Record Details

Catalog Search

Search The Catalog



Sonny boy : a memoir / Al Pacino.

Pacino, Al, 1940- (author.).

Summary:

"To the wider world, Al Pacino exploded onto the scene like a supernova. He landed his first leading role, in The Panic in Needle Park, in 1971, and by 1975, he had starred in four movies - The Godfather and The Godfather: Part II, Serpico, and Dog Day Afternoon - that were not just successes but landmarks in the history of film. Those performances became legendary and changed his life forever. Not since Marlon Brando and James Dean in the late 1950s had an actor landed in the culture with such force. Pacino was in his midthirties by then and had already lived several lives. A fixture of avant-garde theatre in New York, he had led a bohemian existence, working odd jobs to support his craft. He was raised by a fiercely loving but mentally unwell mother and her parents after his father left them when Pacino was a boy. But in a real sense he was raised by the streets of the South Bronx, and by the troop of wild and wayward young friends he ran with, whose spirits never left him. After a teacher recognized his acting promise and pushed him toward New York's fabled High School of Performing Arts, the die was cast. In good times and in bad, in poverty and in wealth, through pain and through joy, acting was his lifeline, its community his tribe. Sonny Boy is the memoir of a man who has nothing left to fear and nothing left to hide. All the great roles, the essential collaborations, and the important relationships are given their full due, as is the vexed marriage between creativity and commerce at the highest levels. The book's golden thread, however, is the spirit of love and purpose. Love can fail you, and you can be defeated in your ambitions--the same lights that shine bright can also dim. But Al Pacino was lucky enough to fall deeply in love with a craft before he had the foggiest idea of any of its earthly rewards, and he never fell out of love. That has made all the difference."-- Dust jacket flap.

Record details

  • ISBN: 9780593655115
  • ISBN: 0593655117
  • ISBN: 9780593655139
  • Physical Description: 370 pages, 32 unnumbered pages of plates : photographs (some color), portraits (some color) ; 25 cm
  • Publisher: New York : Penguin Press, [2024]

Content descriptions

General Note:
Dates may vary.
Formatted Contents Note:
A blade of grass -- A change -- A tiger and an Indian -- The new world -- Grown-ups don't do things like this -- The business we've chosen -- Maximum velocity -- Every day above ground is a good day -- It's over -- Just when I thought I was out -- Forty dollars a day (and all the donuts you can eat) -- You can always buy new friends -- The undiscovered country -- Who speaks of triumph? to endure is everything.
Subject:
Pacino, Al, 1940-
Actors > United States > Biography.
Motion picture actors and actresses > United States > Biography.
Genre:
Autobiographies.
Biographies.

Available copies

  • 85 of 88 copies available at NC Cardinal. (Show)
  • 2 of 2 copies available at Onslow County Public Library.

Holds

  • 0 current holds with 88 total copies.
Sort by distance from:
Show Only Available Copies
Location Call Number / Copy Notes Barcode Shelving Location Status Due Date
Jacksonville Main Library BIO PACINO (Text) 36015000486361 Adult Biography Available -
Swansboro Branch Library BIO PACINO (Text) 36015000486429 Adult Biography Available -