Don't Hassel the Hoff: The Autobiography [Hardcover]

David Hasselhoff (Author)

Book Description

Release date: May 15, 2007 | ISBN-10: 0312371292 | ISBN-13: 978-0312371296 | Edition: First Edition

The Los Angeles Times called him a "counterculture icon," and TV Guide dubbed him one of "TV's Ten Most Powerful Stars," but true aficionados simply call him "The Hoff." 
 
Don't Hassel the Hoff follows David Hasselhoff's phenomenal career, from his earliest childhood role in Peter Pan to his latest adventure, starring in Mel Brooks's Tony award-winning musical, The Producers.  There is no better time to celebrate Hasselhoff's life and a career that continues to grow and thrive. As the star of the extremely popular classic television shows, "Baywatch" and "Knight Rider," Hasselhoff is an international mega-star, with platinum album sales and starring roles on Broadway and London's West End.
 
As this fascinating memoir reveals, there's more to this handsome superstar than great hair, and legs that look good while running down a beach. "The Hoff" is also a smart, caring man with a huge heart.
 
"This book is my opportunity to print something from my heart, to tell the truth about what happened to me on the long and winding road from Baltimore to Baywatch to Broadway - and beyond.  And the truth is not to be found in tabloid stories but in my actions: I am a good father and tried to be a good husband.  I love people and the emotional rollercoaster that goes with human relationships. I love all the bewildering, crazy and wonderful things that life has to offer. This book is about my successes and my failures, my strengths and my weaknesses.  And, above all, it is about the hope contained in the Knight Rider slogan: "One man can make a difference." --David Hasselhoff
 
Full of behind-the-scenes looks at Hasselhoff's television series, celebrations of his proudest moments, and the truths about his struggles with relationships and alcohol, Don't Hassel the Hoff is both highly entertaining and deeply personal, making this an engrossing page-turner from start to finish. 
 
Long live "The Hoff." 

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

At first, this autobiography's sometimes hokey, over-detailed style seems the right fit for the larger-than-life actor-singer-international star best known for lead roles on television shows Knight Rider and Baywatch. Before long, however, the self-satisfied celeb's voice proves about as engaging as his little-watched prime-time spinoff, Baywatch Nights. Hasselhoff's narrative is heavy on unhelpful description (for those who missed it, he recaps the death of Princess Diana) and plodding anecdotes (after one story, he muses unconvincingly, "It had been a very surreal experience"). One can forgive Hasselhoff (though perhaps not his editor) for being a less-than-stellar writer, but what makes this book such a slog is Hasselhoff's unrelenting ego, a wholly unflattering characteristic that pervades the narrative. Among overlong tales of his professional projects, Hasselhoff credits himself with changing the lives of thousands of terminally-ill children; inspiring Sammy Davis Jr., Paul McCartney, Liberace and Mel Brooks; preventing a girl from committing suicide by saying "hello" to her in an elevator; and much more. Though he swallows some humble pie when relating his struggle with alcoholism at Betty Ford, it does little to redeem him. Anyone who'd like to hold onto their fond feelings toward the Hoff should avoid his autobiography; it's a telling document, but for reasons its author probably didn't intend.
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About the Author

David Michael Hasselhoff was born on July 17, 1952, in Baltimore, Maryland.  He is best known for his roles as Michael Knight in Knight Rider, and Mitch Buchannon in Baywatch. Fulfilling his original dream to be a singer, David made "Looking for Freedom" a massive hit in Germany in 1989, just as the Berlin Wall came down.  The accompanying album went gold and triple platinum, topping the charts for three months.  Baywatch ran for eleven years and is said to be the most-watched show in syndication worldwide.  In 1990, Cosmopolitan's editor, Helen Gurley Brown, chose him for her magazine's twenty-fifth anniversary issue.  In October 2000, Hasselhoff conquered another childhood dream when he took the starring role in Jekyll & Hyde on Broadway.  In 2004, he played the demanding role of Billy Flynn in Chicago in London's West End.  His cameo appearance in The SpongeBob Squarepants movie, released in 2004, was followed by roles in Dodgeball with Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn, and most recently in the Adam Sandler film, Click.  His videos "Hooked on a Feeling" and "Jump in My Car" have been downloaded by millions of people from the internet site YouTube.com. In early 2007, he began his role as the flamboyant and flop-prone director Roger De Bris in the Las Vegas production of Mel Brooks's The Producers.  He continues his reign as a judge on the hit TV show America's Got Talent. He resides in Southern California with his two daughters.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books; First Edition edition (May 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312371292
• ISBN-13: 978-0312371296
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,522,875 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 20 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars So tired of all the "nagitivity" March 15, 2007

By Navy Bean

Format:Hardcover

"Nagitivity" is a word I invented. It's nag + negativity. And frankly, I'm so sick of the millions (billions?) of David Hasselhoff detractors that I could pull my chest and back hair out.

