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The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man
- A Memoir
- Narrated by: Jeff Daniels, Ari Fliakos, January LaVoy, Melissa Newman, Clea Newman Soderlund, John Rubinstein, Emily Wachtel
- Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins
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The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man
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Summary
Brought to you by Penguin.
The raw, candid, unvarnished memoir of an American icon.
In 1986, Paul Newman and his closest friend, screenwriter Stewart Stern, began an extraordinary project. Stuart was to compile an oral history, to have Newman's family and friends and those who worked closely with him, talk about the actor's life. And then Newman would work with Stewart and give his side of the story. The only stipulation was that anyone who spoke on the record had to be completely honest. That same stipulation applied to Newman himself. The project lasted five years.
The result is an extraordinary memoir, culled from thousands of pages of transcripts. The book is insightful, revealing, surprising. Newman's voice is powerful, sometimes funny, sometimes painful, always meeting that high standard of searing honesty. The additional voices—from childhood friends and Navy buddies, from family members and film and theater collaborators such as Tom Cruise, George Roy Hill, Martin Ritt, and John Huston—that run throughout add richness and color and context to the story Newman is telling.
Newman's often traumatic childhood is brilliantly detailed. He talks about his teenage insecurities, his early failures with women, his rise to stardom, his early rivals (Brando and Dean), his first marriage, his drinking, his philanthropy, the death of his son Scott, his strong desire for his daughters to know and understand the truth about their father. Perhaps the most moving material in the book centers around his relationship with Joanne Woodward—their love for each other, his dependence on her, the way she shaped him intellectually, emotionally and sexually.
The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man is revelatory and introspective, personal and analytical, loving and tender in some places, always complex and profound.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Mark
- 22-11-22
The Man Behind the Myth
This is an excellent warts and all memoirs told from multiple perspectives and voice acted through a range of friends, family and colleagues including Newman. He comes across as bracingly honest and immensely likeable. His written style reminded me of Hemingway's alter ego Nick Adams in its cadence and precise use of language. I came away with the distinct impression of a genuine life well lived in the public eye and now sadly missed in this age of shallow influencers and woke snowflakes.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Stephanie R.
- 29-11-22
Fascinating
Really interesting to hear about Paul Newman's life, loves and career, in his own words. Amazing philanthropist, but a troubled man. Fascinating.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Squeaky Joe
- 07-03-23
Reveals an unexpectedly philosophical attitude.
In 1986, together with close friend and screenwriter Stewart Stern, Paul Newman began to tape an oral history. His aim was to provide a biographical record, including comments from family members, friends, actors and movie directors. The idea focused on everyone being entirely truthful – a no-hold-barred account of his life from childhood to the early nineties. Though Newman is said to have destroyed the tapes later, the memoir was eventually committed to print.
Having been a fan of Paul Newman since I saw ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’ in the nineteen seventies, I was keen to hear this apparently accurate account of the actor’s life. From a troubled childhood and a difficult relationship with his mother, Newman recalls details of his acting career, moviemaking and relationships with family and friends. The book contains comments by, among others, Tom Cruise, George Roy Hill and Joanne Woodward, giving their own take on different aspects of the man’s life. While Newman’s intent was to, supposedly, reflect the truth of his life, he manages to avoid all but the slightest hint of his womanising ways. His apparent 18-month affair with journalist Nancy Bacon during the filming of Butch Cassidy, for instance, or his affair with actress Shelley Winters are never mentioned.
Nevertheless, this is a fascinating account which reveals an unexpectedly philosophical attitude, as Newman endeavours to understand the decisions he’s made, the things he’s done and the path he chose in life.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- CJ Mc Enhill
- 01-02-23
Great insight into a really good actor
Although compressed it does give a side of his story that feels really personal. What happened proceeds of book ? would be good to think his gift keeps on giving .
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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- Brian
- 09-02-23
A Very Interesting Man
This is a very interesting biography of a man who seems to have thought he did not fit in and yet made, what some people would say a success of his life. This is a great insight to someone who was famous and a star in my very early years. It shows at times two side to a man who managed to be very lucky and get the breaks to become famous. In his later years years he seems to have spent a lot of time and money giving back and was a man who was well respected . I found the narrators great at explaining their part in this mans life and the flow of the story was very well put together.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Top Cat
- 20-02-24
The man behind the actor
This was an interesting listen and it was good to know more about PNs life including his early life. The sense that people expected him to ‘be’ the parts he played was strong. The sense that his extraordinary good looks were actually quite a burden to him - but nonetheless the key to getting him noticed was also a repeating theme.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Happy Customer
- 18-06-24
Honesty
It appeared to be a true statement of his persona and his character- thoroughly enjoyed
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Kevin Leigh
- 07-11-22
Fascinating insight into a great actor!
As Paul Newman notes in the book, most people only see the actor and rarely understand the person. This book, well read by different people for different contributors, as well as the wonderful voice of the main narrator, takes you through Paul Newman’s personal and professional life to provide a fascinating insight. His life was both incredibly sad and incredibly wonderful. It's not a long listen and well worth the time.
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Jake
- 07-02-23
A rare and humble icon dedicated to philanthropy and the pursuit of excellence
A great balanced overview of Newman’s life as told through the words of himself and those that new him. The story is weaved together beautifully and readers can get a lot of insight about not just the films of great actors Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward but about how to be better in their own life. Even little Tom Cruise makes an appearance, declaring the Verdict Newman’s finest picture. Great narration too.
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- sara aubrey fletcher
- 29-12-22
Loved this
Of course we all think we know Paul Newman, well think again. This book gives so much insight into him, I loved it and soon will listen all over again
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