WILL by Will Smith with Mark Manson
Will Smith - Google Books: Will is a memoir written by Will Smith along with Mark Manson. It was published on November 9, [1][2] The Kirkus wrote in a review "One of Hollywood’s biggest stars delivers a memoir of success won through endless, relentless work and self-reckoning." [3].
Will
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Written with the help of Mark Manson, author of the multi-million-copy bestseller The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, Will is the story of how one person mastered his own emotions, written in a way that can help everyone else do the same.So, the real reason to consume this is for the performance and the entertainment value while navigating to that point.
He goes into his fear of being a coward, but doesn’t really link it to gender roles or anything much beyond the fact that his dad was just like that. He tells you that his father was physically abusive and at one point, even while getting side tracked running to get some smokes, his dad told him that every single thing he does a mission.
You either succeed, or you’re dead. Yes, his dad was in the army. And yes, Will’s success coming from a trauma response makes a heck of a lot of sense. Though, we also learn other key people literally in one room mostly was the reason he made it, an orchestration of Quincy Jones.
Book biography examples Will Smith is an actor, producer, and musician, and an Academy Award, Grammy, and NAACP award winner, who has enjoyed a diverse career encompassing films, television shows, and multiplatinum albums. He holds many box office records, including the most consecutive $ million–grossing movies (eight).
And then… with these things established, he simply launches into his career and highlights and his macro level trajectory to massive success. The vulnerability never really comes back. And I’m not very convinced it was ever really present.
To be honest, this book is calculating. There is a performative vulnerability at key sections fostering trust between the reader and Will.
And, to be clear, that’s a fine way to construct this kind of a story. But, he often displays a lack of critical self awareness and skates over accountability in favour of easy contrition. I promise you that if you take all the possessions of your partner, pour lighter fluid on them, and then light them all when she arrives home to witness this act, you are not a well person.
And frankly, saying she didn’t deserve that and moving on, and you were both young yada yada, is one thing.
But he tries to isolate that event. Except… between the lines or in passing—presumably he thinks some of these things aren’t a big deal?—there is even more concerning behaviour. All of which mostly just made me think that he was a person that confronted his trauma far too late for those around him.
Ultimately, he navigates to an almost comical ending for me.
He ends up going on the spiritual awakening journey and doing pseudo-mystical, drug induced trips, hires a life coach therapist because he doesn’t know who he is (as if that’s a singular experience at mid life). He also comes to the realization that memory isn’t a video, but a personal rendering that is not accurate. Or that, and I am not kidding here, other peoples’ feelings actually matter and should be considered.
If you’re 20 maybe some of these epiphanies will be profound to you, but his own journey ultimately conforms to an archetypical journey, which only adds to the sterility and artificial aspects within the structure of the book.
That’s why it was comical to me. Don’t get me wrong: I’m glad he’s doing some work on himself and is in a good place now, at 50 years old, but make no mistake, this is, and feels like, a performance that is most likely simply another tick off the bucket list—rather than a wholehearted reckoning and self-examination of an individual.