Are there any greater wits than Brits? Tim Curry is just the latest person to prove the point. As evidenced in his new memoir, Vagabond (Grand Central Publishing, October 14), the actor best known for his role in The Rocky Horror Picture Show has not lost his sharpness—despite a 2012 stroke that limited his mobility. The book is not intended to be a “juicy Hollywood tell-all,” he writes. “Not because my moral compass won’t allow it, or because I haven’t had ample run-ins with juicy celebrities—but simply because I find such books immensely dull and highly susceptible to gathering dust.” Furthermore, he notes, “I won’t be dishing out lurid details of my love affairs.…I have loved and been loved and I hope you have, too. But I’m not interested in your romances. And specifics about my affairs of the heart or the bedroom are—respectfully—none of your fucking business.”
Curry is one of many celebrities who’ve turned to books to explore their lives or tell of pursuits that go beyond their professions. Fellow actor Nick Offerman is one of them. His latest book, written with Lee Buchanan, is Little Woodchucks: Offerman Workshop’s Guide to Tools and Tomfoolery (Dutton, October 14). Droll as ever, Offerman shares his love of carpentry with aspiring woodworkers. Our review commended Little Woodchucks as “a thoroughly enjoyable book that’ll leave you with a craving to get creative.”
Another actor who has applied her talents to writing is Zosia Mamet, whose debut essay collection is Does This Make Me Funny? (Viking, September 9). Mamet grew popular thanks to the HBO series Girls, but she writes of how she fought “fears that I would never make it as an actress.” Our reviewer called the book “funny and moving” with “some of the best descriptions of acting since Al Pacino’s Sonny Boy.”
Geddy Lee, lead vocalist and bassist for Rush, is no stranger to the written word, having penned a bestselling memoir, My Effin’ Life, in 2023. Now he’s back with 72 Stories: From the Baseball Collection of Geddy Lee (Harper/HarperCollins, September 30). When not playing music, Lee has been collecting baseball memorabilia for decades. Our review lauded the book as “an inviting tour of our national pastime, led by a rocker with an infectious love of the game.”
Lionel Richie waited until age 76 to write a book. Not that he’s had much free time: When not touring—and selling more than 100 million albums—the superstar has been an American Idol judge. His autobiography, Truly: The Official Inspirational Journey Through the Life of a Musical Legend (HarperOne, September 30), earned a starred review that sang its praises as a “wildly entertaining, utterly charming memoir.”
Richie isn’t the only long-beloved performer with a book out. Dolly Parton, with Tom Roland, has written a career retrospective that’s rich in photos. Star of the Show: My Life on Stage (Ten Speed Press, November 11) is, in our reviewer’s opinion, “as cheerful and bighearted as the legend herself.” As the Queen of Country has said, “Everybody’s life is a soap opera. Everybody’s life is a country western song; depends on who’s writing it.”
John McMurtrie is the nonfiction editor.
