The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man: A Memoir

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Paul Newman was an ordinary man gifted with extraordinary good looks and extraordinary talent. Even if (in his own words) he probably would not accept that he had any talent at all. Flash forward to around 1982. By then, I was deeply involved in car racing, truly loving that it was a world away from the film business and Hollywood.

This is a surprisingly candid look into Paul Newman’s own life, the good, the bad and the ugly. I have lived in Cleveland and its suburbs my entire life and always find it interesting how many famous actors, athletes and writers have come from Northeastern Ohio. Mr. Newman’s birthplace of Shaker Hts. is very familiar to me with its economic and religious diversity. While he relates that he and his family were well off financially in his early years, emotionally he felt on his own or smothered by his mother for only his outer appearance. His and his mother’s relationship would be tumultuous for her entire life.Read by Jeff Daniels, Melissa Newman, Clea Newman Soderlund, Ari Fliakos, January LaVoy, John Rubinstein and Emily Wachtel

The raw, candid, unvarnished memoir of an American icon. The greatest movie star of the past 75 years covers everything: his traumatic childhood, his career, his drinking, his thoughts on Marlon Brando, James Dean, Elizabeth Taylor, John Huston, his greatest roles, acting, his intimate life with Joanne Woodward, his innermost fears and passions and joys. With thoughts/comments throughout from Joanne Woodward, George Roy Hill, Tom Cruise, Elia Kazan and many others. I felt no closer to understanding Newman after reading this book than I did before. He would agree with my assertion and nod and shrug. Then all this was put together for a book about Paul Newman, contributions and stories from his co-stars and directors. You read a celebrity biography/autobiography you would like to know the person, the personality, Newman shows not much personality, a very private and quite person, no mention of co-stars, many films not mentioned at all, no mention of The Towering Inferno at all. Paul Newman is also candid about his own alcohol addiction and the abandonment of his children from his first marriage, but he seems to have pulled it together after Scott's death, devoting more time to his philanthropic endeavors (yep, I've got a bottle or two of Newman's Own salad dressing in my fridge), his passion for auto racing, and his family. And still his acting roles just seemed to get better as he aged ( The Color of Money, The Verdict)...

he was honest to the core, was a loyal friend, very well respected by most people, loved to laugh at his own jokes…..