A review by booknerd_therapist
Without You: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and the Musical Rent by Anthony Rapp

5.0

Having just finished this book about 30 seconds ago, I couldn't decide whether to rate it 4 or 5 stars. I will list what I loved and what I didn't love as much, and you can decide if this book is for you.

In all honesty, I wasn't crazy about the incredibly detailed descriptions of his sexual encounters. I believe some private things should be kept private, so that was difficult to read (though I wouldn't recommend skipping these pages, because you may miss something important). I also would have appreciated more stories about the people and production of Rent. Parts of the novel seemed to drag as he went on and on about some personal things.

However, I couldn't help but admire Anthony Rapp's incredible honesty and profound sincerity. He definitely does not present himself as a perfect person, and shows absolute humility in presenting his flaws and missteps right along with his success. He always has a life lesson to share, and explains it without being "holier than thou." In addition, the stories he DID share about the cast and production of Rent were very enjoyable, especially those about Jonathan Larson.

I'm not sure if I would recommend this to anyone who is not a Rent fan. However, I am definitely recommending this to my fellow Rent-heads!