In his book "Mad as Hell: The Making of Network and the Fateful Vision of the Angriest Man in Movies", journalist Dave Itzkoff wrote that the Howard Beale character in Network was a product of Chayefsky's many frustrations. Itzkoff wrote: "Where others avoided conflict, he cultivated it and embraced it, His fury nourished him, making him intense and unpredictable, but also keeping him focused and productive." Itzkoff describes Chayefsky as "intensely troubled, a huge egomaniac and control freak, dispirited about the world, wryly comic, and a both present and absent family man."