Rainer Werner Fassbinder is perhaps the most arresting and controversial film director of all time. In a career that lasted only 16 years, ending abruptly when he died of a drug overdose at age 36, Fassbinder wrote and directed 34 films and two lengthy television miniseries. He was also a prolific playwright and actor in other people's films. Comprehensive assessments are hard to come by, but this book, written by one of Fassbinder's friends, does an admirable job of covering the prolific director's career and analyzing all of his films, including the masterworks Effie Briest, The Marriage of Maria Braun, Lola, Veronika Voss, and Berlin-Alexanderplatz. The book ends with an intriguing reassessment of Fassbinder's final movie, Querelle.