Review: Sex, sets and second thoughts: Dustin Hoffman revisits his battles in Hollywood

This is read by an automated voice.Please report any issues or inconsistencies here.

See more from the L.A.Times in Google Search.

Set us as preferred Book ReviewLook at MeBy Dustin Hoffman and Ariel LevySimon Six/Scribner: 320 pages, $35If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookstores.In his jaunty new memoir, Dustin Hoffman describes himself as “a guy with a bawdy sense of humor who is obsessed with sex and is always looking for attention.”Yet in “Look at Me,” the two-time Oscar-winning actor maintains that “when a reckoning started making its way around the internet, and tearing through Hollywood, I thought it was a very good thing.” Until, in 2017, he found himself in the crosshairs of #MeToo, accused by several women of sexual misconduct from decades earlier.Hoffman denied the allegations at the time, issuing only a vague apology.In the memoir, he admits to having “made some women uncomfortable” and perhaps being “guilty of insufficient empathy.” But “taking something from someone sexually that they didn’t want to give,” he writes, “it’s just not something I’ve ever done.”He also says: “Different times have different rules.

The way we perceive what’s appropriate all depends on the air we’re breathing.”Draw your own conclusions.Co-authored with New Yorker staff writer and “60 Minutes” contributor Ariel Levy, “Look at Me” is a gossipy, entertaining compendium of stories assembled in a nonchronological mosaic.It makes clear that Hoffman wasn’t the most congenial of colleagues.

His intense combination of self-confidence and insecurity led to repeated clashes with directors and sometimes costars.He even quarreled with his Method acting teacher, Lee Strasberg.

Books In a candid interview, bestselling author John Green opens up about his latest novel, ‘Hollywood, Ending,’ the influence of Andy Warhol on his work and buil...