Silent Echoes: Discovering Early Hollywood Through the Films of Buster Keaton

"What John Bengtson has done is nothing short of remarkable: a deft combination of detective work, archeology, and film buffery. I can't get enough of it!" --Leonard Maltin, film critic and historian "This is a cinematic and photographic detective story of the first order. Time and artifice have been stripped away. What's left is a wonderful portrait of a city, its principal industry, and one of its best artists." --Ken Burns, author/director, "The Civil War, Baseball" """Bengtson captures the same eerie feeling I sometimes get when watching Keaton, who is the greatest of the silent clowns: The sense that Buster occupies not the fantasy world of many silent comedies, but a real world right down to the street from our own." --Roger Ebert, film critic and historian

Part time-machine, part detective story, Silent Echoes presents a fresh look at the matchless Keaton at work, as well as a captivating glimpse of Hollywood's most romantic era. More than a book for film, comedy, or history buffs, Silent Echoes appeals to anyone fascinated with solving puzzles or witnessing the awesome passage of time.