Born in Dundee, Scotland, actor Brian Cox recounts the day of his birth, when his nervous, distracted father went to the registry office to register the newborn's name as Colin. However, due to an opinionated office manager, his father was talked into calling him Brian. With humor and grace, the versatile, well-respected actor offers candid insights into his early family life and the struggles that led to his becoming an internationally recognized theater, screen, and television actor. A fabulous storyteller, Cox offers tales filled with personal, sometimes gossipy, anecdotes spent among theater greats, brilliant directors, and assorted film personalities. Moments of self-awareness lead to moments riddled with gallows humor, while poignant moments are guaranteed to touch the heart. Smart, entertaining listening.
Pub Date: Jan. 18, 2022
Duration: 11 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9781549164675
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Cox delivers both the searing pain and deep beauty imbued in her life journey.
The cudgel of gender conformity has never felt more visceral and brutal, more omnipresent and inescapable than in actor and activist Cox’s spellbinding memoir. Listeners will not be left unchanged by Cox’s courage in speaking her whole truth for the very first time. As narrator, Cox’s voice sometimes sounds armored, because this isn't Cox the performer, but Cox as a fiercely analytical intellectual as she examines how her life story embodies the intersection of gender, race, colonization, and patriarchy. Yes, listeners will hear about her fun rise to fame, which included working with film idols like Jodie Foster, but it is her relationship with the work of feminist icon and scholar bell hooks that informs the backbone of this intelligent, remarkable memoir.
Cox delivers both the searing pain and deep beauty imbued in her life journey.Pub Date: June 9, 2026
Duration: 9 hrs, 56 mins
DD ISBN: 9781668135860
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Review Posted Online: tomorrow
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2026
Honest, heartfelt recollections make this performance feel like catching up with a close friend on the phone.
The best narrator for O'Connell's unique mixture of humor and drama is, fittingly, O'Connell himself. In his essay collection, O'Connell discusses every facet of his life as a gay man with cerebral palsy, from his former reliance on alcohol and drugs to his struggle finding a sexual partner, experience in an open relationship, his exercise journey, and his Hollywood success. Listeners will find themselves laughing alongside O'Connell as he candidly recalls—with contagious cackles—his time as an addict in denial and his decade-long dry spell. O'Connell's narration is passionate, whether he’s recounting a heartbreaking story of childhood trauma or sharing a laugh-out-loud joke.
Honest, heartfelt recollections make this performance feel like catching up with a close friend on the phone.Pub Date: May 26, 2026
Duration: 6 hrs, 56 mins
DD ISBN: 9781250457127
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Review Posted Online: tomorrow
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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