Friday, 20 January 2012

Book ~ "The Garner Files: A Memoir" (2011) - James Garner and Jon Winokur

From Goodreads ~ After suffering physical abuse at the hands of his stepmother, Garner left home at fourteen. He became Oklahoma’s first draftee of the Korean War and was awarded with two Purple Hearts before returning to the United States and settling in Los Angeles to become an actor. Working alongside some of the most renowned celebrities, including Julie Andrews, Marlon Brando, and Clint Eastwood, Garner became a star in his own right, despite struggles with stage fright and depression. In The Garner Files, this revered actor and quintessential self-made man recalls “trying to decipher” William Wyler with Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine, breaking Doris Day’s ribs, having a “heart-to-heart and eyeball-to-eyeball” with Steve McQueen, being “a card-carrying liberal—and proud of it,” and much more.

I like reading bios and I find it interesting to read bios of celebrities.

I like James Garner ... he seems like a nice guy. He's got a fairly interesting story.

He's got a temper but he knows it, especially when he's golfing. He has opinions about a lot of things. At times, I thought he sounded crusty ... and then I got to the chapter where he said he is proud of being a curmudgeon. Yep, he is.

The chapters are broken up into subjects ... there's golfing, Rockford, racing, politics, etc. The last chapter is full of anecdotes of people who know him.

It's interesting to read his opinions of different people ... and he's not afraid to name names (for example, he thought Bill Murray was a jerk in a golf tournament).

1 comment:

Robin M said...

Sounds interesting. I grew up watching Rockford Files. So enjoyed his acting.