Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography
Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography is the 'Memoir by someone who identifies as LGBTQIA' selection for my 2016 (Blended) Reading Challenge.
I've always liked NPH. I'll admit that I'm probably one of those “Neil Patrick Harris was in that?” people, but I've always enjoyed everything I've seen him in and find him immensely talented. I didn't really get into HIMYM, but I remember watching Doogie Houser as a kid and being pleasantly surprised that he grew up to be so amazingly awesome. NPH is just fun. When I heard the title of this autobiography, I immediately preordered it. I looooved Choose Your Own Adventure books as a kid and, yes, NPH made it extremely fun.
Once more I'm pleasantly surprised, because even though I've come to appreciate his all-around awesomeness, I found myself incredibly moved by his extraordinary insight, intelligence, self-awareness, and really just goodness. The stories were fun and funny as hell, but they were also very frank and often poignant. If he wrote it without the use of a ghostwriter, which wouldn't surprise me, then he's an amazing writer as well as every other single thing possible. The book flowed together well as both an autobiography and a Choose Your Own Adventure book, and the additions of cocktail recipes, magic tricks, puzzles, and celebrity gossip (plus theater-, magic-, & Disney-geek fun) added something special and helped the pacing no matter which route you take on the adventure. It's a great book for picking up when you have a few minutes here or there and still get a complete story - usually one that made me laugh aloud several times.
I've always liked NPH. I'll admit that I'm probably one of those “Neil Patrick Harris was in that?” people, but I've always enjoyed everything I've seen him in and find him immensely talented. I didn't really get into HIMYM, but I remember watching Doogie Houser as a kid and being pleasantly surprised that he grew up to be so amazingly awesome. NPH is just fun. When I heard the title of this autobiography, I immediately preordered it. I looooved Choose Your Own Adventure books as a kid and, yes, NPH made it extremely fun.
Once more I'm pleasantly surprised, because even though I've come to appreciate his all-around awesomeness, I found myself incredibly moved by his extraordinary insight, intelligence, self-awareness, and really just goodness. The stories were fun and funny as hell, but they were also very frank and often poignant. If he wrote it without the use of a ghostwriter, which wouldn't surprise me, then he's an amazing writer as well as every other single thing possible. The book flowed together well as both an autobiography and a Choose Your Own Adventure book, and the additions of cocktail recipes, magic tricks, puzzles, and celebrity gossip (plus theater-, magic-, & Disney-geek fun) added something special and helped the pacing no matter which route you take on the adventure. It's a great book for picking up when you have a few minutes here or there and still get a complete story - usually one that made me laugh aloud several times.