Life Itself: A Memoir

Surprisingly enjoyable. Ebert has a lot of funny, memorable, and sad stories to tell about himself and a good many famous personalities. And there's even good nuggets of writerly advice which I always love to pick up from better writers than myself. ( )

Surprisingly sweet and emotional. He has an intellectual's way of looking life and love. I enjoyed how the stories would interweave and overlap, not just in a strictly linear timeline. He bounced around as necessary and made the stories feel more full and realized. Great job.
PS - Richard from Gilmore Girls narrates. It was lovely. ( )

I loved about half of this book--the biographical parts about Ebert's Illinois childhood were rich and he has a clear and honest recall that translates nicely to the page. I also loved hearing about the early days of his newspaper career and learning about Ebert's more endearing quirks such as the obsessive need to revisit the exact same place every trip, his automatic catchphrases, and other creature-of-habit ways that he grounds himself on the earth. The other half of the book was filler as far as I am concerned-- too many side-note chapters about friends or events or celebrities he has known. As an editor, I would have suggested lopping off a few of these chapters, but ultimately, I am awfully glad to see him still around after his ghastly illness and able to weave a good story. ( )

I love the movies and this is what drew me to this book. Roger Ebert started as a film critic in 1967, for the Chicago Sun-Times. I’ve been reading his reviews and watching his TV program since the 80s. I don’t always agree with him on his reviews but never doubted his devotion to film.
He was born in 1942, in Urbana IL. (Yes, the same location HAL was born in the book/film 2OO1). This lengthy section of the memoir, which covers his suburban youth, love of food, 50s cars, backseat dalliances, his school years, first jobs, all take over half the book. Yes, he’s a very fine writer, but REALLY?
It begins to pick up when he lands in Chicago, with the classic old-school press, including the stalwarts Mike Royko and Studs Terkel, then he takes a long detour to discuss his favorite restaurants in London. Finally the book, begins to sail, when he profiles 3 legendary actors: Lee Marvin, Robert Mitchum and John Wayne. I was soaring and then Ebert nearly topped that with profiles on a mighty handful of great directors, including Scorcese, Altman, Bergman and Herzog. I am huge fans of them all.
Yes, the later part of the book, is very honest and touching, as it describes his illness’s, which robbed him of his speech in 2006 and his lovely marriage to Chazz, his soul mate.
The memoir may be a mixed-bag, but it the end I ended up enjoying it. Judge for yourself. ( )

Like most memoirs, you must come to the table with an interest in the person who you are reading about. Although I don't subscribe to all of his ideas and conclusions, Ebert is an extremely thoughtful and intelligent writer -- even when he is wrong or not quite right. This book is not about "the movies" but what the title suggests. Although we argued, I felt like friend had just moved away when this book ended. ( )