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"I'm trying to figure out why it's so easy to talk to him, to confide in him," Al Pacino said of interviewer Lawrence Grobel. "That's his talent, I guess." As one of the most gifted actors in modern film history, it seems natural that Al Pacino can recognize great talent in others. And indeed he does in the foreword to Lawrence Grobel's new collection of uncut conversations, culled from a series of interviews over nearly three decades. Notorious for avoiding the press, Pacino agreed to his first interview ever after reading Grobel's unbiased treatment of Brando in Playboy. Their subsequent conversation, taking place in Pacino's modest New York three-flat, is a volleying Q&A that beautifully demonstrates how Pacino can switch from tight-lipped to fiery mid-sentence as Grobel masterfully coaxes the actor to reveal himself, tapes rolling. It makes perfect sense that the two became tennis partners later in life.

The resulting 1979 Playboy Interview was just as much a testament to Grobel's craft as an interviewer as it was an insight into a great actor's mind. That is, indeed, Grobel's talent. Grobel's ability to push Pacino, but also to give him space when needed, creates the kind of rare situation where there's deep respect between interviewer and subject. This rapport allows Pacino the freedom to be that rarest of qualities that celebrities exhibit in interviews: honest. There's certainly no shortage of witty banter. When Grobel tells him that film critic Pauline Kael couldn't tell the difference between him and Dustin Hoffman in Serpico, Pacino replies, "Is that after she had the shot glass removed from her throat?"

Pacino also opens up to Grobel about his private life, about his broken home and early struggles as an actor, about his great successes and failures and, interestingly, about Shakespeare. The Bard dominates a surprising amount of the conversation, almost serving as a respite for Pacino when the introspection gets too intimate. What easier way to avoid a question than by quoting Richard III? But what's even more interesting is that Grobel encourages it. As he writes in the afterward: "Why do I want to write about what Al Pacino has to say about Robert Blake or Michael Jackson...when I could be quoting him on love or treachery, as he recites lines he has committed to memory?"

Grobel's clear affection for a man at the pinnacle of his craft and for Pacino the person is returned by Pacino. This mutual admiration means this biography is probably the most accurate insight into the actor that we'll ever get.