'In Robin, Dave Itzkoff manages to straddle the man and the myth of Robin Williams, all the while helping us see why we fell in love with both. He has written a book about the truth and pain that lies in comedy, and the price paid by a sensitive soul' Amy Poehler

Robin Williams was a singularly innovative actor and comedian. Possessing a mercurial, tongue-twisting intensity, he deftly inhabited and shed one character after another with lightning speed, from his breakout role in Mork & Mindy, to the legendary Mrs. Doubtfire, and his Academy Award-winning performance in Good Will Hunting.

But as this revelatory biography shows, Williams' comic brilliance masked a deep well of conflicting emotions and self-doubt. Robin shows how Williams struggled mightily with addiction and depression - topics he discussed openly while performing and during interviews - and with a debilitating condition at the end of his life that affected him in ways his fans never knew.

Drawing on more than a hundred original interviews with family, friends and colleagues, as well as extensive archival research, Robin is a fresh and original look at a beloved performer whose work touched so many lives.