The Garner Files: A Memoir [Hardcover]

James Garner (Author), Jon Winokur (Author), Julie Andrews (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2011

After suffering physical abuse at the hands of his stepmother, Garner left home at fourteen. He became Oklahoma’s first draftee of the Korean War and was awarded with two Purple Hearts before returning to the United States and settling in Los Angeles to become an actor. Working alongside some of the most renowned celebrities, including Julie Andrews, Marlon Brando, and Clint Eastwood, Garner became a star in his own right, despite struggles with stage fright and depression. In The Garner Files, this revered actor and quintessential self-made man recalls “trying to decipher” William Wyler with Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine, breaking Doris Day’s ribs, having a “heart-to-heart and eyeball-to-eyeball” with Steve McQueen, being “a card-carrying liberal—and proud of it,” and much more

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

James Garner is an American film and television actor. He has starred in several television series, including Maverick, The Rockford Files and 8 Simple Rules, and dozens of movies, including The Great Escape, Victor Victoria, and Murphy's Romance, for which he received an Academy Award nomination. In February 2005, Garner received the Screen Actors Guild's Lifetime Achievement Award. Jon Winokur is a writer and editor. Born in Detroit, he earned his B.A. from Temple University and a J.D. from the University of West Los Angeles. He is the author of The Big Book of Irony and the compiler and editor of books including The Portable Curmudgeon and Advice to Writers. Audiobook veteran and AudioFile Earphones Award winner Michael Kramer has recorded more than two hundred audiobooks for trade publishers and many more for the Library of Congress Talking Books program. His audiobooks include North and South by John Jakes, and a number of other Jakes titles; capers and mysteries by Donald E. Westlake (a.k.a. Richard Stark), including Money for Nothing; and Robert Jordan's fantasy-adventure fiction. In addition, Michael received Audie Award nominations for The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson and Dead Aim by Thomas Perry, and a Publishers Weekly Listen-Up Award for Savages by Don Winslow.

--This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (November 1, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1451642601
• ISBN-13: 978-1451642605
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (83 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,983 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #43 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Movies
  • #61 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Arts & Literature > Entertainers

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

98 of 101 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well worth reading for Garner fans, November 1, 2011

By 

K. Corn "reviewer" (midwest, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Garner Files: A Memoir (Hardcover)

I've enjoyed watching James Garner through the years and so I was eager to read his memoir (this review is based on the Kindle edition, available before other editions shipped.).

Fans looking for biographical details about Garner should be satisfied. For example, who would have guessed that Garner hates public speaking and had to battle this to work on screen? He never grew fond of acting on stage.Readers can discover how and why he grew to dislike performing live, an adversion rooted in traumatic childhood experiences.

Although there are plenty of fascinating gems about Garner in his book it is a slow read at first. Garner starts with recollections of his childhood and then moves on to his first love, time spent in the military, and struggles as an actor in the 50's - alongside Clint Eastwood and others who weren't yet famous. The book does pick up speed and finally falls into a comfortable pace.

I felt that the section about his childhood and family roots could have been tighter, focusing more on the pivotal moments rather than drier parts about his family tree. Looking at these sections from the perspective of prospective readers it is likely that they'll be eager for events to " cut to the chase" sooner.

It was inspiring to see how Garner's tenacity serves him well, keeping him from giving up when even respected acting coaches told him he'd never succeed. Friends such as Henry Fonda allowed Garner to observe and pick up valuable techniques.

All in all, well worth reading for anyone interested in Garner's take on life and acting.

Bonus features: introduction by Julie Andrews and a special section where family and friends include recollections of Garner. They include Doris Day, Tom Selleck, and Joel Grey.

57 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "The Garner Files" Just like a one on one with Jim., November 2, 2011

By 

Robert A. Howe (Plymouth, CA U.S.A.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Garner Files: A Memoir (Hardcover)

Reading "The Garner Files" James Garner's long awaited memoirs written with Jon Winokur is like being in the room with Jim having a "one on one" conversation. Jim's voice comes through loud and clear (Very loud when the need arises). Having spent two years on the set of "The Rockford Files" I can attest that Jon Winokur does an excellent job of letting Jim do the talking. Jim's wonderful sense of humor, dry wit and yes his shyness comes through revealing a man who in my opinion is so good at his craft, he doesn't have to brag about his talents, he lets the work speak for itself.

His love of golf and his "Antics" on the links are some of the funniest moments of the book. Reading Jim's telling of his ability "To bury a golf club in the turf" I swore I was sitting in Jim's motor home on the set of "Rockford" laughing along with everyone else. I am so thrilled that Jon Winokur was able to do what biographers for years have been unable to do. To get James Garner to talk about...James Garner.

Whether he's Rockford, Maverick, Murphy Jones, Charlie Madison or any of the other wonderful characters Jim has played in over fifty years of acting, in "The Garner Files" you get Jim Garner, and his no holes barred approach to life, love, acting, politics all in that warm voice that comes off the page and touches our hearts like James Garner has done for 83 years.

39 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jimmy...We Hardly Knew Ye...Till Now!!, November 2, 2011

By 

Thomas McGaughan (Pawleys Island, SC United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Garner Files (Kindle Edition)

First of all, I have to say that I have been waiting and hoping that this book would be written for the past 20 years. I bought the Kindle version for PC and stayed up until 3:30AM this morning reading this quality work. You can hear Jim's voice through the words written and I thoroughly enjoyed his self-effacing comments on and about his career choices. His descriptions of how other actors' personalities were in real life were refreshing to read. Usually every year around the holidays, I watch the entire Rockford Files collection that I have on DVds, a marathon of sorts! It is going to be much better this year since I know so much more about my favorite actor. If you want to read about how a real 'Maverick' came to be an actor, movie star and frustrated golfer than this is a book you won't want to put down...I didn't...Thanks again for a great book Jim and one that I will be able to reread every year around the holidays...!!