We probably had an inkling that Matthew Perry had a pretty interesting story to tell, but as Friends, Lovers and The Terrible Big Thing (headline) reveals, reports of his mental health and battles with addiction were just the tip of the iceberg. In his autobiography, the Friends star describes the range of health problems left by his abuse of drugs like Xanax and Oxycontin, including erectile dysfunction and a ruptured colon that left him on life support.
through the 40 chapters of Bono’s long-awaited memoir Surrender: 40 Songs A Story (Hutchinson Heinemann) the U2 frontman describes the love and heartaches that came his way, including the death of his mother when he was a teenager and his complicated relationship with his father. His affection for his bandmates shines through the writing, but he’s also honest with them, including a description of bassist Adam Clayton missing a taping of a TV show after being found unconscious in his hotel room after “busting” with alcohol and drugs ” would have.
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In his book Surrender: 40 Songs One Story, Bono describes the love and heartache that led him to this
In his book Surrender: 40 Songs One Story, Bono describes the love and heartache that led him to this
Over the years, Geena Davis has been one of those stars whose career has been a bit of an enigma: She seemed to burn so bright in the early 1990s before collapsing. in the death of politeness (William Collins), the actress explains this arc and also describes the alleged harassment she suffered from Bill Murray, with whom she co-starred in the 1990 film Quick Change. Murray pressured her to let him massage her, she writes, and yelled insultingly before she began.
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The star of Geena Davis burned bright in the 1990s
The star of Geena Davis burned bright in the 1990s
The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man (Century) was possibly the year’s celebrity autobiography, the result of 14,000-page transcriptions of lost tapes in which Paul Newman (who died in 2008) examines his own life with ruthless honesty. Newman had a troubled relationship with his mother and relied on alcohol to numb himself as he became Hollywood royalty. Whether he would have wanted this book to come out is another question, but it was certainly a fascinating read.
If Paul Newman’s memoirs had the voyeuristic feel of reading someone’s therapy notes, it was Hugh Bonneville’s Playing under the piano (Abacus,) with his rehearsed anecdotes was more like an “evening with”. Relentlessly self-deprecating, the Downton Abbey star describes multiple instances of professional embarrassment – including a memorable trauma in a public urinal before a casting meeting – and is always entertaining.
out of the corner by Jennifer Gray (Ballantine Books) – the title is of course a nod to the “no one corners baby” quote from Dirty Dancing, Grey’s best-known film, but while there are memories of her co-star, Patrick Swayze, the most surprising Material dealing with Grey’s friendship with Madonna. The singer comforted Gray after her breakup with Matthew Broderick and even threw her a single-girl “slut” party, to which she invited a “sexy” Alec Baldwin for Gray as a gift.
There’s a carefree tone manage expectations by Minnie Driver (Bonnier), which belies some of the pain it contains: Driver describes the aftermath of her parents’ divorce, her struggles to make it as an actress, and the terrifying moment she found out Matt Damon was cheating on him seen in a magazine kissing another girl.