Customer Reviews

Anything Goes

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

A wonderful and charming book! I was laughing from page one. John talks about his family (I think the insanity is genetic), his coming out to his parents, singing as a little boy in Scotland and moving to the US when he was a child. Lots of stories of how he dealt with school bullies and even college bullies. Behind the curtains, insider secrets such as why it's bad luck to speak of the "that Scottish play" on a stage, and John's own superstitious phobias.

I think what I liked best was that he was open and honest about himself, right down to humiliating moments. There was no catty gossip about other people, only a great love of his family, his partner, friends, and life itself. The pictures are great, too.

It's a quick read, so spend a few hours with Barrowman. It'll make you feel good.

A FANTASTICALLY fun read! It would be worth it for the hilarious footnotes and pictures alone, but his stories of a life well lived are what make you want to hear more. I highly recommend the audiobook as well, even though it is abridged. After hearing him tell his own story, it just makes the unabriged book that much more enjoyable!

Yes, Mr. Barrowman has an ego, and rightfully so. Why shouldn't he? He won the gene pool lottery hands down! He's an exceptional entertainer, which by definition requires a larger than life personality and he's boldly breaking all the stereotypes. The whole point of an autobiography is to give the reader the unvarnished truth and this book accomplishes that with great warmth and humor.

Like he says. . . his ending is not yet written. I'm most definitely staying in my seat for the second act!

When I first read others' comments about this book (as I waited...and waited...and waited for Amazon to send it) I just figured the negative ones came from a bunch of John and/or gay haters. I now have to concede that they had some valid points. At times, I wonder if the John I've seen in interviews is the same guy as the one in this book! I'd already listened to the audio version, and there were times when he came off as a bit of a d*** in it, but hearing the anecdotes in his own voice softened the bite. In print, he does not come off well. He comes off as a brat. Where's the guy who helped those two ladies after one of his shows? (A cute anecdote about some fans who were stranded after a thief nabbed a purse.) Where's the guy who got so irritated at the protesters at London Pride that he told the crowd that "THEY'RE the ones who need saving, not me"? THAT man has more passion and integrity than the one I've seen so far here. Save your money - watch and buy some Torchwood and Who instead. And watch his interview from Heaven and Earth. I think you'll see Another - and better - Side of John.
All that said, some of the photos are absolutely gorgeous!!!!!!!!!

I didn't expect much from this book - who writes his life story when he's just pushing 40? But this is a fun and funny, stream of consciousness autobiography, roped into some order by his coauthor sister, complete with humorous/explanatory footnoted asides (well, his sister IS an English professor) and lots of great photos of wee John from childhood on up and his beloved and wacky extended family and friends, productions he was in, up to present day Captain Jack on 'Torchwood.' It's written for a British audience, but anyone on either side of the Atlantic would enjoy it. I laughed out loud at several of his stories of various theatrical escapades and disasters. Not surprisingly, the story is just like the actor seems - what you see is what you get - funny, exuberant, charming, a bit naughty, and full of life.

Anyone who likes Captain Jack or John Barrowman in any of his many theater roles will enjoy his distinctive biography. This book is funny, offbeat, and well worth the price. Don't expect the typical chronological biography, however; this book has its own unique organizing system that adds to the enticing and cheerful humor that abounds throughout the book. John Barrowman and his sister have done an outstanding job in telling his life's story in a distinctive and appealing way. The photos are revealing and engaging, tell their own narrative, and add to the story line in a way that doesn't disrupt the flow. Great job guys!

When I bought this book about John Barrowman I wasn't sure who he was...a singer, actor, entertainer, or comedian....well he is all of the above and more. Since my new found interest in Torchwood I would never think of anyone else playing his part. John is just a down to earth person who started out in Scotland and bloomed into a down to earth American. Good book and entertaining stories...prepare to laugh a lot.

I actually listened to the audiobook version, read very entertainingly by John Barrowman himself. I can't say whether the book benefits from a slight abridgment, but I suspect it benefits quite a bit by the addition of John Barrowman's always charming delivery. I smiled all the way through, laughed aloud in places, and found myself touched in more.
Besides the look into his life thus far (his coming out tale, for example), the book serves as good introduction to the hard work a professional entertainer has in store for themselves before reaching success (or at least steady employment!) Talent - something John has in almost unfair spades - and looks, another thing John can't truthfully deny he possesses - are not enough. He details the work he put in, the learning he had to do (and his gratitude to his many teachers), as well as his trials (amusing to hear how he didn't get a part he wasn't considered 'gay enough' for) on the long yet interesting road to Doctor Who, Torchwood and becoming a National Treasure.
There's also a smattering of fun "behind the scenes" Doctor Who and Torchwood stories for fans like me!

