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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
This book made me so happy. SO HAPPY. It is a damn delight and I want to read it another fifty million times. Love.
I also learned some new card tricks! Bonus.
I also learned some new card tricks! Bonus.
I would say it's 4.5 stars for me. I did end up reading it start to finish (which wasn't as confusing as I might have thought) after exploring the links for a bit. I was glad I did since it took me in directions I hadn't found by clicking through. Altogether, it was clever and highly entertaining, I learned a few new things, and I laughed quite a bit. Very good read.
While I enjoyed this book and NPH does an awesome job narrating it, the choose your own adventure concept was hard to translate into audio. This book would probably have been better to read and not listen.
Can you lead a happy, successful life, be a well-adjusted person and still write a great memoir? Yes, if you're NPH.
I'm not a NPH fan. Well, I mean, I like him but not in the 'flip your shit about anything he says and does' camp, of which there is one and they are VERY serious about it. Given that I listened to a Choose Your Own Adventure format rather than read it, I am still left feeling a bit confused about what is legit and what is fictional. However, I was completely swept by his life story and found many parts of it to be emotionally honest as well as light-hearted and downright funny. NPH is a pretty cool dude. I particularly found resonance when he talks about the love of his life, David and their completely off-the-hook, cute twins. I'd hate them if they weren't so cool. I've never seen How I Met Your Mother and fall solidly into the "Oh, you mean that Doogie Howser guy?" population. NPH discusses his struggle against remaining typecast the rest of his life and, I think, finally breaking free of it with his recent Broadway hit, Hedwig. If you haven't watched the YouTube of him singing "Sugar Daddy" at the Tony Awards... http://youtu.be/VY1y-c_cIjI go on and do it.
Highly enjoying. The apex of celebrity autobiography!
Going into this book, I had no strong feelings one way or the other about NPH. I loved Doogie Howser as a teenager, but I have not seen HIMYM and I have little to no interest in musical theater. I probably should have known that this book wouldn't appeal to me, but I thought it could be witty and fun.
To be fair, there is some wit, and it's clear that NPH does have a certain star quality, but it does not make up for the times he comes across as spoiled, overly impressed with himself, and unsympathetic to those have not been as fortunate as he has.
Anyone who has made it in Hollywood has done so through a mix of hard work and lucky breaks. You can read any celebrity memoir for those stories. What could have made this autobiography stand out is hearing how he revealed his sexuality as a public figure, or the surrogacy process he and his husband went through. He briefly discusses those, but there is no sense that he endured any real struggle. He grew up gay in Hollywood, where he was loved and accepted, and the hardest part of the surrogacy was finding an egg donor beautiful enough to bear their children (ugh).
I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, but at some point he loses all touch with reality. Here are some of the more off-putting moments: He gives a detailed account of living in luxury while staying with Elton John in the French Riviera (which only came about because he just happened to run into Elton's husband while taking another fabulous vacation in Mykonos). He talks about his elaborate 9-day birthday celebration, culminating in a stay in the suite at the top of Cinderella's castle. He talks about meeting his HOT husband (his words), and OMG...did he mention he's HOT?, because he's HOT. He talks about his perfect twins, and how at 5 years old, they are smarter and more sophisticated than your kids, because they eat sashimi and use big vocabulary words. I think Gwyneth Paltrow might be more grounded and relatable.
Most reviews mention that they loved or hated the Choose Your Own Adventure format, and yes it is gimmicky, but that is the least of my problems with this book. I just didn't feel like his story was all that interesting. To me, a good life story has ups and downs, struggle and triumph. It seems like this was just a chance to brag about the charmed life he has led. If you are a NPH superfan or want to hear about the fabulous life of the famous and well-connected, then you might enjoy this book.
To be fair, there is some wit, and it's clear that NPH does have a certain star quality, but it does not make up for the times he comes across as spoiled, overly impressed with himself, and unsympathetic to those have not been as fortunate as he has.
Anyone who has made it in Hollywood has done so through a mix of hard work and lucky breaks. You can read any celebrity memoir for those stories. What could have made this autobiography stand out is hearing how he revealed his sexuality as a public figure, or the surrogacy process he and his husband went through. He briefly discusses those, but there is no sense that he endured any real struggle. He grew up gay in Hollywood, where he was loved and accepted, and the hardest part of the surrogacy was finding an egg donor beautiful enough to bear their children (ugh).
I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, but at some point he loses all touch with reality. Here are some of the more off-putting moments: He gives a detailed account of living in luxury while staying with Elton John in the French Riviera (which only came about because he just happened to run into Elton's husband while taking another fabulous vacation in Mykonos). He talks about his elaborate 9-day birthday celebration, culminating in a stay in the suite at the top of Cinderella's castle. He talks about meeting his HOT husband (his words), and OMG...did he mention he's HOT?, because he's HOT. He talks about his perfect twins, and how at 5 years old, they are smarter and more sophisticated than your kids, because they eat sashimi and use big vocabulary words. I think Gwyneth Paltrow might be more grounded and relatable.
Most reviews mention that they loved or hated the Choose Your Own Adventure format, and yes it is gimmicky, but that is the least of my problems with this book. I just didn't feel like his story was all that interesting. To me, a good life story has ups and downs, struggle and triumph. It seems like this was just a chance to brag about the charmed life he has led. If you are a NPH superfan or want to hear about the fabulous life of the famous and well-connected, then you might enjoy this book.
Maybe it's because I listened to the audio version and didnt read the hard copy. I just didnt enjoy it as much as I thought I would...though i enjoyed neil as a narrator.
I have loved NPH since his Doogie days. But this book made me love him more. His story is interesting especially the personal stuff about his husband and family.
