Reviews with content warning for Drug use - Scenes from My Life: A Memoir

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Scenes from My Life: A Memoir by Jon Sternfeld, Michael K. Williams

7 reviews

maybak's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

This posthumous memoir tells the story of Michael K. Williams, a man whom we were all familiar with but whom we didn’t really know.

When I listen to or read a memoir, I want to connect with the person who is sharing their story. With this memoir, published after his untimely passing, Mike allowed us to see him whole. I wish he had narrated his own audiobook—it would have been brilliant. Dion Graham, the audiobook narrator, did a great job at filling such big shoes.

I have learned so many things about Mike—his family background, his upbringing, his relationship to his parents and siblings, his hopes and dreams, his fears, his demons and battles, and his advocacy work. He was transparent and generous in what he shared with us. With this book, he imparted a lot of wisdom that will hopefully further his legacy.

It was insightful finding about his love for the community and his commitment to “leaving breadcrumbs for the kids” to ensure the next generation could go further than the previous one.

Here is one of my favourite passages from the memoir:

“At the core of my work is service. Getting a second chance at life is about service.
Wanting to use my time and platform to give back keeps me sane, keeps me balanced. It is part of my food now. It gives me perspective and purpose.
We have to get back to the idea of the village to figure out how to mend our struggling families and the community—give them culture, respect, connection, the experience of dreaming and hoping.
The permission to dream is so important. The permission to love yourself is so important.”

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adiajamille's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

“Heavier than the blood in our veins, are the stories we inherit about ourselves”

This book is so hard to read/ listen to knowing that ultimately he lost to his demons. It’s heartbreaking that he wasn’t able to find the peace he deserved in life. But I think that ultimately that’s part of the gift he’ll always leave with us. This tragic story of an imperfect person who spent his life trying to find his voice and space, while simultaneously struggling. It’s a portrait of the ups and downs of healing, and how it’s not linear. And it serves as a reminder that you can never get too comfort in your healing, remembering there’s always more. And I think the gift for him is that now he has this beautiful legacy of complex and compelling characters that helped reshaped Black identity as seen on film. He’s left behind this legacy of lives he impacted directly. And with his life and memoir a reminder of how we can do more within our communities. And he’s given a multifaceted view of addiction, humanizing it in a way many Black folks are never afforded. His final, public, words being words of love and encouragement.

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jadahreads's review

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emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

Michael K Williams’ is a pure soul who left Earth too soon. His memoir is so profound and bittersweet. Wish he was still here to share his wisdom, art, love, and kindness with the world. 😢

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buxomfloozy's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Absolutely one of the best memoirs I have ever read.

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jules6469's review

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emotional hopeful informative medium-paced

5.0

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micklesreads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

This was a beautiful memoir and so bittersweet knowing he died just before it was published. There is so much we didn't get to see from him, not just as the incredible actor he was, but in his work with youth of color who are over-policed.

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mila_'s review

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challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

I picked up this book at a Little Free Library, not having any idea who Michael K. Williams was or what his story might be about. Let me tell you, this was a rollercoaster, covering dark topics that need to be addressed such as addiction and racism. I think that this memoir was written in such a manner that it could be accessible to anyone who didn't already know the author, such as myself, and is written in the style of fiction. This book was easy to get into, and I think rather important, considering all of the things that were covered. The writing style was not particularly memorable, but hey, he was an actor, not a writer, and he was not a bad writer by any means. Rest in peace, Michael Williams, and thank you for sharing your story with the world.

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