NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER - The raw, candid, unvarnished memoir
of an American icon. The greatest movie star of the past 75 years covers
everything: his traumatic childhood, his career, his drinking, his
thoughts on Marlon Brando, James Dean, Elizabeth Taylor, John Huston,
his greatest roles, acting, his intimate life with Joanne Woodward, his
innermost fears and passions and joys. With thoughts/comments throughout
from Joanne Woodward, George Roy Hill, Tom Cruise, Elia Kazan and many
others.
A TIME BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
"Newman at his best...with his self-aware persona, storied marriage and
generous charitable activities...this rich book somehow imbues his
characters' pain and joy with fresh technicolor." --The Wall Street
Journal
In 1986, Paul Newman and his closest friend, screenwriter Stewart Stern,
began an extraordinary project. Stuart was to compile an oral history,
to have Newman's family and friends and those who worked closely with
him, talk about the actor's life. And then Newman would work with
Stewart and give his side of the story. The only stipulation was that
anyone who spoke on the record had to be completely honest. That same
stipulation applied to Newman himself. The project lasted five years.
The result is an extraordinary memoir, culled from thousands of pages of
transcripts. The book is insightful, revealing, surprising. Newman's
voice is powerful, sometimes funny, sometimes painful, always meeting
that high standard of searing honesty. The additional voices--from
childhood friends and Navy buddies, from family members and film and
theater collaborators such as Tom Cruise, George Roy Hill, Martin Ritt,
and John Huston--that run throughout add richness and color and context
to the story Newman is telling.
Newman's often traumatic childhood is brilliantly detailed. He talks
about his teenage insecurities, his early failures with women, his rise
to stardom, his early rivals (Marlon Brando and James Dean), his first
marriage, his drinking, his philanthropy, the death of his son Scott,
his strong desire for his daughters to know and understand the truth
about their father. Perhaps the most moving material in the book centers
around his relationship with Joanne Woodward--their love for each other,
his dependence on her, the way she shaped him intellectually,
emotionally and sexually.
The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man is revelatory and
introspective, personal and analytical, loving and tender in some
places, always complex and profound.
