Ratings2
Average rating4.5
A truly delightful listening experience. Stewart is honest about his flaws, vulnerable in his insecurities and the dark moments he experienced as a child, but the majority of this book reads as a rose-coloured glance back over a life well-lived. He manages both gratitude for the opportunities, and calm statements of where his hard work contributed to his success. While there are a slew of names dropped, they feel like the billing required to tell his life story and how staggering some new experiences were. Didn't love hearing about the infidelity, but I am so happy he seems to have got love and marriage right the third time.
Most obvious in the scant coverage of moments with his children of his first marriage, and the subsuming of moments with the previous two wives for relating moments with the current, the book makes it clear that Stewart is an actor before anything else. It may be hard to relate to that choice of career or that level of dedication, but he likely wouldn't be among the most vivid media moments of my childhood without that drive.
And he seems to be such a gentle soul in his relationships with fellow actors. I'll admit to being pleasantly surprised that a man in his eighties is as enlightened (dare I say lefty) in his views.
Definitely go for the audiobook on this one.
⚠️Spousal abuse, child abuse