The ultimate cool guy, who men wanted to be like and women adored. He was an American icon, a brilliant actor, a Renaissance man and a generous but modest philanthropist ... Newman entertained millions in some of Hollywood's most memorable roles ever, and brightened the lives of amny more, especially seriously ill children, through his charitable works.' Arnold Schwarzenegger I wish I could, but I can’t. But I also wish I could ski. And I wish I could play tennis well. I wish I could do lots of things, but I can’t—and that doesn’t make me a bad person.

Newman was predisposed to addiction and alcohol. He compensated his drinking with physical fitness and long saunas. An insider’s account of the rampant misconduct within the Trump administration, including the tumult surrounding the insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021. Paul Newman died in 2008 but he had been working on his memoirs since 1986. After he died his family and friends set about trying to finish this project. It took about 5 years and I think it was well worth the wait.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. Then all this was put together for a book about Paul Newman, contributions and stories from his co-stars and directors. His intention was to bare his soul and be real in ways that expose his truth – his life, and thus he could feel right that he left his story the way he needed it to be said. Mostly for his children. And then for those who cared to read it, too. And in this way, we would learn about the man, the actor, his flaws, his imperfections, and the realness of him. As well as all the people that surrounded his life. The man with the fifty year marriage, the man of many and successful movies, the man who created celebrity philanthropy, the man who designed camps for terminally ill kids…was a closed book, a cypher, a functional alcoholic whose epic marriage was set by his cheating on his first wife for years with Joanne Woodward.

A stunning memoir by an actor who could convincingly play a charismatic but self-destructive outsider because he knew the breed all too well…a brutally frank reflection on a life filled with self-doubt…[ The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man]smolders with introspection as Newman tries to ascertain what he couldn’t see in himself that so many others did.” —Douglass K. Daniel, AP news This was at times difficult to listen to because as he points out, there is a difference between the inner child and the outer self, the movie star persona who we all expect to see or meet. He was not an easy man (in his own words), but he does believe he always strives to do what is best especially as he has grown older. The Paul Newman narration is done by Jeff Daniels and is well done and easy to listen to. I liked this one and I love the cover. It felt like a candid look into the life of Paul Newman. I liked that he owned his life decisions, both the good and maybe the not so good. And I liked the way he covered the issues with his parents without playing the "woe is me - victim card". 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 (Marlon Brando and James 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. Given this psychological record, Newman refuses to take credit for his much-praised philanthropy. Although the salad dressing sold as Newman’s Own generated millions for charitable causes, he winces at the way he marketed his celebrity on the shelves of grocery stores and suspects that his altruism came “from having no civic impulses at all, just inventing them the way I invented everything”. Presumably that also applies to his political activities in support of candidates who opposed the Vietnam war; though he voted Democrat, Newman defines himself as “an emotional Republican” – hard faced and self-contained or, as a college crony says of him, “tough and cold”, even “devilish”.When Joanne and I went to Paris to shoot a few scenes of Mr. and Mrs. Bridge there were photographers at the airport, and Joanne said to me: “Don’t be a jerk. Pose for them and then they’ll leave us alone.” So you agree to stand there and smile for a minute or two, hold your wife’s arm, etc. and you tell them, “I’ll see you, goodbye.” Then you walk to your car and about two-thirds of them follow and do exactly what you thought you were getting away from. They honor nothing, and they even chase the car. I'm about halfway through the audiobook, and I cannot stop listening. My respect for the man is not even slightly diminished by knowing about his personal struggles. His honesty and integrity manage to shine throughout his revelations about his battle with alcoholism and self-doubt. I'm so glad that I chose to listen to the audiobook because it is impeccably done. I suspected that I was going to enjoy learning more about this very private man's life but I had no idea that the book was going to be so excellently executed. My very sincere thanks to his family, friends, and coworkers - and to everyone else involved in the production of this outstanding combination autobiography/biography. It does this extraordinary man justice. Do I really want to watch eternal faves like THE HUSTLER, ABSENCE OF MALICE, SLAP SHOT, NOBODY'S FOOL and think about what a shitty young husband and father Paul Newman was? How mean he could be when he was drunk? That he didn't speak to his mom for fifteen years? This was a painstaking collaboration that took his recorded conversations, and translated them into a well-coordinated readable, reasonable sized book. The one thing I’ve always admired is excellence. I recognize it in almost anything: plumbers, museum guides, limousine drivers, bank tellers—I delight in seeing it. Maybe we choose those arenas in which we have the best chance for excellence. For me, maybe that’s acting, or being somehow connected to the theater, or capitalizing on the way I look, or fooling people”