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nanometers's review
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
4.5
Fun and engaging autobiography into the life of Hollywood and filmmaking.
stewreads's review against another edition
4.0
Robert Evans starts his memoir by saying that he won't apologize for anything that he says about anyone he writes about, and that they should be grateful that he even remembered them. That introduction gives the reader a pretty good sense of what to expect from this book.
Robert Evans was an actor turned producer of the Golden Age of Hollywood, who worked on The Godfather, Chinatown, Rosemary's Baby, and tons of other films, some great, some awful. By all accounts (including his own), he was an absolute sleazeball: he was a greed-fueled womanizer, constantly making enemies, constantly fighting to get his way, constantly getting into trouble. His story reads like a Hollywood Goodfellas and, while they've made a documentary on his life, I'm shocked that there hasn't been a biopic yet. The Kid Stays in the Picture is a classic case of fact being more entertaining than fiction, even though it's hard to tell just how much of Evans's story is actually truth and how much has been touched up to suit his ego.
Evans is no role model, but you don't read a book like this for life lessons. From an outsider's perspective, he comes across as a bit of a con-artist, but to a reader, he's charming and hilarious. For such a hotshot, he sure knows how to write. His style words are arranged to pack the maximum punch, whether that punch be comedic or dramatic. You can't help but get sucked into his world; no matter where he takes you, you follow blindly, knowing it'll be a wild ride.
Robert Evans was an actor turned producer of the Golden Age of Hollywood, who worked on The Godfather, Chinatown, Rosemary's Baby, and tons of other films, some great, some awful. By all accounts (including his own), he was an absolute sleazeball: he was a greed-fueled womanizer, constantly making enemies, constantly fighting to get his way, constantly getting into trouble. His story reads like a Hollywood Goodfellas and, while they've made a documentary on his life, I'm shocked that there hasn't been a biopic yet. The Kid Stays in the Picture is a classic case of fact being more entertaining than fiction, even though it's hard to tell just how much of Evans's story is actually truth and how much has been touched up to suit his ego.
Evans is no role model, but you don't read a book like this for life lessons. From an outsider's perspective, he comes across as a bit of a con-artist, but to a reader, he's charming and hilarious. For such a hotshot, he sure knows how to write. His style words are arranged to pack the maximum punch, whether that punch be comedic or dramatic. You can't help but get sucked into his world; no matter where he takes you, you follow blindly, knowing it'll be a wild ride.
rtms1988's review against another edition
4.0
I don't know what to say about this. I just had finished. I will write some decent sentences one day, but I had learned a lot with book.
mehlsbell's review
If you care more about your narrator being entertaining than you do about his specific veracity, well here you go. A rollicking read, about as truthful as most Hollywood biopics.
garyboland's review against another edition
3.0
Some good anecdotes and some interesting hollywood history. The tone feels like the author wrote it to settle scores however
jonathantoews19's review against another edition
4.0
I get the impression there's a lot that Evans left out. I was excited to hear about his coke-soaked shitparty of a life in the 80s, but apparently he felt the need to skip over that.
eksexton's review against another edition
1.0
I have a soft spot for old Hollywood glam and I love a good memoir for an insider take on the fabulousness of Hollywood before social media and the Kardashians. Robert Evans produced some of the best films ever released and had friends and girlfriends amongst the most famous stars of all times and I was curious to see how he lasted so long in a cut throat business. Unfortunately, while I know he made it through to 86 years old today, I am bit confused as to how. The stories were choppy and I truly missed the part explaining how anything actually got done when people were constantly calling, screaming, and then hanging up on one another. I was disappointed, both in the quality of the writing and in learning that Evans could not be more misogynistic if he tried; looking back it’s obvious my expectations were much too high.
Maybe I’m missing the boat here, maybe I’m reading too much into this, and maybe with the current state of affairs in the world 13 years after this book was published the story has just lost a bit of it's shine for me. So I’ll take a step back. Trying to look at this book objectively, Evans definitely has some outlandish stories for anyone who enjoys reading about life in Hollywood starting back in the 1940s. He is entertaining in that you can tell by his writing style he probably captures everyone’s attention at a dinner party. Maybe that’s what made him so successful to begin with.
Honestly, I thought there was a chance for this book to be a lot more interesting. I missed how it got such rave reviews when it feels like every story he tells never makes it to the conclusion because someone is slamming the phone down on the other end of the line. It’s such an interesting business with a crazy history, but with the entire cast of characters being old white men I just found the attitude of the writing to be pompous and arrogant. The writing was poor, he uses the same analogies and cliches over and over. He is a misogynist in every sense of the word, and don’t let his “love of women” fool you. I can’t imagine that any of the Hollywood actresses he rented cars for 40-50 years ago appreciate his taking credit for the reason they developed successful careers. I’d much rather read Ali McGraw’s take than any word Evans has left to right.
I think if you go in knowing what to expect maybe you can appreciate Evans more for who is he and how he presents himself. He was there as film worked itself into the business it is today, and he obviously was dedicated and hardworking. He needed to be cocky and sure of himself to be successful, and that quality definitely has not diminished even slightly.
After writing this I realize that perhaps I had clouded expectations, I’m seeing more clearly now that where I’m taking issue with the story is probably what helped it sell so many copies. I think the glamor of old Hollywood can still be fascinating, but Robert Evans is not the one I want to hear the history of Hollywood from ever again.
Maybe I’m missing the boat here, maybe I’m reading too much into this, and maybe with the current state of affairs in the world 13 years after this book was published the story has just lost a bit of it's shine for me. So I’ll take a step back. Trying to look at this book objectively, Evans definitely has some outlandish stories for anyone who enjoys reading about life in Hollywood starting back in the 1940s. He is entertaining in that you can tell by his writing style he probably captures everyone’s attention at a dinner party. Maybe that’s what made him so successful to begin with.
Honestly, I thought there was a chance for this book to be a lot more interesting. I missed how it got such rave reviews when it feels like every story he tells never makes it to the conclusion because someone is slamming the phone down on the other end of the line. It’s such an interesting business with a crazy history, but with the entire cast of characters being old white men I just found the attitude of the writing to be pompous and arrogant. The writing was poor, he uses the same analogies and cliches over and over. He is a misogynist in every sense of the word, and don’t let his “love of women” fool you. I can’t imagine that any of the Hollywood actresses he rented cars for 40-50 years ago appreciate his taking credit for the reason they developed successful careers. I’d much rather read Ali McGraw’s take than any word Evans has left to right.
I think if you go in knowing what to expect maybe you can appreciate Evans more for who is he and how he presents himself. He was there as film worked itself into the business it is today, and he obviously was dedicated and hardworking. He needed to be cocky and sure of himself to be successful, and that quality definitely has not diminished even slightly.
After writing this I realize that perhaps I had clouded expectations, I’m seeing more clearly now that where I’m taking issue with the story is probably what helped it sell so many copies. I think the glamor of old Hollywood can still be fascinating, but Robert Evans is not the one I want to hear the history of Hollywood from ever again.
bksenior's review against another edition
5.0
My favorite autobiography of all time. The audiobook is one of the best ways to spend 6 hours I can think of.
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