Paul Newman: A Life [ABRIDGED] [AUDIOBOOK] (Audio CD)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Film critic and biographer Levy (Rat Pack Confidential) embarks on a respectful, thoroughgoing survey of Newman's long life (1925–2008) and massive film career without lingering on emotional and psychological factors. A kind of accidental hero, Newman recognized that his blue-eyed good looks would open doors for him, but by sheer determination and work ethic he muscled his way to the Olympian heights of America's finest actors. Born to middle-class Jewish parents in Shaker Heights, Ohio, he eventually enlisted in the navy then attended Kenyon College on the GI Bill; his early first marriage and dabbling in theater seemed to be a way to avoid having to return home and take over his father's sporting-goods store. He enrolled in Yale's drama department, then in 1952 gave himself a year in New York to prove himself: he hustled small, paying parts and gradually became a part of the Actors Studio, where he claimed to have learned everything he knew about acting. From then on, using his connections shrewdly, he moved from success on Broadway (Picnic, where he met Joanne Woodward, whom he married in 1958) to TV (Our Town) and Hollywood (Somebody Up There Likes Me). From there, the professional accolades began piling up, while Levy also chronicles Newman's stunning success as a race-car driver, entrepreneur and philanthropist. Levy doesn't shy from discussing Newman's shortcomings as a father and husband, yet he leaves a glowing assessment of this legend's career. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From The Washington Post

From The Washington Post's Book World/washingtonpost.com Reviewed by Ann Hornaday Those eyes. Who wouldn't have had a charmed life with the endowment of such preternatural baby blues? And the metabolism of a 15-year-old boy, the superb physical coordination, the well-adjusted childhood and the series of fortunate breaks? Even the beneficiary himself had a name for it: "Newman's Luck." From the moment he was born, into a secure and stable Cleveland family in 1925, until he died at age 83 last September, Paul Newman personified that combination of congenital superiority, entitlement, modesty and beneficence that defined his era's most cherished ideals about America itself. For decades, he was probably the single best reason to go to the movies, from "Somebody Up There Likes Me" to "The Road to Perdition" (and let's not forget his gruff valedictory providing voice talent in the animated movie "Cars"). Newman embodied the Platonic ideal of the Hollywood movie star, combining heart-stopping good looks with genuine talent, and working continually at his craft when he could easily have coasted. But he found meaning in life far away from the screen: in Connecticut with his wife and six kids, on the racetrack, at camps he founded for terminally ill children and, relatively late in life, in a salad-dressing business that started as a lark but winded up being -- what else? -- stupendously successful. He was, in short, one hell of a guy. And Shawn Levy's absorbing, affectionate portrait manages to bring him back to us, if only cursorily. As Levy, a film critic for the Portland Oregonian, readily admits in the book's acknowledgments, he never spoke with Newman. He was forced to make do with interviews Newman had conducted with other reporters over the years, rearranging them in chronological order and constructing a grand unified narrative in the actor's own voice. Combining that with his own reporting and interjecting his own critical analyses of Newman's screen persona, Levy has respectfully and respectably summed up Newman as a man in full. By his own lights, that man was blessed with unusual good fortune. But occasionally even Newman's Luck gave out. Levy reminds readers that Newman's long and loving marriage to Joanne Woodward was the result of an affair during his first marriage, which had produced three children. (Even his marriage to Woodward endured at least one unbecoming instance of Newman's infidelity.) He had a difficult relationship with his only son, Scott, who in 1978 died of an accidental drug overdose. And, in what will perhaps come as the biggest surprise to readers, Newman himself was a devoted drinker. Although he eventually gave up the hard stuff, he continued to pound down several beers a day, somehow never developing the gut to show for it. That, pretty much, covers the bad news. The rest of "Paul Newman: A Life" reads as a virtually uninterrupted series of golden moments and gallantry. Fans of Newman's screen work may want to skip Levy's detailed chronicle of his subject's car-racing career in places like Atlanta and Daytona and Lime Rock, Conn., just as readers interested in his political activism -- which encompassed campaigns for Eugene McCarthy, Pete McCloskey and Ned Lamont -- may not especially care about whom he was up against each of the 10 times he was nominated for an Oscar. (He finally won in 1987, for "The Color of Money.") If the book occasionally feels rote in its retelling of Newman's accomplishments, it still presents a dutifully comprehensive record that, put together in one place, qualifies as astonishing in its consistency and level of achievement. Levy is most astute when he steps back to consider how Newman continually deployed his screen image to subvert his native appeal. As Fast Eddie Felson, Chance Wayne and Hud Bannon, he came to represent the youthful rebelliousness and anti-authoritarianism that the 1960s were all about. "The twist was that Newman played not kids but grown-ups," Levy writes, "more specifically, grown-ups who hadn't yet outgrown juvenile impulses, urges, and flaws and might never do so." Much later, in films like "The Verdict" and "Nobody's Fool," he played rough when he could have settled into a far more unthreatening dotage in more anodyne fare. It's tempting to think that Newman's Luck was just that: his alone, unattainable for mere mortals. But "Paul Newman: A Life" leaves readers with a surprisingly cheering and inspiring message. If the rest of us can't aspire to having Newman's life, we can at least take inspiration from the way he lived his. We can play the cards we're dealt -- with guts, grace and generosity.
Copyright 2009, The Washington Post. All Rights Reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Random House Audio; Abridged edition (May 5, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307576558
• ISBN-13: 978-0307576552
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 5.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #213,855 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good Bio of a Great Man, June 1, 2009

