Blowing the Bloody Doors Off: And Other Lessons in Life

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It does perhaps point to the conclusion, though, that although the author undoubtedly worked really hard to acquire his great expertise, success is also dependent on who you know and how you treat them. I especially enjoyed his stories of how he got his start acting and the life lessons he's learned along the way. Caine not only waxes lyrical about his friends and family but entire sections of the book read like extended acknowledgements to those who've helped him on his way, from the bloke at the butter factory where Caine was working who first told him about the Stage newspaper, to Hollywood royalty John Wayne. I loved his down-to-earth style and philosophy of life, especially how he used the "little difficulties" to positive effect.

It is at times a little flat, stilted, and there are odd inflections where he obviously thinks he's coming to the end of a sentence but isn't. Blowing the Bloody Doors Off is something of a companion piece to his two previous volumes, and is best read as such, rather than on its own since there are enough occasions in its pages where the author explicitly refuses to repeat stories he's already treated readers to – such as how he met his wife of 45 years, Shakira . I don't know if he penned the book himself (there are several statements giving that impression) or someone ghost-wrote it for him. He is such a celebrated, successful actor that it would be easy for him to lose perspective, but he didn't.I recommend this book for a glimpse into Hollywood and the movie business from a respectable actor with a career spanning 50+ years. This is good advice, although I'm not sure we then need so complete a run-down of all the steps he takes in preparation for a day's performance, from packing his bag the night before, getting a good night's sleep, and allowing for unexpected delays in the journey.

While reading, I envisioned sitting in a library or study around a fire listening to him tell me all the tales, the ups and downs, and tucking in bits of wisdom. Indeed, he speaks with great love and warmth about his family and tells heartwarming stories of time spent with his grandchildren. As such, I’d describe the book as a bonus volume of life lessons Caine’s learnt along the way, although a less generous reader might describe it as a canny publicity stunt – an attempt to get some extra mileage from those anecdotes and stories that didn’t make the cut the first or second time around. Though it’s fair to say there’s a bit of overlap in this book to his previous autobiographical tomes, it’s nevertheless an entertaining read and shows off Caine’s storytelling talent and ability to dissect events and understand how to move forward. Michael had seen Nolan's movie "Memento," and assumed this new film would also be something low-budget.

The original Italian Job will always be my favourite film - and I shall never forgive what was done to those ‘pretty cars’! While this second autobiography gives a great deal of advice to aspiring actors, the stories of his encounters with so many legendary figures are fascinating. A very enjoyable memoir regarding the actor's life, but with enough of his personal life included to make this a memoir/autobio hybrid. But if I hadn't been lucky, I would have kept going anyway, doing something I loved and trying to do it as well as I possibly could.