Celebrities Who Write
To paraphrase a misquote from F. Scott Fitzgerald, the famous are different from you and me. Or from me, at least, in the sense that they're way more productive:
Multiple Oscar-winner Tom Hanks recently published a book of short stories (all involving vintage typewriters, no less!) that is reportedly pretty decent.
Uncommon Type by Tom Hanks
Similarly, Steve Martin, star of many hit comedy films, has published not one but two good novels about ambitious young women.
An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin
Shopgirl by Steve Martin
Shopgirl was even made into a movie, starring Steve Martin, bringing the creative process full circle:
Shopgirl (DVD, 2006)
So. Regardless of what Us Weekly would have us believe, stars: they're not much like us at all.
Carrie Fisher. Photo credit: rod.
Licensed under Creative Commons.
Further evidence: the magnificent late lamented Carrie Fisher, in addition to being everybody's favourite space princess/general, wrote seven well-received books, including four novels. Her first, Postcards from the Edge (1987), was a semi-autobiographical dive into the grittier corners of a drug-addicted star's life.
Postcards from the Edge by Carrie Fisher
And of course, it also became a pretty good movie (re-cue The Circle of Life):
Postcards from the Edge (DVD, 2015)
How about Canadian stars: are they also unrealistically productive?
The answer is yes. Our own Mary Walsh has a novel out this year, which she has described (somewhat surprisingly) as the backstory for her irresistible Marg Delahunty, Warrior Princess.
Early reviews suggest that "Crying for the Moon" could be a sort of "Postcards from the Edge", only set in rural Newfoundland instead of Los Angeles. Accordingly, some reviewers have found the book "too depressing"; still, if Martin's and Fisher's experiences are any indication, we might get a CBC drama out of this sooner or later.
Crying for the Moon by Mary Walsh
And it's not just Canadian actors who are obscenely productive:
Multiple Juno-winning singer-songwriter Ron Sexsmith has just published his first novel, a whimsical dark fairy tale about witches, boys turned into deer and the power of community, that you will probably love, if you love puns.
Deer Life: A Fairy Tale, by Ron Sexsmith
Have you read any good books by people who are famous for something else? Let us know in the comments.
4 thoughts on “Celebrities Who Write”
I can’t even keep track of all the Children’s books written by celebrities. So many! But my most recent favourite is “The Book with No Pictures” by BJ Novak (aka Ryan from The Office). And guess what? He’s writing a sequel “The Alphabet Book with No Pictures”!
It’s true! I just found out that Henry Winkler has a whole series for middle-school kids that’s apparen’tly pretty good. The Fonz!!!
That’s exciting about the new BJ Novak book – I loved The Book With No Pictures.
There’s going to be a sequel!!! I am beyond excited! Thank you for letting us know Nalini.
And yes, so many celebrities are writing Children’s books these days including Jimmy Fallon’s new picture book “Everything is Mama”.
I’m in awe of people who can juggle multiple – completely different – projects at once. For me, I struggle to write one extra email on top of my job, let alone a book. (And I had no idea about the book by Tom Hanks, so thanks Wendy!)