jd4's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
margaretkearney's review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
3.75
toomanybarts's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Withnail and I is my favourite film so I had to read this and that chapter did not disappoint.
The rest of the book was brutally honest with the man sharing his insecurities and disbelief he was ‘making it as an actor’.
I’m off to rewatch all the movies I’ve just read the BTS on!
The rest of the book was brutally honest with the man sharing his insecurities and disbelief he was ‘making it as an actor’.
I’m off to rewatch all the movies I’ve just read the BTS on!
kalkie's review against another edition
1.0
I think how you get on with a book depends, to an extent, on what you're feeling at the time you read it. Over the past few weeks I've been very busy and reading time has been at a minimum. Usually at times like this I need a book which will grab me and will keep my attention for a while. Unfortunately this book didn't, and I struggled to read 2 or 3 pages a night before falling asleep (hence why it's taken me so long to read!)
The book is a chronicle of Richard's (AKA "REG") time on his first few films up to "Pret a Porter". However, as a chronicle it was intensely annoying that he didn't include years in his dates which made it nigh on impossible to get a time frame for what was happening. Especially as he kept "name dropping" big stars who were around at the time. Having a year to put them in context would have been useful. And REG does like his name dropping!! The whole way the book is written makes him seem like an innocent bystander in his life who just "happens" to be an actor having lunch with Madonna, or Sharon Stone, or Steve Martin, or Antony Hopkins ("Tony") ... ugh! He seems to take no responsibility for what is going on and instead lets life wash over him. He starts the book off with some very personal information regarding his wife and first child, but the life of his second child is largely ignored and she only pops up now and again when "family come to visit". I'm sure he's not really so passive in real life, but there's no evidence to the contrary in the book.
He constantly refers to himself as "the Swazi" which is nails-on-blackboard annoying, and the RANDOMNESS of CAPITALISATION and itallicising (I may have made that word up ...?!) throughout the book is equally grating. May I also suggest that if REG is to write a follow-up, his editor sends him a big bag of "I"s, "We"s, "They"s, "She"s and "He"s as REG very rarely uses a pronoun in a sentence (and a book on sentence construction wouldn't go amiss either!)
As an author, REG is a good actor.
The book is a chronicle of Richard's (AKA "REG") time on his first few films up to "Pret a Porter". However, as a chronicle it was intensely annoying that he didn't include years in his dates which made it nigh on impossible to get a time frame for what was happening. Especially as he kept "name dropping" big stars who were around at the time. Having a year to put them in context would have been useful. And REG does like his name dropping!! The whole way the book is written makes him seem like an innocent bystander in his life who just "happens" to be an actor having lunch with Madonna, or Sharon Stone, or Steve Martin, or Antony Hopkins ("Tony") ... ugh! He seems to take no responsibility for what is going on and instead lets life wash over him. He starts the book off with some very personal information regarding his wife and first child, but the life of his second child is largely ignored and she only pops up now and again when "family come to visit". I'm sure he's not really so passive in real life, but there's no evidence to the contrary in the book.
He constantly refers to himself as "the Swazi" which is nails-on-blackboard annoying, and the RANDOMNESS of CAPITALISATION and itallicising (I may have made that word up ...?!) throughout the book is equally grating. May I also suggest that if REG is to write a follow-up, his editor sends him a big bag of "I"s, "We"s, "They"s, "She"s and "He"s as REG very rarely uses a pronoun in a sentence (and a book on sentence construction wouldn't go amiss either!)
As an author, REG is a good actor.
bookcrazylady45's review against another edition
3.0
Wonderfully entertaining...fabulous use of language.
The star of the cult classic Withnail and I offers “a refreshing combination of comedy, confession, and coruscation” in this memoir of the movie business (Kirkus Reviews).
Richard E. Grant’s acting career has included memorable roles in some of Hollywood’s most critically acclaimed films, including Robert Altman’s Gosford Park and Francis Ford Coppola’s Dracula. But he attributes his success to his first film role, starring as a flamboyantly pathetic Shakespearean in the underground hit Withnail and I. As Grant explains, “I had no notion that, almost without exception, every film offered since would be the result of playing an alcoholic out-of-work actor.”
In With Nails, Grant shares his long, maddening, and immensely rewarding journey through the world of film. From the hell of making Hudson Hawk to befriending Steve Martin on the set of L.A. Story; and from eating spaghetti with the Coppolas, to window-shopping with Sharon Stone, and working with and learning from the best actors and directors in the business, Grant’s unvarnished memoir “is a biting and wonderfully funny look at the movie business by an actor who is as clear-eyed and observant about himself as he is about the craziness surrounding him” (Publishers Weekly, starred review).
The star of the cult classic Withnail and I offers “a refreshing combination of comedy, confession, and coruscation” in this memoir of the movie business (Kirkus Reviews).
Richard E. Grant’s acting career has included memorable roles in some of Hollywood’s most critically acclaimed films, including Robert Altman’s Gosford Park and Francis Ford Coppola’s Dracula. But he attributes his success to his first film role, starring as a flamboyantly pathetic Shakespearean in the underground hit Withnail and I. As Grant explains, “I had no notion that, almost without exception, every film offered since would be the result of playing an alcoholic out-of-work actor.”
In With Nails, Grant shares his long, maddening, and immensely rewarding journey through the world of film. From the hell of making Hudson Hawk to befriending Steve Martin on the set of L.A. Story; and from eating spaghetti with the Coppolas, to window-shopping with Sharon Stone, and working with and learning from the best actors and directors in the business, Grant’s unvarnished memoir “is a biting and wonderfully funny look at the movie business by an actor who is as clear-eyed and observant about himself as he is about the craziness surrounding him” (Publishers Weekly, starred review).
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