I started reading and listening to memoirs in preparation for writing my own, and they inspired me to be honest and vulnerable about my story in ways that helped me overcome sexual shame. I lived a fascinating lifestyle as a sugar daddy for a few years, but talking about it was scary as hell. Reading other men who admitted their fears and failings gave me the courage to be radically honest and lay it all out there. Writing the book was cathartic in ways decades of therapy failed!
David Winkler’s life reads like a “Once Upon a Time in Beverly Hills” fairytale. A film producer of titles such as the Creed franchise, he enjoys a wonderful relationship with his two children and even gets along famously with his ex-wife. Using a website that connects successful older men with younger women for “sugar daddy” relationships, David meets Jordan, a beautiful Instagram model.
After the love story begins magically, shadows begin to form, and dark secrets take their toll. This book takes us down the Hollywood rabbit hole of sex, power, and money, leaving readers in delightful disbelief…because it’s all true. The experience teaches David lessons about serious mental health issues, all the while opening his heart to the power of true love, intimacy, and vulnerability.
I read Matthew Perry’s memoir only a month before his tragic death and was so moved by his honesty and vulnerability to every personal fear and failure.
I imagine reading it now would be a little more difficult, but it still stands as a powerful look inward at ambition, addiction, and fear of failure.
INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER #1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER
The BELOVED STAR OF FRIENDS takes us behind the scenes of the hit sitcom and his struggles with addiction in this “CANDID, DARKLY FUNNY...POIGNANT” memoir (The New York Times)
A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK by Time, Associated Press, Goodreads, USA Today, and more!
“Hi, my name is Matthew, although you may know me by another name. My friends call me Matty.”
So begins the riveting story of acclaimed actor Matthew Perry, taking us along on his journey from childhood ambition to fame to addiction and recovery in the aftermath of a life-threatening…
As the founder of Rolling Stone magazine, Jann recounts decades of being at the forefront of musical, film, and political history.
But it’s his personal admissions of his arrogance and, most importantly, decades of being in the closet as a gay man that make reading or listening to this absolutely fascinating.
In this New York Times bestseller, Rolling Stone founder, co-editor, and publisher Jann Wenner offers a "touchingly honest" and "wonderfully deep" memoir from the beating heart of classic rock and roll (Bruce Springsteen).
Jann Wenner has been called by his peers “the greatest editor of his generation.”
His deeply personal memoir vividly describes and brings you inside the music, the politics, and the lifestyle of a generation, an epoch of cultural change that swept America and beyond. The age of rock and roll in an era of consequence, what will be considered one of the great watersheds in modern history.…
I started reading the book and then switched to listening to the audio version. Thanks to Matthew’s vocal passion and conviction, the book sprang to life as a powerful insight into a personal belief system that has kept him “just keep livin’.”
Having worked with him, I know he always keeps things professional and close to the vest, and it moved me to see him opening up about the struggles he faces.
From the Academy Award (R)-winning actor, an unconventional memoir filled with raucous stories, outlaw wisdom, and lessons learned the hard way about living with greater satisfaction.
I've been in this life for fifty years, been trying to work out its riddle for forty-two, and been keeping diaries of clues to that riddle for the last thirty-five. Notes about successes and failures, joys and sorrows, things that made me marvel, and things that made me laugh out loud. How to be fair. How to have less stress. How to have fun. How to hurt people less. How to get hurt less.…
What a shame Will’s fascinating and vulnerable reflections on the demons on his back have been disgraced by his famous slap.
But once you read (or even better listen) to him, you’ll understand where that slap came from, as Will opens up about his poor relationship with his abusive father that led to a lifetime of hidden anger and, well, a desire to slap anybody he sees as a threat!
The Instant Sunday Times Bestseller The Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller
PRAISE FOR WILL 'The best memoir I ever read' Oprah Winfrey 'If you read one book this year, make it this one' Jay Shetty 'Incredible' Idris Elba 'The book is awesome. So candid and considered...fascinating' Chris Evans 'A triumph...really inspiring, so well written, vulnerable and deep. I highly recommend it' Mindy Kaling 'It's fantastic...very moving' Zoe Ball 'Incredibly honest...inspiring' Greg James 'A wild ride' New York Times 'Raw, comedic, inspirational' GQ
One of the most dynamic and globally recognized entertainment forces of our time opens up fully about…
Though Mister Ovitz might not be as famous as the others whose books I suggested, as the power broker who ran the Hollywood talent agency CAA from the 1980s through 2000, Mister Ovitz’s admission of how he mowed down the competition in order to build actors like Tom Cruise into mega stars is surprisingly vulnerable and inspiring.
If you're going to read one book about Hollywood, this is the one.
As co-founder of Creative Artists Agency (CAA), Michael Ovitz earned a reputation for ruthless negotiation, brilliant strategy and fierce loyalty to his clients. He reinvented the role of the agent and helped shape the careers of hundreds of A-list stars and directors, including Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Meryl Streep, Sean Connery, Steven Seagal, Bill Murray, Robin Williams and David Letterman.
But this personal history is much more than celebrity friendships and bare-knuckled deal-making. It's an underdog's story: How did a kid with no connections work his way…
What happens when a novelist with a “razor-sharp wit” (Newsday), a “singular sensibility” (Huff Post), and a lifetime of fear about getting sick finds a lump where no lump should be? Months of medical mishaps, coded language, and Doctors who don't get it.
With wisdom, self-effacing wit, and the story-telling artistry of an acclaimed novelist, Elizabeth Benedict recollects her cancer diagnosis after discovering multiplying lumps in her armpit. In compact, explosive chapters, interspersed with moments of self-mocking levity, she chronicles her illness from muddled diagnosis to “natural remedies,” to debilitating treatments, as she gathers sustenance from family, an assortment of urbane friends, and a fearless “cancer guru.”
Rewriting Illness is suffused with suspense, secrets, and the unexpected solace of silence.
By turns somber and funny but above all provocative, Elizabeth Benedict's Rewriting Illness: A View of My Own is a most unconventional memoir. With wisdom, self-effacing wit, and the story-telling skills of a seasoned novelist, she brings to life her cancer diagnosis and committed hypochondria. As she discovers multiplying lumps in her armpit, she describes her initial terror, interspersed with moments of self-mocking levity as she indulges in "natural remedies," among them chanting Tibetan mantras, drinking shots of wheat grass, and finding medicinal properties in chocolate babka. She tracks the progression of her illness from muddled diagnosis to debilitating treatment…
Interested in
movie stars,
addiction,
and
the film industry?
10,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them.
Browse their picks for the best books about
movie stars,
addiction,
and
the film industry.
