Biography, Autobiography, Memoir discussion

Our new buddy read suggested by Kit will be Becoming Superman: A Writer's Journey from Poverty to Hollywood with Stops Along the Way at Murder, Madness, Mayhem, Movie Stars, Cults, Slums, Sociopaths, and War Crimes by J. Michael Straczynski. Jump in at any time with your thoughts, opinions, etc.

Thanks Koren! This is great!
I have now started. I meant to just crack it but have run on and now in to chapter 2 - it’s punchy and page turny.

Btw I too have downloaded it from my library and I’m reading it by ebook.

Kit wrote: "Thanks Koren! This is great!
I have now started. I meant to just crack it but have run on and now in to chapter 2 - it’s punchy and page turny.

Btw I too have downloaded it from my library and I’..."

Almost done with my current e-book and then I will start.

I’m coming across a lot of asterisks but can’t find where the footnotes are written.

I’ve found you can access the footnotes by clicking on the asterisks. To get back to your place in the text after reading the footnote click on the note’s asterisk.

Kit wrote: "I’ve found you can access the footnotes by clicking on the asterisks. To get back to your place in the text after reading the footnote click on the note’s asterisk."

Thanks. I'm only on the first chapter and haven't found any asterisks yet.

I still haven't seen any astericks.

I'm on chapter 6. I'm wondering if the author is being entirely truthful or if he's just writing from a small boy's point of view because I'm not entirely believing that he was hit and slapped by a nun and made to stand in the snow selling candy bars. I went to Catholic kindergarten and had religion teachers that were Catholic and I don't remember any student every being hit. My husband went to Catholic school until 8th grade and he said he never saw anyone being hit. Anyone else have a perspective on this?

How far are you, Kit?

This guy has a sense of humor, even when talking about his own abuse.

I have finished it, Koren. I raced through it. It’s decent writing - he does write for a living after all!
I really felt for him as he had a rough ride especially early in life. But he really made a success of himself. An admirable person.
I was really pulling for him each step of the way and got the impression he is a “good egg”.
I need to write a review.

How’re you finding it?

Re the violence he describes at school - I took it at face value. I have heard loads of stories of - no other way to say it - brutality at school from those days, both from religious and in public school. There was no corporal punishment/ violence when I was at school but I can say it was a couple of the nuns who were the grimmest of the teachers I had.
Also, no need to mention with it all coming out in the media in recent years, but there has been widespread mayhem in Catholic schools with sexual abuse.
I didn’t question his account at all.

Kit wrote: "Re the violence he describes at school - I took it at face value. I have heard loads of stories of - no other way to say it - brutality at school from those days, both from religious and in public ..."

A memoir is all about the author's perspective, so it is probably the way he remembers it from the perspective of a child. It may be exaggerated to some degree, I don't know. The author is a little bit older than I am. Maybe I was just lucky living in a small rural area that I never saw that kind of abuse.

Kit wrote: "I have finished it, Koren. I raced through it. It’s decent writing - he does write for a living after all!
I really felt for him as he had a rough ride especially early in life. But he really made..."

I am almost done and will probably finish today. Even though I have no idea who this guy is (I am not much interested in sci-fi but I do love the Twilight Zone) I admire his 'never give up' attitude' and his ability to inject some humor into difficult situations. As you said, I did find it very well written. I especially liked that it followed a linear timeline and didn't jump back and forth in time. I'll try to think of more to say when I finish.

From the beginning I thought he had Asperger's! Loved it when the therapist said he never felt alone because he had all these voices (characters) in his head.

I kept “shouting” to him in my head “go to therapy! Go to therapy!” So when he finally did I was relieved! I didn’t think of Aspergers, maybe because I don’t really know that much about that condition. But I spotted him as avoidant for sure. That his storytelling/ writing was addictive really explained his amazing prolificness there. It was a socially acceptable and productive channel/ escape for him. A more salubrious route than drug addiction. The world benefited from all his creativity too!
I hadn’t read any of his stuff before this either. I’d watched He-man and She-ra though! Very interesting the contortions they went with She-ra being the scenes! Reading this made me want to check out his Supermen graphic novels though. I have noted down Together We Will Go to read.

The part where he said he was going to support his separated/ex wife paying all her bills and mortgage until she died made me think What the?! She was a capable professional with about the same qualifications and experience as him and no children she was taking care of - so why would it be assumed he would support her (or how about why didn’t she support him)? When he talked about coming to the realisation that divorce was required and told her, she wasn’t upset emotionally just worried about her finances. The emotional bit is fine - things are as they are - but she was holding out for the $ and he went ahead and continued to be her meal ticket. That episode stuck in my craw a bit. I just thought she was holding out for #1 regardless of fairness and he, perhaps so emotionally starved, when he did experience some emotional connection, was taken advantage of. What did you think?

Kit wrote: "I kept “shouting” to him in my head “go to therapy! Go to therapy!” So when he finally did I was relieved! I didn’t think of Aspergers, maybe because I don’t really know that much about that condit..."

It did seem like a lot was left out of that relationship. I also wondered why he needed to support her when he had no money himself and didn't really understand why they divorced. Doing a google search it says he is currently in a relationship so that was disappointing that no mention was made of that. Perhaps it happened after the book was published.

I have a son with Asperger's so I'm familiar with the symptoms. It was disappointing that he didn't elaborate further about this.

It's always interesting that some people overcome adversity and become stronger because of it and some people drown. Funny, the people that don't overcome adversity rarely write a book about it.

So, initially I was going to give this book 5 stars, but after thinking about the parts I was disappointed about I think I will give it 4 but I did find it a very interesting well-written book. I did a search for the movie that was directed by Clint Eastwood, The Changeling and I can't get it without paying for it so I will skip it. There is another movie called the Changeling that looks like a horror movie. I will skip that too.

Another memoir I read that was written by a television writer was Even This I Get to Experience by Norman Lear. I do think their experience in writing for television helps them make a more interesting memoir. I'm thinking that having to get their point across in an hour or half an hour helps them in writing a more concise memoir that doesn't drag or get overly wordy.

Koren wrote: "Another memoir I read that was written by a television writer was Even This I Get to Experience by Norman Lear. I do think their experience in writing for television helps them make..."

I loved that book!

Julie wrote: "Koren wrote: "Another memoir I read that was written by a television writer was Even This I Get to Experience by Norman Lear. I do think their experience in writing for television h..."

I highly recommend it.

Koren: after seeing your note above about him being in another relationship I too googled to find out about it. It seems it ended 2013 and Becoming Superman came out 2019. So he was being a bit coy.
I think he had an addiction same as many traumatised people get but his was a more socially acceptable form - writing/ his job. Workaholism is rewarded by society in contrast to eg heroin or alcohol addiction.
I think I too will settle on 4 for this book. When I finally write my review ;) I have a habit of running on and reading more and more books before reviewing the ones I’ve already read!

Thanks for the Norman Lear rec, looks interesting. I think writer’s memoirs are probably a solid bet for a decent read.

Thanks for your company reading this!

Kit wrote: "Koren: after seeing your note above about him being in another relationship I too googled to find out about it. It seems it ended 2013 and Becoming Superman came out 2019. So he was being a bit coy..."

If you love all those old Norman Lear shows from the 70's (All In The Family, Maude, The Jefferson's) I think you will like that book.

I still have to write my review for this book 😁😁

I have since revised rating autobiographies and memoirs though. It's always a 5 or just leave out the rating for me now. I figure if it's written by them then that is just them even if it's "imperfect".