Book Review: Asylum: Hollywood Tales from My Great Depression: Brain Dis-Ease, Recovery, and Being My Mother’s Son

I love reading memoirs. For me there’s just something great about taking a look into a celebrities real life. I love being reminded that the grass is not greener on the other side and with celebrities and Hollywood it is so easy to forget that sometimes. Having to chance to read Asylum by Joe Pantoliano was exciting. I have always loved his acting and getting a chance to read his memoir and pick his brain was perfect.

Asylum is brutally honest, hilarious and heartbreaking. I laughed and cried, but most of all I understood. Joe very candidly speaks of his brain dis-ease and now hopes to raise the stigma behind it, as well as show people who have it that there is nothing to be ashamed of. It’s a daunting task but after having read the book I have certainly opened my eyes to things I have never even thought of before.

I think that my favorite parts of the book were all the stories about starting out in New York and then moving to Hollywood and starting over again there. The stories about being a waiter between jobs and all of the celebrities he met along the way. I also liked the stories of the down times. They were so honest and crazy and I just felt privileged to have that look into his life.

The only thing that bothered me a little was how some chapters had stories within stories that kind of got a little confusing when I first started reading. Later in the book I got used to it and it wasn’t a problem.

Overall this was an engaging read. If you like to read memoirs this is truly one of the best that I have ever read.

About the Book

In this deeply moving and resourceful memoir, the beloved actor-director and New York Times bestselling author takes aim at the stigma attached to what he calls “brain dis-ease” by writing candidly and humorously about his journey through clinical depression.

Asylum is the story of Joe’s quest for the Hollywood success he was so sure would cure him. And when it didn’t, he began a painful downhill spiral with the Seven Deadly Symptoms (the term he coined for his addictions to food, sex, vanity, alcohol, prescription drugs, shopping, fame) that so often accompany undiagnosed brain dis-ease. Pantoliano creates a highly relevant and unflinchingly honest memoir of everything that led to his eventual awareness, diagnosis and recovery, and public activism and advocacy. His story will resonate with people who suffer from brain dis-ease, enlighten anyone who aspires to join him in the asylum called Hollywood, and entertain all who have admired his career.

• Hardcover: 260 pages
• Publisher: Weinstein Books

For more information about the book, visit www.joeypants.com.

Purchase a copy of Asylum: Hollywood Tales from My Great Depression: Brain Dis-Ease, Recovery, and Being My Mother’s Son at Amazon.

I was provided a copy of this book free of charge for review but the opinions expressed are 100% my own. This post contains our Amazon affiliate link.