A legally intriguing memoir, but its good-versus-evil framing strikes occasional discordant notes.
A high-profile attorney discusses several of his more famous cases, mixing in assorted highlights of personal adventures.
Debut author Harder was born in 1969 and raised in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Encino. By his own account, his childhood was happy and relatively carefree, and included Hollywood-connected friends and classmates. His father, a business manager, maintained a credo that Harder still lives by: “Never give up, and find a way!” This motto got the author through the case that brought him national fame: Bollea v. Gawker. Gawker, a popular online tabloid, had obtained an explicit sex tape of professional wrestler and actor Terry Bollea, aka Hulk Hogan, which had been made without his knowledge, and the site published part of the video online. It would take four years of court battles, and millions of dollars in legal fees, for the case to reach resolution in 2016. Bollea had a wealthy backer to fund his lawsuit and hired Harder and his team, who scored an enormous monetary award for their client; this had the effect of putting Gawker out of business. Another victory came when Harder and his partners, working on behalf of celebrity Halle Berry, contributed to the development of California legislation to protect the children of the famous from paparazzi. Harder is at his best when he shares the behind-the-scenes drama of these cases, as well as the intricacies of legal arguments. His client roster of Hollywood celebs peppers the book with enjoyable glitter. His mission, he declares, is to fight for victims of unscrupulous media, both print and electronic, and in 2017, he successfully handled first lady Melania Trump’s defamation case against the British Daily Mail. The author’s clear admiration for her and her husband, President Donald Trump, seems to fuel Harder’s broader criticism of the New York Times and the Washington Post, and his attacks call to mind familiar partisan claims of “fake news.” He also criticizes the lack of positive media coverage of Melania Trump’s “Be Best” anti-bullying campaign, but without addressing common accusations that her husband engaged in prolific Twitter bullying himself.
A legally intriguing memoir, but its good-versus-evil framing strikes occasional discordant notes.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 191
Publisher: Manuscript
Review Posted Online: March 29, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The choir is sure to enjoy this impassioned preaching on familiar progressive themes.
Essays on current political topics by a high-profile actor and activist.
Milano explains in an introduction that she began writing this uneven collection while dealing with a severe case of Covid-19 and suffering from "persistent brain fog.” In the first essay, "On Being Unapologetically Fucked Up,” the author begins by fuming over a February 2019 incident in which she compared MAGA caps worn by high school kids to KKK hoods. She then runs through a grab bag of flash-point news items (police shootings, border crimes, sexual predators in government), deploying the F-bomb with abandon and concluding, "What I know is that fucked up is as fundamental a state of the world as night and day. But I know there is better. I know that ‘less fucked up’ is a state we can live in.” The second essay, "Believe Women," discusses Milano’s seminal role in the MeToo movement; unfortunately, it is similarly conversational in tone and predictable in content. One of the few truly personal essays, "David," about the author's marriage, refutes the old saw about love meaning never having to say you're sorry, replacing it with "Love means you can suggest a national sex strike and your husband doesn't run away screaming." Milano assumes, perhaps rightly, that her audience is composed of followers and fans; perhaps these readers will know what she is talking about in the seemingly allegorical "By Any Other Name," about her bad experience with a certain rosebush. "Holy shit, giving birth sucked," begins one essay. "Words are weird, right?" begins the next. "Welp, this is going to piss some of you off. Hang in there," opens a screed about cancel culture—though she’s entirely correct that “it’s childish, divisive, conceited, and Trumpian to its core.” By the end, however, Milano's intelligence, compassion, integrity, and endurance somewhat compensate for her lack of literary polish.
The choir is sure to enjoy this impassioned preaching on familiar progressive themes.Pub Date: Oct. 26, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-18329-8
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
A fascinating and funny look at the life of a famous actor who found further fulfillment through giving back.
The actor discusses his career on the stage and in film, and his life focusing on the value of art and public service.
Now 66, Stern, perhaps best known for his roles in Home Alone and City Slickers, is no longer "the precocious teenager who moved to New York as a seventeen-year-old, at least ten years younger than all of my friends, the youngest dad at all my kids’ school events.” As he discusses his childhood in Maryland, his introduction to the theater, and writing a musical version of Lord of the Flies, the author's love of the work shows through on every page—as does his family’s legacy of a strong work ethic (his mother told him, “I don’t care what you do but you are out of this house when you turn eighteen”). Realizing that “academics were not going to get me anywhere,” he committed to acting. After some early stage work, he began working in films, appearing in a number of critically successful projects in the late 1970s and early ’80s, including Breaking Away and Diner. Stern analyzes key moments in the development of his craft, as well as the twists and turns of a very public life, which included work with the USO and the experience of being sued for $25 million over a TV show. Although readers may pick up the book to learn more about Hollywood, his focus on his work-life balance brings some of the most memorable passages, from his narration and directing work in the TV series The Wonder Years (which included no on-screen billing), which helped him overcome his childhood dyslexia, to his experience working with the Boys & Girls Club and his lifelong focus on public service.
A fascinating and funny look at the life of a famous actor who found further fulfillment through giving back.Pub Date: May 21, 2024
ISBN: 9781632280930
Page Count: 300
Publisher: Viva Editions
Review Posted Online: Jan. 30, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
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