Rate this book

The Guttenberg Bible: A Memoir (2012)

by Steve Guttenberg(Favorite Author)

3.23 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0312383452 (ISBN13: 9780312383459)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Thomas Dunne Books

review 1: When I saw this book on the library shelf the first thing that came to mind about Steve Guttenberg was a line from the Stonecutter's song from the Simpsons: "Who makes Steve Guttenberg a star? We do!" I decided to give this book a try to see if there really was a reason why he had been such a star in the 80's.The first hundred pages of this book is great. It starts off exactly where you'd want it to - as he's getting started in movies - cutting off all the growing up stuff which a good author can make compelling, but which often drags in celebrity memoirs. The stories of how he got started are funny, embarrassing and enlightening. He does a good job of explaining how film sets work, and the mistakes he made getting into the business, all while moving quickly.The rest of th... moree book is a lot less interesting, however, because it slowly evolves into that cliche of actor books: I worked with so and so on this, they were great, they also had done this and this. The name-droppiness doesn't bother me, although I don't really need to be told who won what award for what because I have IMDB and I don't really care if he shares agents with Clint Eastwood. No, what bothers me is the sort of blandness of it - almost everyone is a class act and a professional and a joy to work with. And I'm sure that they were; I'm not asking him to name names. But it could have been a little more varied if he'd been a bit less political.If the last two hundred pages had been as good as the first hundred then I would recommend this book as a must-read, up there with Steve Martin's Born Standing Up as a portrait of a young, hungry artist. But unfortunately the back parts of this book - while easy to read and not without their laughs - are a little forgettable. If you're a big fan of the Goot, then this book is worth reading, but if you're casually interested in him like I am then this book is not essential.
review 2: I really wanted to like this book. I like Steve Guttenberg and in his movies he seemed like an every-man type of character that would always be around. To the point I guess he is, it's just that his movies and choice roles are more obscure and outside something I might want to watch. I read this book with the hope that it would be as interesting as other celebrity memoirs I have read (such as Michael J. Fox, Jerry Weintraub, or Alan Alda's) however this was not the case. A few things that made reading the book less enjoyable were 1) Steve never said the word God, instead he would say G-d. Now maybe he's a really religious guy and I would get that, but if that's the case why would you just not include the word in the book at all? He would say God as G-d, but he would still say Jesus Christ which at least in my mind makes me question the religious side of things. Anyway moving on. 2) the entire book focuses on his first 10 years in Hollywood and nothing in the way of mentioning his failed marriage or the next ten years of his life where he seemingly disappears from public view. These things while perhaps he may not be proud of are the things that make someone appear more human and when reading of them become more interesting characters to follow. Without legitimate conflict or a driving force behind his actions, the book seemed empty. 3) a few months back I read Rob Lowe's memoir and it seemed as if all he did was name-drop and try to elevate himself to these characters which while he is talented, is not as amazing as he thinks (or at least he read that way). That said, Guttenberg name-dropped all the time throughout the book to emphasize that he was around big shots. But what annoyed me was that he did so in such spectacular detail (like with the sound guy or the key grip) that it was just ran into the ground. It's obvious he has a great memory for names and instances from almost 30 years ago, but it got dull fast and became a less enjoyable book. 4) I'm tempted to talk about Police Academy and it's way too many sequels but it seems pointless to mention that as sadly beyond the minutia of irrelevant details regarding filming other projects, Guttenberg's biggest film triumph is a series he should have left after the first sequel and not the third (though as is pointed out it did give us David Spade) 5) finally, the thing that just seemed to dull the book (though it showed that he stayed close to his roots) was his phone conversations with his parents. A conversation at the beginning and/or at the end would have sufficed but throughout the book these parental conversations showing how out of the loop they were and their "banter" between each other just wasted space. This is not to say that their presence wasn't completely unnecessary or that Guttenberg shouldn't be proud of where he came from (he should be proud of himself and his parents) its just that these inclusions into his narrative made for a less enjoyable read. I'll close this by saying that I like Steve Guttenberg and I wish he were more relevant today; though his disappearance from major motion pictures might make for a more interesting book. There is little doubt in my mind that he could be in roles that Albert Brooks is in and really reemerge as a notable actor but I don't think we'll see that and that's kinda sad cause he does (or at least did) have potential. less

Download links for: The Guttenberg Bible: A Memoir

Advertising