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3.35 AVERAGE
3.35 AVERAGE
emotional
reflective
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
This book is more a journal that is non sequential than a memoir. Josh Brolin has been on a flurry of promotion for his book, and he comes across that has lead an extraordinarily interesting life and would be a lot of fun to hang out with. I am big fan of his acting work, especially True Grit and No Country for Old Men. Hopefully he will make more films with the Cohen brothers.
reflective
tense
fast-paced
I can completely understand the lukewarm reviews for this book. Josh Brolin’s memoir oftentimes feels like the stream of consciousness of a mad artist. It bounces through time with no real rhyme or reason, shifting gears to something completely different when one topic becomes incredibly interesting. That said, there is a rawness to Brolin’s expressions. I would absolutely recommend the audiobook version of this probably over reading it. Hearing it in Brolin’s voice, it feels very easy to navigate. The purpose of this memoir isn’t necessarily to recite the highs and lows of a life, but more the understand the mental and emotional complexities of an actor who kind of fought his way back to a place of prominence and fought back against the demons that tried to hold him down. Brolin feels tough, and this book reveals that he has kind of always been tough. A product of time spent with his mother and punk friends from the streets and beaches of California, Brolin illuminates the unknown parts of his life, but leaves enough left in the shadows to still remain a bit of an enigma. Yeah… I just really dug this book.
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
3.5 stars (rounded up to 4. Will Goodreads ever give us 1/2 stars or move to a 1-10 scale?).
Josh Brolin has lived an interesting life. I’ve heard him on podcasts and he is smart and funny and honest. This comes across in his memoir, too, though the book is a little more scattershot. It is not told in a chronological order; the book consists of essays, poems, letters, and short stories/vignettes. It was frustrating at times, being thrown right into a story without much context. He’s going for a style here, and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.
Overall, though, this is about his mother Jane, who raised him in an unconventional manner, without much help from his father James.
Josh Brolin has lived an interesting life. I’ve heard him on podcasts and he is smart and funny and honest. This comes across in his memoir, too, though the book is a little more scattershot. It is not told in a chronological order; the book consists of essays, poems, letters, and short stories/vignettes. It was frustrating at times, being thrown right into a story without much context. He’s going for a style here, and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.
Overall, though, this is about his mother Jane, who raised him in an unconventional manner, without much help from his father James.
adventurous
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
As an early fan of Josh Brolin, I was immediately interested in this memoir, but I wasn’t prepared for it. It’s the work of a would-be poet and tells the story of a mother’s son rather than a Hollywood actor. Brolin was (and still is) shaped by a powerhouse of a woman who left his life too soon, and the effects of that are felt in every story in the book. While we do learn much about Brolin’s life, his non-linear story is more journal entries and snapshots of life than narrative tale. But as he charts his struggles and pain and stupid choices and eventual healing, I came to appreciate the book’s artistry and the author’s efforts to make sense of his life.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death of parent
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced