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  • Paul Newman

  • A Life
  • By: Shawn Levy
  • Narrated by: Marc Cashman
  • Length: 16 hrs and 41 mins
  • 3.9 out of 5 stars (14 ratings)
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Paul Newman cover art

Paul Newman

By: Shawn Levy
Narrated by: Marc Cashman
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Summary

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “[This] absorbing, affectionate portrait manages to bring [Newman] back to us. . . . Paul Newman leaves readers with a surprisingly cheering message. If the rest of us can’t aspire to having Newman’s life, we can at least take inspiration from the way he lived his.”—The Washington Post

“A graceful tribute to a one-of-a-kind man.”—The Seattle Times
“Newman’s life was never dull, and Levy re-creates it in vivid detail.”—Parade

Paul Newman, the Oscar-winning actor with the legendary blue eyes, achieved superstar status by playing charismatic renegades, broken heroes, and winsome antiheroes in such revered films as The Hustler, Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Verdict, The Color of Money, and Nobody’s Fool. But Newman was also an oddity in Hollywood: the rare box-office titan who cared about the craft of acting, the sexy leading man known for the staying power of his marriage, and the humble celebrity who made philanthropy his calling card long before it was cool.

Unlike his father, a successful entrepreneur, Newman bypassed the family sporting goods business to pursue an acting career. After struggling as a theater and television actor, Newman landed the lead role of boxer Rocky Graziano in Somebody Up There Likes Me when, in a tragic twist of fate, James Dean was killed in a car accident. Part of the original Actors Studio generation, Newman demanded a high level of rigor and clarity from every project. The artistic battles that nearly derailed his early movie career would pay off handsomely at the box office and earn him critical acclaim.

He applied that tenacity to every endeavor both on and off the set. The outspoken Newman used his celebrity to call attention to political causes dear to his heart, including civil rights and nuclear proliferation. Taking up auto racing in midlife, Newman became the oldest driver to ever win a major professional auto race. A food enthusiast who would dress his own salads in restaurants, he launched the Newman’s Own brand dedicated to fresh ingredients, a nonprofit juggernaut that has generated more than $250 million for charity.

In Paul Newman: A Life, Shawn Levy gives listeners the ultimate behind-the-scenes examination of the actor’s life, from his merry pranks on the set to his lasting romance with Joanne Woodward to the devastating impact of his son’s death from a drug overdose. This expansive biography is a portrait of an extraordinarily gifted man who gave back as much as he got out of life—and just happened to be one of the most celebrated movie stars of the twentieth century.

©2009 Shawn Levy (P)2009 Random House

Critic reviews

“Richly researched . . . Being able to bask in Newman’s Own insights is enough to bring this one-of-a-kind star back to life, however briefly. And to miss him terribly again when the final page is turned.”USA Today

“Levy reveals the chinks . . . while still deeply appreciating the man.”People

“Eloquent and perceptive. . . Levy’s meticulously researched biography is as revealing a portrait as one could hope for.”Christian Science Monitor

What listeners say about Paul Newman

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

POOR PAUL...

considering his brilliant life and attainment, regrettably he should have written and narrated it with the title and sub head - MY LIFE - and screw you all - this book was factual, fast-forward and flat, therefore missing everything he stood for and made him unparalleled in the late 20th. century. this book - while i love modern day biographies - was a huge disappointment.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

very detailed but yet lacking

very detailed but yet lacking , was disappointed to not get more info on iconic movies like the hustler and cool hand luke.

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