ABOUT THE BOOK
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.
This is a combined review of the book and the audiobook, both of which, in different ways, offer so much. The book is beautiful, the pages are deckled (paper with an old-fashioned rough, irregular edge), and it includes pictures to enjoy as you read. However, the audiobook is narrated beautifully, and it felt almost as if Paul Newman was reading.
As to the story, this very private man wanted to set straight what might have been reported in tabloids or by various journalists. He needed his offspring to know the real man. So in September 1986 he enlisted Stewart Stern, a family friend and noted screenwriter, to help him with his memoir. However, when Newman died in 2008 the manuscript was far from finished. It had grown to over 14,000 pages and both men had set it aside years earlier. It took some of his family to pull it out and begin organizing a beautiful story of his life.
“Paul Newman’s first-person memoir is based on the numerous recorded conversations that were taped between him and Stewart Stern in 1986 and 1991.”
It didn’t take long for me to realize that Newman wasn’t interested in candy-coating his life. In fact, at times, he was brutally honest. The title seems to perfectly describe what he thought regarding his life: The Extraordinary Life Of An Ordinary Man.
I learned so much from this book. Though I know better, too many times I think of a movie star’s life correlating with what I see on screen. This book quickly reminded me that celebrities are filled with the same insecurities and emotions we are.
As I read/listened to this book, my emotions were on a roll. This was a man with a very rocky childhood, a college experience that wasn’t too good, a wanna-be-family man, and a movie star who continually doubted his abilities. But at the same time, this man who was recalling his life of ups and downs, always took full responsibility for his actions.
It felt enlightening and at the same time oddly inspirational and challenging. Why would I say oddly? After reading it, let me know if you agree.
Concerns
The complete honesty could be a turn-off to some. It’s raw and sometimes sad to hear since his experiences and choices were not always the best.
Yet, years later as he is remembering much of his life, my heart ached to hear the regret he experienced.
Final Thoughts
While I loved many things about the book, the audiobook narrators were so good that I leaned a little more toward listening than reading. Though I know audiobooks aren’t for everyone.
I felt for Newman as he relieved his life. He was a private man fighting unseen demons that continually undermined his worth and even his decisions. Yet, at the same time, he was always challenging himself and happy with life. At least for periods of time.
If you like memoirs, you’ll find this very worthwhile. I highly recommend it.
My thanks to Alfred A. Knopf for a copy of the book. I was free to review it if I chose to, yet there were no stipulations.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
PAUL NEWMAN was an American actor, film director, race car driver, and entrepreneur. Newman was the recipient of numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, three Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, the Cecil B. deMille Award, and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. His major film roles include The Hustler, Hud, Harper, Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting, The Verdict, Mr. and Mrs. Bridge, Nobody’s Fool, Road to Perdition, and the voice role of Doc Hudson in Disney-Pixar’s Cars. Ten-time Oscar nominee, Newman won an Academy Award for Best Actor for The Color of Money. Newman won several national championships as a race car driver. A political activist and humanitarian, he raised and donated nearly $1 billion to many charities. Newman had six children and was married to Oscar-winning actress Joanne Woodward for fifty years. He died in 2008 at the age of eighty-three.
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