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Random Acts of Badness: My Story
Danny Bonaduce, the former poster boy of bad behavior, became an 'amazingly well-adjusted adult human being' in his late 30s after kicking years of addictions. He embarked on a wonderfully successful marriage and second career as one of the country's top celebrity radio disc jockeys. 'People tend to ask me questions. I guess I'm just that kind of guy. I've been asked at least a million questions by thousands of people over the years and that doesn't even include the TV talk circuit. Still, after all that, there are some questions that give me pause. 1. Did the Partridge Family play their own instruments? 2. Did you know the hooker you picked up in Phoenix was a really a man? 3. Are you ever going to write a book? The answer to all three has always been an emphatic NO! Well, at least one of those answers is about to change.'
432 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
August 28, 2015
Bonaduce is primarily known for two things: costarring as red-headed Danny on TV's "The Partridge Family" from 1970 to 1974 and his downward spiral into drug addiction, culminating in his arrest for assaulting a transvestite prostitute in Arizona.
There are very few Partridge anecdotes here; instead, there are tales of a volatile, violent childhood, crack addiction, living in a car and numerous arrests and rehab attempts. Bonaduce's acerbic sense of humor, mixed with genuine contrition (he often breaks from a tale to apologize to someone) and awe that he survived such perils makes this lively, albeit episodic tour through tabloid squalor a guilty pleasure.
He's a good-natured guide who never falls into self-pity ("Before I sat down to write this book, I thought of my little stories as charming and myself as a color character... it turns out I was nothing more than a piece of shit"). His redemption comes from his wife, Gretchen, whom he met and married on the same day, and a new career as a radio disc jockey both of which turned his focus away from drugs.
While Bonaduce's nice-guy persona helps him to avoid alienating readers with the seedier incidents, he skims over his actual recovery from crack cocaine (willpower, on-the-job drug tests and his wife's eagle eye is his explanation, which seems a little too easy). He is forthcoming on his various brushes with the law, his boxing match with Donny Osmond, his often humiliating radio jobs (one station required him to call himself "Danny Partridge") and his belief that all child stars don't have to meet a bad end.
There are very few Partridge anecdotes here; instead, there are tales of a volatile, violent childhood, crack addiction, living in a car and numerous arrests and rehab attempts. Bonaduce's acerbic sense of humor, mixed with genuine contrition (he often breaks from a tale to apologize to someone) and awe that he survived such perils makes this lively, albeit episodic tour through tabloid squalor a guilty pleasure.
He's a good-natured guide who never falls into self-pity ("Before I sat down to write this book, I thought of my little stories as charming and myself as a color character... it turns out I was nothing more than a piece of shit"). His redemption comes from his wife, Gretchen, whom he met and married on the same day, and a new career as a radio disc jockey both of which turned his focus away from drugs.
While Bonaduce's nice-guy persona helps him to avoid alienating readers with the seedier incidents, he skims over his actual recovery from crack cocaine (willpower, on-the-job drug tests and his wife's eagle eye is his explanation, which seems a little too easy). He is forthcoming on his various brushes with the law, his boxing match with Donny Osmond, his often humiliating radio jobs (one station required him to call himself "Danny Partridge") and his belief that all child stars don't have to meet a bad end.
February 27, 2016
Laugh out loud funny! Totally enjoyed his self deprecating sarcasm and ridiculous situations. I will be sharing this with my friends & sisters!
December 4, 2022
I've had this book on my shelf for some time now, as I know a lot has changed in Bonaduce's life since it was published in 2001. That being said, he writes with self-deprecating honesty, and I expected nothing less. As autobiographies go, it was everything I hoped it would be... gritty, honest and forthright. If you're a Partridge Family fan, which is where I, among so many others, first became acquainted with Danny, it's definitely worth a read. (I used to love listening to him on Chicago radio when he was there!)
Some of my favorite lines from the book:
"I was covered in sweat and had enough film in my mouth to shoot Apocalypse Now."
"I had swallowed my pride so many times I was getting used to the taste."
"I cannot tell you how many perfectly lucid conversations I have had with people while I was watching their heads melt into soup or their arms turn into serpents."
