by Paul Newman
First published 2022
Paul Newman sits with his friend Stewart Stern in 1986 and begins a five-year confession. The Hollywood star wants the complete story told, but with one rule: total honesty from everyone involved. Stern gathers voices from Newman's past and present. Navy friends, childhood companions, family members, and collaborators like Tom Cruise and George Roy Hill share their memories. Newman responds with his own raw account. He exposes his troubled youth, his early romantic failures, his rivalry with Marlon Brando and James Dean. He discusses his first marriage, his struggles with alcohol, and the devastating loss of his son Scott. Most revealing are his reflections on Joanne Woodward, the woman who transformed him intellectually and emotionally. Newman strips away his public image to examine the man beneath the fame. The result captures both his vulnerabilities and his growth across decades in Hollywood.
Genres: biography, drama, literary-fiction, autobiography, contemporary, memoir, biography-memoir, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Period: 1986
297 pages · Hardcover · Knopf
Content warnings: addiction, alcohol-abuse, death