However, James reveals the extraordinarily high level of guidance students at Taft got when applying for colleges, which really hammered home the extra privilege that makes these students much more likely to go to prestigious colleges and universities.
On the one hand, I never really understood prep schools, feeling that at this point, for better or worse, most high schools sort of vaguely aim their students toward college instead of trade apprenticeships. Regardless, she captures this moment in her life with such detail that I really felt like I was getting a clear look into a life much different than mine. In the early 2000s with nascent internet and social media, her high school experience was wildly different than mine, and it was often hard to parse whether that was due to the time period, the quality of the school, or race. It is a memoir of her experience as the first Black legacy student at Taft, a fancy prep school in Connecticut, and the whole thing was a real eye-opener for me. But the highs are there too-like his 50-year marriage to actress Joanne Woodward-as well as the mysteries of making art, and the “imponderable of being a human being.” All told, the memoir is an extraordinary act of resurrection and reimagination.I first heard about this book during Kendra James’ very funny guest stint on my favorite podcast “Yo, Is This Racist.” I highly recommend the episode, both because the hosts are always very funny and smart and because the stories James tells from the book got me hooked (granted after a few months).
Now, those transcripts have been streamlined into this honest and unvarnished memoir, in which the actor speaks openly about his traumatic childhood, his lifelong struggle with alcoholism, and his tormenting self-doubt. Luckily, Stern kept transcripts-over 14,000 pages worth. The whole enterprise was destined to become Newman’s authorized biography, but his feelings on the project soured in 1998, he gathered the tapes in a pile and set fire to them. With the actor’s encouragement, Stern also recorded hundreds of hours worth of interviews with his friends, family, and colleagues. Between 19, Newman sat down with screenwriter Stewart Stern for a series of soul-baring interviews about his life and career. But that’s the particular magic trick of this memoir, assembled by way of a literary scavenger hunt. After six decades of Hollywood superstardom, it’s difficult to imagine that anything could remain unknown about Paul Newman.
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