Al Pacino

Sonny Boy By Al Pacino (Hardback)

A Memoir

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$42.99

The long-awaited memoir of the legendary actor, for readers of KeithRichards’ LIFE and Bruce Springsteen’s BORN TO RUN

From one of the most iconic actors in the history of film, an astonishinglyrevelatory account of a creative life in full

To the wider world, Al Pacino exploded onto the scene like a supernova. Helanded his first leading role, in The Panic in Needle Park, in 1971, and by1975, he had starred in four movies—The Godfather and The Godfather Part II,Serpico, and Dog Day Afternoon—that were not just successes but landmarks inthe history of film. Those performances became legendary and changed his lifeforever. Not since Marlon Brando and James Dean in the late 1950s had an actorlanded in the culture with such force.

But Pacino was in his midthirties by then, and had already lived severallives. A fixture of avant-garde theater in New York, he had led a bohemianexistence, working odd jobs to support his craft. He was raised by a fiercelyloving but mentally unwell mother and her parents after his father left themwhen he was young, but in a real sense he was raised by the streets of the SouthBronx, and by the troop of buccaneering young friends he ran with, whose spiritsnever left him. After a teacher recognized his acting promise and pushed himtoward New York’s fabled High School of Performing Arts, the die was cast. Ingood times and bad, in poverty and in wealth and in poverty again, through painand joy, acting was his lifeline, its community his tribe.

Sonny Boy is the memoir of a man who has nothing left to fear and nothingleft to hide. All the great roles, the essential collaborations, and theimportant relationships are given their full due, as is the vexed marriagebetween creativity and commerce at the highest levels. The book’s goldenthread, however, is the spirit of love and purpose. Love can fail you, and youcan be defeated in your ambitions—the same lights that shine bright can alsodim. But Al Pacino was lucky enough to fall deeply in love with a craft beforehe had the foggiest idea of any of its earthly rewards, and he never fell out oflove. That has made all the difference.

The long-awaited memoir of the legendary actor, for readers of KeithRichards’ LIFE and Bruce Springsteen’s BORN TO RUN

From one of the most iconic actors in the history of film, an astonishinglyrevelatory account of a creative life in full

To the wider world, Al Pacino exploded onto the scene like a supernova. Helanded his first leading role, in The Panic in Needle Park, in 1971, and by1975, he had starred in four movies—The Godfather and The Godfather Part II,Serpico, and Dog Day Afternoon—that were not just successes but landmarks inthe history of film. Those performances became legendary and changed his lifeforever. Not since Marlon Brando and James Dean in the late 1950s had an actorlanded in the culture with such force.

But Pacino was in his midthirties by then, and had already lived severallives. A fixture of avant-garde theater in New York, he had led a bohemianexistence, working odd jobs to support his craft. He was raised by a fiercelyloving but mentally unwell mother and her parents after his father left themwhen he was young, but in a real sense he was raised by the streets of the SouthBronx, and by the troop of buccaneering young friends he ran with, whose spiritsnever left him. After a teacher recognized his acting promise and pushed himtoward New York’s fabled High School of Performing Arts, the die was cast. Ingood times and bad, in poverty and in wealth and in poverty again, through painand joy, acting was his lifeline, its community his tribe.

Sonny Boy is the memoir of a man who has nothing left to fear and nothingleft to hide. All the great roles, the essential collaborations, and theimportant relationships are given their full due, as is the vexed marriagebetween creativity and commerce at the highest levels. The book’s goldenthread, however, is the spirit of love and purpose. Love can fail you, and youcan be defeated in your ambitions—the same lights that shine bright can alsodim. But Al Pacino was lucky enough to fall deeply in love with a craft beforehe had the foggiest idea of any of its earthly rewards, and he never fell out oflove. That has made all the difference.

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