Sunday, December 7, 2014

Choose Your Own Autobiography by Neil Patrick Harris

Book Summary
Tired of memoirs that only tell you what really happened?
Sick of deeply personal accounts written in the first person? Seeking an exciting, interactive read that puts the “u” back in “aUtobiography”? Then look no further than Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography! In this revolutionary, Joycean experiment in light celebrity narrative, actor/personality/carbon-based life-form Neil Patrick Harris lets you, the reader, live his life. You will be born in New Mexico. You will get your big break at an acting camp. You will get into a bizarre confrontation outside a nightclub with actor Scott Caan. Even better, at each critical juncture of your life, you will choose how to proceed. You will decide whether to try out for Doogie Howser, M.D. You will decide whether to spend years struggling with your sexuality. You will decide what kind of caviar you want to eat on board Elton John’s yacht.
Choose correctly and you’ll find fame, fortune, and true love. Choose incorrectly and you’ll find misery, heartbreak, and a hideous death by piranhas. All this, plus magic tricks, cocktail recipes, embarrassing pictures from your time as a child actor, and even a closing song. Yes, if you buy one book this year, congratulations on being above the American average, but make that book Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography!
 

Flo's Review
So I've been in that phase for the past week or so where none of the book's I'm reading is really holding my attention. My solution to this is to put each book aside and start a new one -- so I am now currently on page 100ish of about four books. Oy! But this one was different. I picked it up on a Lazy Saturday -- and I couldn't put it down! I ended up reading all night long, and even though I was tired, I kept staying up so I could read each possible scenario.

I loved the Choose Your Own Adventure books as a kid, and that's what this book is. I enjoyed doing the thing where I would make one choice and read it, but then come back and go to the other choice and read that. Then I'd decide which path I liked better and take that one. It's Choose Your Own Adventure reading strategy, you could say. 

Format aside, Neil Patrick Harris is of course hilarious, and I was laughing out loud many times while reading this. At the same time, his story is very honest and emotional at times, and I came to really respect the struggles he went through and how he went through them. His love for his parents, brother, partner, and children is deep and really sweet to see. 

I definitely recommend this one! Because of the format you can read as much or as little as you want. So if you want a quick read, it can be that. If you have more time and want to really dive in, you can do that, too. But either way, I don't think you'll regret it.

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