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Joachim Neugroschel
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Klaus Kinski
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Kinski Uncut: The Autobiography of Klaus Kinski Paperback – August 1, 1997

by Klaus Kinski (Author), Joachim Neugroschel (Translator)
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 53 ratings
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An international bestseller, Klaus Kinski's memoir has become a cult classic, telling the story of his fascinating life, from his tortured, poverty-stricken childhood in prewar Berlin to his rise to international stardom as a film actor. "Probably the most outrageous autobiography ever--less a memoir than a hyperbolically pornographic performance piece."--Newsweek.
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  1. Print length
    336 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Penguin Books
  4. Publication date
    August 1, 1997
  5. Dimensions
    5.25 x 0.75 x 8 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0140255362
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0140255362
  8. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Books; First Paperback Edition (August 1, 1997)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0140255362
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0140255362
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.25 x 0.75 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 53 ratings

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  1. Joachim Neugroschel

    Joachim Neugroschel

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  2. Klaus Kinski

    Klaus Kinski

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Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
53 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Alan Rinaldo
5.0 out of 5 stars An old german friend recomended it and he didn't read much. I figure it was good.
Reviewed in the United States on July 6, 2023
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A lot of hype about this book. I have to read it. Kinski was a great actor so interested in his life and work.
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BagelMom
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant!
Reviewed in the United States on August 31, 2000
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Insane, but a priceless look into the mind of a rather unstable artist. Kinski's book will haunt you, and not just the salacious bits, either. He has an eye for beauty that is as strong if not stronger than his appetite for the base.
9 people found this helpful
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Dave Overton
1.0 out of 5 stars poor quality
Reviewed in the United States on September 7, 2022
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opened the book and the pages immediately began falling out. I guess it's what Kinski deserves
One person found this helpful
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Allen Garfield's #1 fan.
3.0 out of 5 stars Ironically titled! Another goof, I guess...
Reviewed in the United States on May 25, 2019
...considering it's in fact - cut. The Previous version named names and was withdrawn by the publisher as a result of litigious has-beens.

It's worth noting that most of the (told with pornographic flair) venom is aimed at Herzog - Kinski's best collaborator.

That said, I couldn't help but laugh while watching Werner Herzog's documentary, My Best Fiend. It is here in which we learn that Kinski and Herzog wrote the book together! A hoax...and an epic prank.

Nihilistic, hateful and outright smutty. Over the top prose.