Some of my favorite lines from the book:
"I was covered in sweat and had enough film in my mouth to shoot Apocalypse Now."
"I had swallowed my pride so many times I was getting used to the taste."
"I cannot tell you how many perfectly lucid conversations I have had with people while I was watching their heads melt into soup or their arms turn into serpents."
December 14, 2012
The book I’m reviewing is Random Acts of Badness The Story of Danny Bonaduce. The book is about a biography about Danny. In this book he talks about his past of being in a TV show and his drug problems. He is a funny individual. Has a lot of funny stories about his life.
Danny first became famous for doing small business commercial. Then he became famous for playing Danny Partridge in the Partridge Family in the early 1970’s. Also did celebrity boxing where he fought Jose Canseco and Barry Williams.
Danny also had a drug problem in his life. He had a downward spiral with his life he was arrested in Arizona when he assaulted a transvestite prostitute. He was off and on crack most of his life and had multiple rehab attempts.
Besides the bad choices in his life he straightened out. This book is a funny book and good if you like Comedies or Biographies. Danny Bonaduce’s life is one to remember. I would recommend this book to people that I know would enjoy this book.
Danny first became famous for doing small business commercial. Then he became famous for playing Danny Partridge in the Partridge Family in the early 1970’s. Also did celebrity boxing where he fought Jose Canseco and Barry Williams.
Danny also had a drug problem in his life. He had a downward spiral with his life he was arrested in Arizona when he assaulted a transvestite prostitute. He was off and on crack most of his life and had multiple rehab attempts.
Besides the bad choices in his life he straightened out. This book is a funny book and good if you like Comedies or Biographies. Danny Bonaduce’s life is one to remember. I would recommend this book to people that I know would enjoy this book.
April 27, 2020
OK, I'll admit I was a fan of the Partridge family, so I was drawn to this book. Most of this book is about Danny's drug addiction. But he still comes off as an intelligent, funny, self deprecating guy. Hard not to like him, at least a little bit. I find some of these stories hard to believe (and their is one I am almost sure isn't true), but maybe that is the way he remembers it. He credits his wife, Gretchen, with saving him. I just googled him. He is a DJ in Seattle and credits his wife, Amy, with saving him. Maybe there are more stories since this book came out. But I am glad to hear that he is doing well.
February 19, 2008
Let Danny Bonaduce regale you with his stories of drug misadventures and chances squandered!
I have a strange fascination with Bonaduce (and I'm not even a Partridge Family fan!), so this book was rather entertaining. If nothing else, he has a knack for telling a story. When it comes to his flaws and the amount of breaks he's gotten he actually has a lot of humility, surprisingly. He's a trainwreck, but he knows he's a trainwreck.
I have a strange fascination with Bonaduce (and I'm not even a Partridge Family fan!), so this book was rather entertaining. If nothing else, he has a knack for telling a story. When it comes to his flaws and the amount of breaks he's gotten he actually has a lot of humility, surprisingly. He's a trainwreck, but he knows he's a trainwreck.
January 9, 2016
Read the whole story and it seemed that Danny was very happy being a husband and father. Looked him up online and found out he got divorced and married several more times?
September 29, 2024
Danny Bonaduce was the biggest f-up to come out of Hollywood before Charlie Sheen stole that crown away from him, but Danny's totally messed-up life and rebellious worldview (where he thinks it's cool to be an asshole and have people hate him) make for a really messed-up book as well.
Not that there aren't some fun stories (though almost nothing about The Partridge Family), but who is gonna believe a guy that was drugged out of his mind for twenty years? Bonaduce isn't just the epitome of how not be be a former child star, but he's the shining example of how not to be a human being.
The entire book is disgusting, most of it devoted in excruciating detail to his bad years where he was horrible to everyone around him and himself. Yes, there are some shockingly funny stories that are obviously exaggerated to make him look as horrible as possible, but even if you believe a small part of what he writes you'll want to put it down long before the midway point.
Then when suddenly he gets married on the night he meets a woman (failing to mention a previous first wife at all!), she tough loves him into going clean and the book shifts to being how horrible he was to work with at radio stations. The guy is a total loser and was only hired for his name, not his talent. Much of what he wrote about broadcasting is incorrect or inaccurate, the guy doesn't know what he's talking about because he was in his own little world and not the real world of radio, TV or celebrity.