I got turned on to John Barrowman last year after discovering Torchwood. I find it refreshing, in this day and age, to come across someone who is living his life to the fullest, no apologies, no regrets.

The book gives us a brief overview of what seems to be, his very charmed life. I am sure he has had much more grief and frustration in his 40 years then the book lets on, but maybe that's left for another book.
(And according to Carole, they are in talks to do another one)

He gives us tales of his growing up in Scotland and later spending his formative years in Illinois, becoming an American boy. He returns to the UK for schooling and gets his big break, starring in a big West End show.
Charmed indeed.

The love he has for his family and partner is evident throughout the book. I had the pleasure of talking to his mother and father at a booksigning in Milwaukee and they were absolutely charming people who are so proud of their son.

It's a really quick read and you will find yourself laughing out loud at some of his stories and sniffling at others. I enjoyed the audio version too as it's kind of fun listening to him talk about his life, almost like you're sitting there and he's talking to you personally.
Plenty of great pictures too.
So, if you're just discovering John or just want to know more about him, it's a great place to start.

(I have to admit though, I hate the cover photo.)

I am a huge fan of Torchwood and John Barrowman (discovered both recently)and was waiting eagerly for this book to learn more about him and his life. But I'm sorry to say this highly anticipated book was a disappointment -- the incidents portrayed are so arbitrary and without depth. I get no sense of his deepest feelings, fears, dreams. Has his whole life been wonderful, or did he and sister just decide to stress the positive and funny things? What was it like when he first came to NY? How did he survive the bad times or were they all good? What about some REAL gossip? What's the real scoop on the Will and Grace audition?

I remember reading Tennessee Williams' autobiography and Christopher Isherwood's Christopher and His Kind and wondering how such great writers could write such juvenile autobiographies, but at least it showed them flaws and all including a lot of sordid sexual encounters.

This is probably written mostly by Carole Barrowman and is too slick and surface like a magazine article. Yes there are a some well-adjusted positive totally happy people in the world (none of them live in NYC I suspect) I'm sure he's a good natured "bloke" but no one's life is that smooth. It makes for superficial reading. The pictures are great!

Bess in the Big Apple

The Book Report: The life and times of fabulous Captain Jack Harkness, I mean I mean JOHN BARROWMAN of course I do, silly me to get the two confused, he of the TV show Torchwood, in all his dimpled and smiling glory. With butt shots. Two.

My Review: One knows what one is getting with celebrity memoirs, right? Whitewash, excuses, justifications, and a little catty score-settling. It takes a pretty damned big ego to write an "autobiography" (which this ain't, it's a memoir) in the first place; to do it before the age of sixty is, well, it's a bit uppish.

Yeah, so what, pretty people get to do what they want. And Barrowman is nothing if not pretty. Very pretty. Very very pretty. That he is also a talented actor, a fine musical-theatre singer, and a high-maintenance mess of a man makes it all the more fun that he didn't wait to write the book (with his sister, Carole). He takes it upon himself to tell us the tale of what brought Clan Barrowman from Glasgow to Illinois, what made the clan tick, and what happened as a result of this daring and quite unsettling move, made in the Malaise Years of the middle 1970s.

Wait. Make that, he tells us the tale of what happened to John of the Clan Barrowman. This is a book that relentlessly focuses on John Barrowman, contextualizing his life with the necessary information, but skimping on the lives and times of the other people in his orbit. Quite forgivable in a memoir; less so in an autobiography, which is more about the life-and-times, less about the lifestyle.

He's not forthcoming with details of his personal life, eg what his feelings were, what his thoughts were, around his coming out. He doesn't fail to mention them, understand; it's simply that, as is the gentleman's privilege, he goes very soft-focus and moves on quickly from the topic. He writes his most passionate, his most emotional, and his most harrowing stuff when he writes about the descent of a friend into madness. It's an amazing, painful, and quite wonderful passage in the book. It brings into stark relief, though, the absence of these very qualities in some other passages in his life that could have used the same treatment.

That criticism aside, I would recommend the book to most all gay guys because here, gents, here is someone whose joie de vivre and whose enthusiasm for his work have led him down some fascinating garden paths, all the while declining to be stereotyped. It's a very instructive path he's on, for the most of us who aren't in the least famous or likely to get there. It's good to see someone skiing ahead on the trail, hollering back, "there's a crevasse over here, don't go there!" every so often. Good on him that he chose to do it. Good for us that it is, on balance, a fun book to read.

The butt shots don't hurt.