrait as capturing the Martin Scorsese who lives behind the man we think we already know.”
–Booklist

“Epic, frenetic, thoughtful, darkly comic, and deeply researched like Scorsese’s best films, Just a Shot Away zips by in an adrenaline rush, reframing the director’s work within the context of his life, giving novel perspective to every scene. Mark Binelli’s voice, too, is singular: a commanding grasp of his subject’s genius, moderated by a sober skepticism, fearlessness, and turns of phrase that had me hollering. The book, crucially, is not just about Marty, but also Bobby and Mardik and Robbie and Thelma and Barbara and Isabella–a community of creatives who kept Scorsese artistically nourished and, at times, alive. This is the biography that Scorsese earned and deserves.”
–Dan Charnas, author of the PEN Award-winning Dilla Time: The Life and Afterlife of J Dilla, the Hip-Hop Producer Who Reinvented Rhythm

“A first-rate bio of America’s foremost filmmaker.”
–Peter Biskind, author of Easy Riders, Raging Bulls

“Mark Binelli may just be the perfect biographer for Martin Scorsese and his brilliantly diverse body of work. Just a Shot Away pulses with an obsessive energy that matches the filmmaker’s relentless drive and kaleidoscopic imagination. Richly researched, so smart, and great fun to read!”
–Julie Salamon, author of The Devil’s Candy and Wendy and the Lost Boys

“Before he was the preeminent American auteur of his time, before he was our global ambassador of cinema, Martin Scorsese was a sickly kid in Little Italy whose world was ‘seven blocks long and four blocks wide.’ In this long overdue and groundbreaking book, Mark Binelli excavates Scorsese’s past to tell a rollicking story of how Scorsese became Scorsese and then directed some of the greatest movies made in this country or any other.”
–A. S. Hamrah, author of The Earth Dies Streaming and Algorithm of the Night

Mark Binelli is the author of Detroit City Is the Place to Be and the novels Sacco and Vanzetti Must Die! and Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ All-Time Greatest Hits. A features writer at Rolling Stone for twenty years, he is now a contributing writer at the New York Times Magazine. He lives in Brooklyn.

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