Hoff is about transcendence. Hoff loves all the peoples of the Earth, except the Inuits. He made that perfectly clear to me in a dream I had about him. Hoff is first guy to acknowledge his limitations. No, he can't act. Yes, his looks are fading. Maybe, he assaulted his ex-wife. Indeed, he's tall.

I just get sick of people taking the easy shots at David. WE GET IT! he's NOT talented. No one is trying to argue with you. Just realize that Hoff has feelings too and when you continually bash someone for things outside of their intelligence level, then I have to call dirty pool.

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Speedo might've been a little tight while writing this one July 8, 2007

By Nerd Alert

Format:Hardcover

I didn't want to buy this book; I didn't want to read this book, but I couldn't pass it up. It was like standing in line at the grocery store and trying so hard not to look at the tabloids but failing and finally tearing through the magazine to see who got a new set of boobs.
The good part is you won't be bogged down with a complicated writing style or busy flipping back and forth between "the Hoff" and a dictionary. The juvenile writing style will allow you to fly through this book. On another good note, you will laugh out loud many times at how unbelievably arrogant this guy is. He is friends with every star, the ladies love him, Dirk Nowitzki shoots free throws at 90% because of his music, he leveled the Berlin Wall, oh and he is the most watched TV star of all time. Those are only some of his accomplishments, it takes nearly 300 pages to fit all of them in.
Seriously though, the Hoff could've gotten a little more personal with his life. This book is mostly filled with fluff and doesn't go into much detail about anything the reader might find really interesting. He dances around any wxtra relationships he might've had along the way and side-steps anything that might be controversial. It's like listening to a politician promote himself. He actually goes into great detail about Knight Rider and Baywatch episodes and their meanings, give me a break.
But here I am writing about it, so I guess I'm the sucker. If you find pop-culture funnny maybe you should pick this up for some comic relief. But hide the dust jacket because your friends are certain to give you a hard time for reading about this clown.

Now all I need is a Steven Segal book and I'll be set.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Best book I ever read May 4, 2013

By pam hooper

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

It told a lot of stuff that would help some one else that want to the same thing in life

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Most hilarious read ever! December 30, 2007

By K. Stenger

Format:Hardcover

I gave the Hoff autobiography as a Christmas gift, and the recipient of the gift loves it so much that she now sends out a quote of the day which she calls the "Daily David." There are so many great stories in that book that I can hardly contain myself!!!

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Don't Do It. Don't Hassel The Hoff... June 20, 2007

By P. Pellegrine

Format:Hardcover

Look, he's David Hasselhoff. His ego is bigger than Madsion Square Garden. Yes he fulfilled a lot of sick children's wishes, but he portrays himself as close to God as a man can get. He pretty much describes himself as the greatest there is and was, and ever will be. He is the reason people watched Baywatch. Knight Rider was the greatest show ever created(but only lasted 4 years). He brought down communism and the Berlin wall with his singing for freedom. He does everything the best and correctly. Nothing is his fault. O h, the drink? that's not his fault entirely. He pushes some of the blame on his marriage. And the failed marriages, not his fault. His writing reminds me of the mother from Everybody Loves Raymond. Yeah he doesnt come right out and bash you, but the little things he says makes other people look at fault.

Hasselhoff is viewing things from a "special" view, and by special I mean druink. He sees things the way he wants to see them, in a way where hes the superhero. While reading this honostly felt he thought he was GOD, seriously.

If you want to laugh at someones unrealistic view of his life, read this. hey the laughter bumped it up to 2 stars.

Since this review is bad, according to THE HOFF, it musta been one hella of successful book!

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Autobiography August 23, 2008

By John E. Bailor VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

I was always a fan of the original Knight Rider tv series so I picked up an autographed copy of this book. It's very well written and quite entertaining. The Hoff's personality comes through and the book reads like he's talking with you. Very inspirational and highly recommended.

4.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly Detailed Stories for Hasselhoff TV Fans October 10, 2009

By Mediaman

Format:Hardcover

This is a surprisingly interesting book if you want stories about Hasselhoff's days on Knight Rider and Baywatch. He also goes into detail about his European music career and famous people he has known (Liberace?). It even has an episode guide and list of recordings. There are enough good stories in the book to make it worth reading.

But he fails to adequately address his personal problems. He likes to blame the women in his life for his inability to keep relationships and glosses over his drinking issues. He doesn't do well at self-analysis--why would this guy who says he had an ideal childhood with a loving family (including four sisters) feel so insecure with women and be unable to handle life without using drugs or alcohol?

Another problem is that this was originally published in England and has distracting British spelling and punctuation. Couldn't St. Martin's have sprung for a proofreader for the American edition? It looks like they rushed it to take advantage of his success on America's Got Talent.

He says he dedicates himself to the children of the world and has many examples of going out of the way to help those in need. He has a very positive attitude about his career. But he seems to have his priorities out of line and forgets to take care of his wife and kids at home. This was written in 2006 and now we know that his daughters are trying to straighten him out. There is no indication here of why his is still so childlike and unable to grow up, even though it makes for fun reading.