There’s a voice whispering in my ear, telling me a story.
What more could I want? “Tell me a story” is what we beg for as kids to comfort us when we’re scared or bored or unwilling to give in to sleep.
And Al Pacino’s just-published memoir “Sonny Boy” has serious storytelling magic. The Oscar-winning actor has had a life: a hardscrabble upbringing in the Bronx with a loving but troubled single mom, a largely absent father and a gang of friends who mostly never made it out of the neighborhood alive. Then young Al discovers his calling as an actor, lands a great part on stage that gets him noticed and soon enough everything seems to go his way.
Of course, it’s not that simple. He suffers setbacks, struggles with alcohol and drugs and can’t seem to give his personal life and loved ones the kind of devotion he has for his work. That’s not the whole story, either. What makes Pacino’s narration so compelling is that there’s a lack of rote “I-am-reading-words-to-you-now” narration; it just sounds fresh. (Also delightful, Pacino speaks with a unique cadence that recalls Christopher Walken’s speech patterns.)
Pacino doesn’t seem to settle scores either. He speaks of the people in his life – former lovers and longtime romantic partners, especially – with kindness, and reveals his onetime roommate Martin Sheen has been a compassionate, loyal friend of longstanding.
I grew up liking a good juicy celebrity memoir to spice up my diet of novels, nonfiction and comic books, but this is not a gossipy book. Maybe my delight with “Sonny Boy” comes because I’m not a super-fan; I’ve seen “The Godfather” trilogy, “Heat” and “Scarface” and can do a passable “Scent of a Woman”-inspired “hoo-WAA” when needed (though, thankfully, it’s rarely requested), but even though Pacino has been a household name for most of my life I didn’t know much about him. I assumed things about the life of a Hollywood star, but the person he presents here is one with a passion for acting and, later on, his children, but not many other things, like his finances, say. (It also turns out that Pacino’s father, who he says married five times and provided him step-siblings before his death in 2005, ran a restaurant in Covina.)
Books play a powerful role in Pacino’s life, especially in the years when he was struggling to make it as an actor.
“I’d wander the streets all day, and then I’d sit at the library pretty much for warmth. But I became a voracious reader. I had no teachers, I had no homework assignments, so I followed my own passions,” writes Pacino, recalling reading as a comfort on cold days. “At the automat, I could make a single cup of coffee last all morning and sit there for five hours while I read my little books of the great authors. There was something so absorbing about that gift of reading, it could calm your mind, give you another world to engage in.
“Somehow, books were more intimate like having friends and enjoying their company. I would be reading ‘A Movable Feast’ and thinking, I don’t want to finish the pages. I like this book so much.”
During those early years in Manhattan, Pacino developed a lifelong love of Shakespeare, performing the classics onstage and directing (and financing) the hybrid documentary/performance film on “Richard III,” “Looking for Richard.”
“If the hour was late and you heard the sound of someone in your alleyway with a bombastic voice shouting iambic pentamenter into the night, that was probably me – training myself on the great Shakespeare soliloqies. I would walk the streets of Manhattan bellowing out monologues as I rambled. I would do it by the factories at the edges of town where no one was around. Where else was I going to go? Where could I emote? That’s what you do when you’re obsessed, I guess. In these side streets, passageways,” he writes. “I didn’t need anyone’s permission if I wanted to play Prospero, Falstaff, Shylock, Richard the Third.”
It’s a charming book, one that spans a kind of “Bowery Boys” New York City through the ‘70s-era mean streets and on to the less compelling landscape of a large rented home in Beverly Hills. The stories about making “The Godfather,” “Scarface” and his iconic earlier work are enjoyable – look out for a Marlon Brando anecdote set in a hospital room – though by the last two chapters you can feel he’s said his piece and then ends with a rousing finish.
But hey, you ask, what else is out there to listen to? In the celebrity zone – always popular as we edge toward the holidays – here are some recent offerings:
“A Thousand Threads: A Memoir” by Neneh Cherry, read by the author
The singer and musician’s 1989 debut album “Raw Like Sushi” spawned the undeniably wonderful hit “Buffalo Stance,” and here she chronicles her life in a book about which Zadie Smith says, “Her memoir is a treasure. I loved it.”
“Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell” by Susanna Clarke, read by Richard Armitage
Regular readers know I am a huge fan of this novel about English magicians in the waning days of magic during the Napoleonic Wars. The wonderful original narration by Simon Prebble is what got hooked me on audiobooks, but I’m willing to try Armitage. (Note: Neil Gaiman, who was initially announced as part of this new recording, does not appear.)
“Slouching Toward Bethlehem: Essays” by Joan Didion, read by Maya Hawke
While this classic doesn’t demand an audiobook, it got a good one delivered by “Stranger Things” star Hawke, who recently appeared as author Flannery O’Connor in her father Ethan Hawke’s film, “Wildcat.” Narrating in a voice as clear and sustaining as a cool glass of water, Hawke’s unflashy approach allows the words to reveal their magic.
“The Spamalot Diaries” by Eric Idle, read by the author with Alan Tudyk
Is there anything more pleasurable than listening to the Monty Python funnyman’s diary about the production of the Broadway hit, “Spamalot”? Well, sure, probably, but this is still pretty fun – especially learning that when he was downsizing homes, Idle sold off his book collection to a shop in Covina.
Sidenote: Being a nerd, I tracked down the bookstore and confirmed the sale with the owners, so go to Johnson Rare Books & Archives, whose owners Jen and Brad Johnson I’ve interviewed previously. Search “Eric Idle” on their website and you can see or purchase formerly Idle-owned books by or about people such as Paul McCartney, John le Carré, Martin Amis, Umberto Eco or Naomi Campbell.
“It Gets Better … Except When It Gets Worse: And Other Unsolicited Truths I Wish Someone Had Told Me,” by Nicole Maines, read by the author
The groundbreaking trans actress and activist first drew attention for a landmark court case and Amy Ellis Nutt’s book, “Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family.” Maines, who has since landed roles on “Supergirl”and Showtime’s “Yellowjackets,” is a terrific narrator of her life story.
“From Here to the Great Unknown: A Memoir” by Lisa Marie Presley and Riley Keough, read by Keough and Julia Roberts
Keough does justice to her mother’s desire for a memoir about a privileged and sometimes-troubled life. Narrated by both Keough and Roberts (who reads Lisa Marie’s writing), the book includes actual recordings made by her mother. It’s powerful and well-done.
“Brothers” by Alex Van Halen, read by the author
This memoir is a loving look back at the life and upbringing of the drummer and his guitar hero brother, Edward. The book briskly moves through the Van Halens’ youth, emigration to Pasadena with their Dutch father and Indonesian mother, and early stardom, and it’s insightful, informative and often surprising.
Halloween’s over. If you’re feeling like the monsters have all gone too soon, check out a weekend devoted to Japan’s favorite kaiju.
Authors and Godzilla experts Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski, whose book “Godzilla: The First 70 Years” is coming out next year, will be giving some lectures and talks on the big guy this weekend. Full disclosure: I know Ryfle – and he knows Godzilla.
Nov. 2: Ryfle will co-lead a lecture presentation, “Godzilla: In Context – The Monster Japan, and America” at the Japan Foundation Los Angeles. 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Nov. 3: Godziszewski and Ryfle will introduce five films at Godzilla-Thon!, an all-day movie marathon for Godzilla’s 70th at the Academy of Motion Pictures Library theater. Begins at 11 a.m.
Nov. 4: The duo will lead a follow-up lecture/discussion, “Godzilla and the Art of Japanese Special Effects” at the Japan Foundation Los Angeles. 7 p.m.-8:30 p.m.