Kirk Douglas is a born storyteller, and in this engrossing memoir, he offers wonderful tales, favorite jokes, and hard-won insights. As he explores the mixed blessings of growing older, he looks back at his youth and his glamorous life in Hollywood. He tells delightful stories of the making of such films as Spartacus and includes anecdotes about such friends as Frank Sinatra, Lauren Bacall, Ronald Reagan, Fred Astaire, John Wayne, and Johnny Cash. He reveals the secrets that have kept him happily married for more than five decades and talks fondly of times spent with his sons and grandchildren. He reflects upon his Jewish faith and offers strong opinions on everything from racism to corporate greed to America’s foreign affairs. He writes about the need to care more about the world and less about ourselves, as he shares a lifetime’s accumulation of wit and wisdom.
Ninety-year-old Kirk Douglas makes another splendid foray into his life (THE RAGMAN'S SON, MY STROKE OF LUCK), and Jason Alexander excels in its narration. Alexander's voice is friendly and inclusive, and his speech patterns are well suited for Douglas's many remembrances. His Yiddish pronunciations are perfect, and he tells a Borscht-belt joke with panache. Douglas's writing is appealing and conversational, offering a series of personal anecdotes, letters, poetry he's written, and poetry by the masters. He expresses deep concern about the kind of world we're leaving our children and shares his hard-learned philosophy, reflecting on his mistakes, his successes, his joys, his griefs, and his treasured friends and family. Alexander transforms the iconic movie star into the decent, humane man fans never knew--'til now. S.J.H. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly...
“[D]oes not disappoint….Douglas's assessment of his life is honest, wise and not always flattering….Douglas is upbeat, engaging and full of sharp observations….”
About the Author
Kirk Douglas has appeared in more than eighty films and was nominated for an Academy Award for Champion, The Bad and the Beautiful, and Lust for Life. Douglas received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1981, a special Oscar in 1996, and the National Medal of the Arts in 2001. He is the author of three previous bestselling memoirs, three novels, and two children's books.
Digital Rights Information
OverDrive MP3 Audiobook
Burn to CD:
Permitted
Transfer to device:
Permitted
Transfer to Apple® device:
Permitted
Public performance:
Not permitted
File-sharing:
Not permitted
Peer-to-peer usage:
Not permitted
All copies of this title, including those transferred to portable devices and other media, must be deleted/destroyed at the end of the lending period.
...