The last third of the book skips past years and experiences, leaving out giant chunks of his life since he no longer was on drugs and had no more seriously bad stories to tell about himself. He hilariously gets used by the Jerry Springer show into doing random acts of kindness, and shifts his bragging about being a bad boy to being a reformed bad boy that now does good. But even that gets him into trouble.
At his heart Danny Bonaduce is an abused child who was mistakenly told he was "gifted" in school, which I learned from this means he was a troubled child with energy they couldn't corral so they put him in special "gifted" classes and let him graduate even though he didn't deserve it. It's no surprise that the only class he did well in was "creative writing," because this is a big piece of creative non-fiction that he obviously needed help to put together. I met a few of these types of "gifted" creative types who grew up in upper class neighborhoods and didn't have to accomplish anything on their own so they went the drugs and rock route--I now realize that "gifted" is code word for uncontrollable rebellion and even some mental health issues.
Everyone: his parents, teachers, employers, friends, drug suppliers, and even the legal system let him get away with self-destruction, and this book is just another example of what happens when a little rich kid gets told he's a genius. In truth, he is one of the dumbest guy that ever held a job in media. He wanted to be known as a bad boy, but instead he was just bad at everything he did.
Not that there aren't some fun stories (though almost nothing about The Partridge Family), but who is gonna believe a guy that was drugged out of his mind for twenty years? Bonaduce isn't just the epitome of how not be be a former child star, but he's the shining example of how not to be a human being.
The entire book is disgusting, most of it devoted in excruciating detail to his bad years where he was horrible to everyone around him and himself. Yes, there are some shockingly funny stories that are obviously exaggerated to make him look as horrible as possible, but even if you believe a small part of what he writes you'll want to put it down long before the midway point.
Then when suddenly he gets married on the night he meets a woman (failing to mention a previous first wife at all!), she tough loves him into going clean and the book shifts to being how horrible he was to work with at radio stations. The guy is a total loser and was only hired for his name, not his talent. Much of what he wrote about broadcasting is incorrect or inaccurate, the guy doesn't know what he's talking about because he was in his own little world and not the real world of radio, TV or celebrity.
The last third of the book skips past years and experiences, leaving out giant chunks of his life since he no longer was on drugs and had no more seriously bad stories to tell about himself. He hilariously gets used by the Jerry Springer show into doing random acts of kindness, and shifts his bragging about being a bad boy to being a reformed bad boy that now does good. But even that gets him into trouble.
At his heart Danny Bonaduce is an abused child who was mistakenly told he was "gifted" in school, which I learned from this means he was a troubled child with energy they couldn't corral so they put him in special "gifted" classes and let him graduate even though he didn't deserve it. It's no surprise that the only class he did well in was "creative writing," because this is a big piece of creative non-fiction that he obviously needed help to put together. I met a few of these types of "gifted" creative types who grew up in upper class neighborhoods and didn't have to accomplish anything on their own so they went the drugs and rock route--I now realize that "gifted" is code word for uncontrollable rebellion and even some mental health issues.
Everyone: his parents, teachers, employers, friends, drug suppliers, and even the legal system let him get away with self-destruction, and this book is just another example of what happens when a little rich kid gets told he's a genius. In truth, he is one of the dumbest guy that ever held a job in media. He wanted to be known as a bad boy, but instead he was just bad at everything he did.
August 24, 2023
Hey here's my number, so call me, maybe but I started reading Dannys book with his voice, back when he was on the Partridge Family, narrating the words from start to finish too me!!! And I loved it!!! Thank Danny B for letting us know...The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly
I hope your getting better and you will do a somewhat follow up book...Peace Out.
I hope your getting better and you will do a somewhat follow up book...Peace Out.
July 5, 2018
I know it was old material but I read it after David Cassidy died. I'm a lifelong Partridge Family fan. What more can I say?
September 16, 2019
Throughly enjoyed it.
May 26, 2021
Always love to read stories about celebrities' and their life. Really loved the story of his wife Gretchen. Enjoyed this read.