By	Richard Masloski (New Windsor, New York USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Paul Newman: A Life (Hardcover)

I never knew that Paul Newman had been married once before his storied romance and marriage to Joanne Woodward - until now. I never knew that Paul Newman had a son that died tragically young - until now. I never knew that the storybook marriage that seemed rock-solid once had a major crack in it in the form of a fairly serious affair - until now. I knew that Paul Newman liked his beer, but not to the full extent as he apparently did - until now. I new Paul Newman was generous towards worthy causes - but just how incredibly generous I never knew...until now. I learned alot in the reading of this book. Shawn Levy's new biography of the incredible Mr. Newman is an informative read. It is swiftly paced (except for a little too much detail regarding the actor's passion for racing - but...given that he spent so much of his life pursuing racing, perhaps the details are appropriate.) If anything, the book moves along at too quick a speed. Don't expect any detailed analysis on the making of the movies, for example. Marlon Brando is mentioned as meeting Mr. Newman a number of times, yet there is no information as to what they thought of one another, how they got along. (Newman was compared to Brando in the '50's and some reviewers even felt he looked like him!)And Paul Newman's final days are rather quickly recounted; as a matter-of-fact, we never learn anything of wife Joanne Woodward's reaction to his demise. But these small points aside, if you wish to learn much more than you may presently know about Paul Newman, give this book a read. I enjoyed it. It could have been more, but what there is of it is pretty darn good. And I'll say it again: Paul Newman's legacy - apart from a handful of really wonderful films - will be his genuine generosity and true compassion for the charities he not only gave to but also created. He was a beautiful man on the outside, yes, but all the more beautiful inside for his gift of giving.

50 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Begins to add to the body of knowledge, May 5, 2009

By	Uncle Elmer "tod3" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Paul Newman: A Life (Hardcover)

While some may lament with passion that this book was written charging that Paul Newman was a saint and should not be tarnished I take a different view. Hooray the book was written and let it begin a body of knowledge on the greatness of Paul Newman. So what that it is not entirely flattering? It is a start of the process of scholarship on looking at this man's outstanding legacy and, yes, Paul was a saint. No matter what flaws he had he was a wonderful and good man who deserves a series of books that study his art and life's beautiful charity. This book begins that process and I am sure many will follow. Let us celebrate this book and this process of examining one of our giants of both movies and theatre.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful man, A beautiful life, June 17, 2009

By	Sacramento Book Review "SacramentoBookReview.com" (Sacramento, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Paul Newman: A Life (Hardcover)

Paul Newman was born beautiful and led a fabulously full life, most of which he would himself contribute to what he called the "Newman luck." Luck aside, the truth is that Newman was a truly talented, committed, inventive, and gifted human being. He lived many lives: He was a film and stage actor, race car driver and team owner, director, producer, philanthropist, non-profit company owner, husband, and father. Even in a place known for its off-the-cuff marriages and nasty divorces, Newman and Joanne Woodward had one of the most celebrated marriages in Hollywood history. In fact, being a husband and father was what Paul was most proud of, even though he sometimes didn't show it well.

This biography is beautifully written. Although Mr. Levy did not ever meet Paul Newman personally, the in-depth and thorough research is evident. Each of Newman's movies is covered, as well as the motivation behind them. He liked to be involved in his films from beginning to end. Even though his star was rising, he did not think that fame should include his personal life being in the public eye--a fact he often struggled with. But through his many careers, he kept his values and sense of humor. He kept his priorities straight and knew what was important to him. Newman was truly a man to be celebrated, and this book does a great job of doing just that.

Reviewed by
Vanessa Garcia