Spend a few extra bucks for the original 1989 version, titled I Need Love.
4 people found this helpful
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Kujifanya Jina
4.0 out of 5 stars As volcanic and unpredictable as its author - the volcanic bad boy of German cinema
Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2016
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Essentially an existential rant by the brilliant bad boy of German cinema, this book contains tremendous insight into Kinski's flawed persona. The most volcanic of bad boys in the history of German cinema, Kinski was a relentless pain in the ass to all who knew him, but within his hollow-eyed, tortured soul was a man capable of reaching deep into human emotions and turning in performances of such depth as to inspire awe. His autobiography barely scratches the surface of his film career, and is focused on his harrowing childhood of poverty, deprivation and despair and his mother's violent death during the Allied bombings over Germany. Kinski prefers to focus on his sexual conquests and one might be quick to dismiss this book as an erotic memoir, but what becomes obvious is Kinski, unable to feel love in its most idealistic form, is addicted to sex because he thinks it is love itself. It is only with the birth of his son does Kinski begin to discover love at its most meaningful. This book is so unflichingly honest it will make you angry, frustrated, and filled with pity. In short, the book will make you react the way those who knew Kinski reacted to him. It is simply brilliant autobiography.
9 people found this helpful
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the wizard of uz
5.0 out of 5 stars The Van Gogh of Acting.
Reviewed in the United States on February 26, 2002
Want to become a movie star?
Go to coffee houses around college campuses, stand on a chair and recite the poetry of Francois Villon; the medieval (1431-1463) student who killed a priest in a tavern brawl, was subsequently acquitted but still had to flee Paris and live a life of crime among outcasts.
As you pass the hat you find that you're doing such a magnificent job that soon you'll be able fill entire sports arenas with Shakespeare's solliloquiess---Performing them that is; you'll do Richard the Third, and then the audience will wait breathlessly while you change costumes and come back in character as Hamlet. Repeat with Othello, etc.
See how easy it is? Now do it.
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To say Kinski was talented, or that he lived on the edge, or that he was a bit too intense for his friends or wives is, of course, an understatement. Nor did fame and money do much to quench the anger or appetite of this outcast.
One of his wives, as she entered the hospital to deliver their child, wondered why all the prostitutes on the street waved at them and seemed so friendly. Herzog, despite plotting Kinsi's murder, kept using him as his leading man.
Yet the greatest tribute may be not Herzog's but the fact that, during his lifetime many fellow actors spoke about how kind Kinski was to work with--a true accolade to a narcissistic egomaniac who apparently never lost his humanity by the expedient method of never being able to stop being hurt by life.
As he put it, he never allowed his wounds to fully close. Though the reader might conclude that he was unable to have his wounds close, no matter how much he tried.
Speaking of method, Kinski slams 'method acting' in this book:
'These morons go into a sort of St. Vitus dance as an exercise before performing' and 'What is this idiocy? As if a school could teach me how to feel'
Less credible is his slamming of Herzog: 'A megalomaniac' and 'I kicked him... Herzog groveled' Especially when one considers that his most memorable performances were in Herzog's films.
Kinski opens his autobiography with a quote from one of his idols, Van Gogh. Too lengthy to repeat here but the essence of it being that all artists are cripples trying clumsily to express what was expressed only once-- by Jesus Christ.
Unsurprisingly, Kinski also toured Europe late in his life, reading from the gospels and insulting some audience members who did not share his view of Jesus as a criminal hunted down by society, while hugging others who shared his 'outcast' faith.
Kinski also wondered if he was the reincarnation of Paganini, arguably the most proficient techniqual violinist of all time, and, of course, an intense womanizer.
Kinski did not spend much time doubting his sanity, it seems he considered it a rather futile endeavor in a world where it was self evident that everybody was mad.
However, neither did he glamorize lunacy as a standard, there is nothing romantically sophomoric in his descriptions of being held in an insane assylum for a couple of weeks. It's more vivid and horrific than his description of being held in a POW camp for years.
He made certain he would not be be incarcerated for alleged (?) madness again, just as-- despite his extravagant lifestyle--he also made certain he would not suffer starvation again, as he did in his childhood.
For all actors or artists one plain piece of advice: Get this book. Despite exaggerations (or downrigth lies) this is a superb testimony by one of the greatest of all time.
64 people found this helpful
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A Reader
5.0 out of 5 stars "Uncut" compared to "All I Need Is Love"
Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2015
This is the later version of Kinski's autobiography, revised after lawsuits scuttled its predecessor, "All I Need Is Love". The title is ironic, since it was definitely "cut" to avoid further lawsuits. However, this version DOES include some cool extra stuff: A Van Gogh quote about Christ as the ultimate artist, a three page intro about a Jesus Lecture that descends into chaos and riot, a two page index, a bunch of photos ("All I Need Is Love" had none), 18 extra pages at the end, and an epilog. What's NOT included is the real names of famous people, a brief (rather innocent) encounter with Rossellini, and probably a few other episodes with the more offended parties. I think it's just as bawdy and fun as the original, but not as deftly translated (no translation credit on "All I Need Is Love"). Extra pages at end are very interesting: Hollywood types, cottage in forest, a lousy "Beauty and the Beast", how his immersion in the character of Woyzeck (who killed his wife and himself) keeps coming back like "malaria of the soul", various sleazy sexual encounters... Cornball epilog to his son hints that he knew his days were numbered. Anyway, this later, far more attainable and affordable version of the great Kinski's memoir is a fantastic, unforgettable journey into the mind of a brilliant madman. It has some real advantages over the earlier version, and only loses a few little things. Yes, I prefer the earlier translation but that's just me. Still an amazing book.
15 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in Canada on November 20, 2015
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Still had that new book smell.
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The Boogie Man
5.0 out of 5 stars Here was a man who knew how to live!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 6, 2015
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At the beginning of this book Klaus Kinski is possessed by the cosmic Christ spirit, He really seems to believe that He is Jesus; he obviously knew something, and he was able to drive crowds crazy with his rants, and sacrilegious declarations. Kinski was self taught as an actor and grew up on the streets of Berlin in the decade preceding the second world war. He was a street urchin who had to shoplift to survive this awful period. The one fault of this fantastic auto biography is the lack of dates and locations where all of the sensational events took place. Kinski was a brilliant actor; all the more so for being self taught, but one has to admit that he wasted much of his talent pursuing the highest salary; he could have been a mind blowing Hamlet on screen but instead he whored himself to the highest bidder. One gets the feeling on reading the book that Kinski was not really interested in being a “great” actor he was more concerned in living his life to the full and gaining as much pleasure and gratification in this life.

There are many omissions in the book such as Kinski’s drug habits; surely a hedonist such as himself would have indulged in drug taking? There are only a couple of references to spliffs and coke in the whole book. About half of this book is a litany of Kinski’s whoring. He must have had a large penis and a charming and pleasing manner. Actually there are accounts of dozens of trysts in the book, and it becomes a little boring. Kinski lived as so many of us would like to live, in a way that is probably impossible now. To call this work pornographic would demean it slightly. When reading of Kinski’s shagging, one becomes bored, but his accounts of all of the directors who tried to dominate him are extremely funny; especially his relationship with that “moron” Herzog.

Kinski claims that he had to put Herzog right repeatedly when filming “Aguirre”. He gives a thorough and believable account of the conditions in the Peruvian jungle where he was forced to work. It would seem that Kinski was the greater genius of the two; I am waiting to read Herzog’s version of their relationship. Kinski gives a long list of the directors he turned down, including Pasolini, Visconti, Boorman and many others. He actually met Cocteau and Brecht, whom he turned down too. It would seem that he was in much demand and not just for the size of his penis. I believe that Kinski was a truly great actor, but the book is marred by the lack of a timeline of all of his wild experiences; there is little concerning Kinski’s health and well being. At the end, the book states that he died of a massive heart attack in 1991. Judging by his totally indulgent lifestyle it could well of been something else.

Kinski shows a great deal of sensitivity in his writing which it is difficult for a non- thespian to reproduce or fake, His accounts of his relationship with his son, Nanhoi are tender and imbued with feeling. Kinski was a man who lived life to the full and shagged anything with a hole in it. I didn’t find his erotic escapades particularly stimulating, but I am sure that other people might!

It is doubtful if a sex maniac of the Kinski sort could survive in the world as it is now. He certainly had a very good memory regarding his conquests, film directors are firmly positioned in second place. After reading the book one feels that one knows women much better; part of Kinski’s intention no doubt! I would have liked to have learned more of the way in which Kinski became an actor and his famous voice control exercises, mentioned by Herzog in the DVD box set. If only Herzog and Kinski could have gotten along a little better, then Kinski would not have been cut off in his prime. I am certain that he was a genius, and a man of true feeling and discernment, the kind of actor who will never again exist unless there is some terrible cataclysm to mold and harden their personality!
4 people found this helpful
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Cristiano Uva
3.0 out of 5 stars Not much "uncut"...
Reviewed in Italy on September 5, 2014
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...considering the recent astonishing findings on his obsessive (to say the least) father-daughter relationship. Still an entertaining read on Kin(s)ki's romanesque life.
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The Ground
5.0 out of 5 stars A sexy piece of writing
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 23, 2022
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A book as rich as life expressing itself in one of countless ways. It is a refreshing read. Fiction or non-fiction? I don't care. Klaus Kinski is a wonderful possibility.
One person found this helpful
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Dave36
3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 5, 2012
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This book is highly pornographic, but nevertheless worth reading to completion.
Klaus is a sex maniac and thats all he cares about, he is not interested in acting or anything else really.
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