November 4, 2021
Very wild and crazy! :-)
October 6, 2012
I've owned this book and have read it several times. Although I was never a fan of "The Partridge Family", I enjoyed listening to Danny Bonaduce over the last few years as a morning DJ for the local classic rock station. I don't think you could say "Bad guy with the heart of gold", but he definitely has some good points and bad points--and lots of great stories to go along with them: "his tales of international fame and fortune...to his manic and near-fatal period of major sex, drugs, rock-and-roll and clashes with police officials..." as the back of the book states. An interesting life, to say the least. Whether you like him or hate him, the book is well told and funny as well as tragic. Definitely going back on my shelf to be read again in a couple years when I'm in the mood.
February 11, 2017
Funny one minute, disturbing the next.
May 11, 2008
bonaduce is unapologetic. he doesn't blame his experience as a child star for all his woes in his life, a refreshing stance. he credits a lot of his redemption from a life of addiction to his wife, gretchen. it's a sad thought to contemplate, as this book was published in 2001, and his wife gretchen, post their well-publicized reality show, has since filed for divorce.
still, for someone who royally screwed up his life, bonaduce is a MENSA-level thinker and an entertaining guy throughout it all. fun, though sad, read.
still, for someone who royally screwed up his life, bonaduce is a MENSA-level thinker and an entertaining guy throughout it all. fun, though sad, read.
September 19, 2008
I have always liked Danny Bonaduce. I did watch the Partridge Family when I was a kid. I commend him for being so open and honest. I see this a bounce back story. To go from child hood actor, to a has been, to a popular radio celebrity. With drug addiction in between. Happy ending of a rough life. I like these kind of stories. Especially the honesty and the ability to laugh at oneself. Great guy. Good book.
December 31, 2008
I picked this up for 33 cents at GoodWill thinking that it would be a weird tale of a weird guy. Actually, it's pretty disturbing what kind of life this guy has had, his interesting lineage, the (somewhat) ironic friends he had before they were all famous. The book is frank and direct, and I enjoy that about it. It's entertaining in it's own way. It's also sad to see how he ends the book dependence on his complete devotion from his wife...before the split. I see a sequel.
April 8, 2011
Having never been a Danny Bonaduce fan, I don't even know why I bought this book. However, a big however, this book was hysterical. I laughed, I cried... You certainly have to recognize his intelligence and self-deprecating sense of humor. I actually laughed out loud at his foibles. This book shows him as an extremely likeable-or sometimes unlikeable-regular guy that just happened to be a child star that moved in and out of drug addiction. Loved the book!
April 16, 2008
This was everything I was expecting it to be, and more. As a rule, I don't usually read the celebirty tells-all books, but I've always liked Bonaduce - his insolence has always amused me!
A very honest accounting, and while extremely sordid, his perspective of life is amusing and positive...I enjoyed it quite a bit.
A very honest accounting, and while extremely sordid, his perspective of life is amusing and positive...I enjoyed it quite a bit.
September 17, 2007
i dont care what you think, i love danny bonaduce. he is a totally buffed out little red haired gnome. but to be honest, i only checked this out of the library. i didnt spend money on it or anything.
May 5, 2012
Were all Hollywood tell-all tales this good, I would be a fan of the genre.
The book provides not a few insights - and certainly much fodder - for those interested in the the nature of folly and the psychology of fuck-ups.
The book provides not a few insights - and certainly much fodder - for those interested in the the nature of folly and the psychology of fuck-ups.
June 19, 2007
Genuinely funny. Full of unglossed insights into the dark places of a person's life.
July 18, 2007
I bought this for "intellectual candy" at the dollar store, before going on a camping trip. It's honest, funny, and exciting to read.
March 31, 2008
rather comical in a sick kinda way! guys a FREAK!
July 11, 2011
A very gripping life tale. My wife looked a this book with disgust. He seems an okay fellow. And I thought my life was screwed up. =)
August 22, 2014
This book gives you a look into Danny's life. Great book!!
June 2, 2015
VERY good and VERY interesting...
August 24, 2015
I heard about the book through Gilbert's podcast. Some great stories.
August 1, 2008
Thanks for the really flattering words about me in this book Danny!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews