The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man

August 22, 2022
Actor, race car driver, and philanthropist Newman (1925–2008) was a deeply private man living an intensely public life; this posthumous memoir features the Hollywood legend’s own voice as he “sets things straight” and “pokes holes in the mythology” that accompanied his celebrity. Adapted from interviews taped with his friend Stewart Stern before his death, Newman’s story unfolds in a humble, sometimes humorous narrative voice—“I’m aware that in some ways it’s my nature to deprecate everything I do”—punctuated with earnest awe of the turns his life has taken, astonishment at the intensity of his passion for wife Joanne Woodward, affection for his children and anguish that he could not shelter them from the vagaries of fame. Newman’s voice is interwoven with transcripts from friends, relatives, and colleagues (including Eva Marie Saint, Tom Cruise, Elia Kazan, and more) whose memories shed light on what transformed the summer stock actor into an international sex symbol and what curbed his struggles with alcoholism and grief from veering into tragedy. As compiled by editor David Rosenthal, these collective perspectives do more than offer a prismatic view of film industry glamour and dirty laundry: they elevate the book from a humble autobiography to a more nuanced, human portrait—with the “semblance of truth” that Newman craved when he went on the record. With equal parts grounded authenticity and inviting charm, this candid memoir captures the life of a legend.

September 1, 2022
Raw reflections from a movie icon. From 1986 to 1991, Paul Newman (1925-2008) worked on what he called a project of "self-dissection," hoping "to try and explain it all to my kids." That project took the form of conversations with his close friend and screenwriter Stewart Stern supplemented by interviews with friends, family, actors (Tom Cruise, Patricia Neal, Eva Marie Saint), and directors (John Huston, Robert Altman, Sidney Lumet, among others) and illustrated with family photos. Journalist and publisher Rosenthal has edited Stern's transcriptions to produce a revealing memoir of a life marked by pain, grief, and regret. The son of a "dismissive, disinterested" father and a volatile, possessive mother, Newman grew up feeling like an outcast. Small, underweight, and a mediocre student, possibly because of a learning disability, Newman had no direction for his future. He gravitated to acting, worked sporadically, and decided to enroll in Yale drama school's directing program because he thought he couldn't depend on a career in acting. When he was accepted into the Actors Studio, he felt like an imposter, and insecurity dogged him. Compared to his second wife, Joanne Woodward, he considered himself a fraud. He failed as a father, too. "I don't have a gift for fathering," he said. "I never had a sense of my children as people." He felt guilt over abandoning his children with his first wife, especially his eldest son, Scott, who died of an overdose at age 28. Newman was candid about his own alcohol abuse. According to Woodward, he found peace in being, as Joanne Woodward notes, "dead drunk"--and in auto racing, where the risk and challenge felt like "something real and quite primitive." As for acting, he said, it "gave me a sanctuary where I was able to create emotions without being penalized for having them." Intimate reflections on an extraordinary life steeped in sadness.

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Starred review from October 1, 2022

The much-anticipated, posthumously published, reflective ruminations of Paul Newman (1925-2008) proves worth the wait. The actor, director, father of six, Democratic political activist, philanthropist, and race car enthusiast speaks in first person, sometimes irreverently, in this compilation of rescued transcripts. The transcripts, edited by Rosenthal, are based on taped conversations made between 1986 and 1991 with the assistance of screenwriter friend Stewart Stern. Within the framework of basic facts--his WWII naval service; drama courses at Kenyon College, Yale, and the Actors Studio; his marriages to Jackie Witte and Joanne Woodward; his 10 Oscar nominations and three Oscar wins (one competitive; two honorary)--readers encounter other points of view from the reflections of co-stars, directors, and family members. While acclaimed for his charity brand of food products, he struggled with alcoholism, a lack of confidence in sports and studies, the guilt over his son Scott's death from a drug overdose, and his preference for privacy (paradoxically, despite his legions of lifelong friends). VERDICT Readers will want to savor the stories in this oral history-turned-autobiography and undoubtedly be motivated to watch or rewatch Newman's many films.--Frederick J. Augustyn Jr.

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from September 1, 2022
In 1986, Newman and a close friend, the playwright Stewart Stern, began collaborating on his memoir. Long conversations were recorded; family, friends, colleagues, and costars were interviewed. And then, after five years, the project fizzled. The audiotapes were rumored to have been burned. At the time of Newman's death in 2008, the prospect of his exceptional life story as told from his perspective was thought to be lost to the ages. Transcripts existed, but where? In 2019, a trove of 14,000 pages was uncovered, and, finally, Newman's story could be told. Unlike most celebrity self-retrospectives, this is not a "first I did this, then I did that" kind of memoir. It is, rather, a sharp, acerbic, often somber "what was I thinking?" analysis that reveals a level of vulnerability and insecurity surprising for a man who was seen as the epitome of cool. Newman is relentlessly hard on himself, "I've always been in pain, always needed help," he confesses as he assesses a nature that tends toward self-deprecation and self-destruction. Fans looking for Hollywood gossip will not find it, while those who really want to know the man behind the image and the legend will be compelled by Newman's raw, open, and principled self-portrait.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Newman's timeless allure will work its magic on readers.

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