At age 85, Oscar-winning actor Michael Caine follows up two memoirs (1992's What's It All About? and 2010's The Elephant to Hollywood) with this chatty, charming and bracingly candid collection of "the lessons I've learnt and want to share, not just for aspiring movie actors but for everyone." A born raconteur, Caine's anecdotes about his seven decades making films are perceptive, witty and wildly entertaining.
"Talent will get you only so far," writes Caine, offering salient advice that's applicable to any career aspirations. "You need to add in boring old reliability if you want to endure." He also advises, "Find something you want to do and learn how to do it really well.... We can't all be famous actors. But if you can find something you love, and if that something will also pay the bills, you will be on your way to your own personal paradise."
Caine gleans valuable lessons from working with the best (notably directors Christopher Nolan and John Huston). But he also advises readers to "use the difficulty"--whether it's working dead-end jobs, getting negative feedback or working with bullies--and find something positive within the problem. Amid the excellent advice, Caine offers star-studded anecdotes about the realities of being a working actor and life on and off the sets. (He missed picking up his Oscar for Hannah and Her Sisters because he was filming Jaws: The Revenge, a bad film he made so he could buy his mother a home.) This solidly entertaining memoir doesn't have a single dull page. --Kevin Howell, independent reviewer and marketing consultant