Customer Reviews

My Fractured Life

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

 

 

I do not understand the notoriety of this book. My initial impression after 20 pages: The fictional character depicted here is a self-absorbed neurotic. That impression solidified after 100 pages. Repeatedly, the "protagonist" puts himself down , then self-exults in the same paragraph. He is clueless, but imagines his boring blather is ironic and honest. How subtle. Tedious junk no matter how you cut it.

I don't give many 5 star reviews, but this book blew me away. The writing is top notch. The story is incredibly sad, though. It tells the story of a fictional b-movie actor trying to get by after his star has lost it's shine - kind of like The Wrestler except about Hollywood actors.

I was confused by the reviews on this site because they all are critical of this story not being true - but it's a fiction novel so it's not supposed to be true. I found it to be a very interesting story about a lifestyle most of us will never get to experience (Hollywood's underground drug scene). And yes it is very believably written so I guess I understand people being confused and reviewing it as a biography. But it does say right there in the book that it is a novel and a work of fiction.

Neither well-written or enlightening. It is questionable whether or not the quotations on the jacket are genuine. The author's IMbd page has nothing of substance on it. Google his name, and you will find nothing on the net about him except an "unofficial" fan page that I think he may have put up himself.

For a great a Hollywood tell-all, skip this and try David Cassidy's books; Growing Up Brady, by Barry Williams; Little Girl Lost, by Drew Barrymore, Call Me Anna, the Autobiography of Patty Duke, or the best book of this type ever.....I'm with the Band, by Pamela Des Barres .

I got this book for research purposes because of references made by other reviewers to "hollywood stories". After finishing the book I just feel sad for the author because he clearly gets that he's not the "big celebrity" he so often refers to himself as, nor does he begin to circulate in the arena of celebrity in hollywood. His "stories" are self aggrandising though couched in self depracation. I can find no reference to the "hit" television series that made him a "big star" on any of the enterainment databases and he never mentions what network originally aired the show beyond an unamed cable network airing reruns. He trades on the tragedy of his friend "Jesse" who kills himself after throwing in the towel on an acting career that is sabotaged by the powerful celebrity family of his famous father who would never claim his illegitimate son. He candidly admits that his friend is a raging alcoholic but the real reason the guy didn't make it is the machiavellian machinations of some unamed hollywood movie star's family? The only reference to the author on any entertainment database is as an uncredited body double in the film EdTV. This poor guy "made it" in his own mind only and his book is the boring retelling of that delusion. I would say that this is an excellent book to pass along to a marginally talented high school theatre student living in the midwest as a cautionary tale EXCEPT that they might think that they too can be a big star like Rikki Lee Travolta and miss the point that he's just another wannabe with substance abuse issues and a big fantasy life.

This was not a bad book. Only I felt at times things were missing or left out. I would of LOVED to of learned the the true indentity of "Jesse" for example, that part was disapointing. I was under the impression he was a cousin of John Travolta's. Apparently I was incorrect because no mention of him was made. Through the book at times was a bit colorful, I hardly found it shocking, or risque. I was hoping for more 'name-dropping" and details, it is hardly a scandalous book. The part concerning his Mother was heart-breaking through, and I felt much sympathy for him. Not a dull read but not as entertaining as thought!