Book #1 Post #2

Now that the Rabbit is in the Hat 

Summary

The book starts off with Brian Cox as a young child in Dundee, Scotland where he grew up with his mother, father, and three sisters. His father was a grocer in town and was widely known for his many acts of generosity. His mother was a kind woman who in Brian's eyes was simply broken down by society until she was just a shell of her once former self. In other words, his mother suffered from mental illness for many years but persevered and managed to still be a positive influence on Cox's life. A large factor in the troubles his mother endured and the poverty his family faced came as a result of his father's death from pancreatic cancer when Brain was just eight years old. After this, a young Mr. Cox found his escape from the world at the movie theater. From there, he wandered his was way onto a real stage and eventually did his studying at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. In a matter of years, Brian's name became more and more common amongst the UK theatre scene, and he soon started landing leading roles in large productions such as numerous Shakespearean dramas, a particular favorite of Mr. Cox's to take part in. Once he heard his beckon call from Hollywood, Brian left the stage for a number of supporting roles that grew his worldwide recognition astronomically. While on his journey, Brain explains the relationships he had with other well known actors and even bashes on the reputation of a few as well. One of his most notable remarks comes when he criticizes Johnny Depp with special attention to his performance in the movie "Edward Scissorhands." Cox goes on to claim that Depp lacks real talent and shows no emotion in his work as evident by his makeup disguised display in the film. On top of his gossip about his fellow actors, Brian also takes a self reflective look at himself both as a father and a husband. In both cases he believes himself to have failed in a lot of ways but also thinks of himself as a person that is not shy in admitting his past mistakes and working on them for the future.

Expectations

The best word to describe my reaction to this book is "bewildered." It did not fit my expectations really at all. To be honest, I don’t know what my expectations completely were but they were certainly not what I read. Brian Cox does not fit the picture perfect idea of Hollywood actors' lives like I kind of imagined he would. My preconception of the book was that Brian was going to maybe reveal some hidden truths about actors that were different in real life rather than how they appear on the television. I also thought he may self reflect on some decisions he made and how he might do them differently if he could go back, but I was pleasantly wrong because it is much more than just that. Ultimately, this book felt like a juicy conversation with Brian himself that intrigued me to read further and find out more about his wild ride of a life. Brian's background is rather melancholy growing up with his father dying at a young age and his mother going through a number of mental breakdowns. This surprised me at first. Not what was happening but instead the honesty and point of view in which he talks about his past is what caught my attention.  After the first couple chapters, I sort of adjusted how I thought the book would go but was again still taken back by a few of his stories. Brian is not a man afraid to kick up some dirt when it comes to recounting his career and I found his blunt candidness to be a refreshing read.

Final Thoughts

The book from beginning to end was a little bit of a roller coaster. While there was a sense of a timeline that followed Brian Cox's upbringing, formative years, and adulthood, he was not scared to jump around and share a fair amount of random stories. His wild tangents about certain actors and performances were honestly amusing to read (like the time he was so drunk he fell down on stage but continued to act anyway), yet at the same time, his recountings of his blunders over the years make readers self-reflect upon on their own past. Brian most definitely did not live a dull life nor did he live the most prosperous one. He encountered many hardships that inspired me to a take look at my own life from a different lense and evaluate it on a new type of scale. His opinions are sometimes controversial especially when he speaks about well known names like Steven Seagal, Edward Norton, and the previously mentioned Johnny Depp. I think the way Brian Cox went about recounting his life in his autobiography fits his personality well. From what I can tell from my reading, Brian is not opposed to stirring the pot or making himself heard and his book reflects just that. His veracity is obvious and his light hearted approach to a lot of the text reflects what I feel like Mr. Cox would be like in real life. I think that this is where I get that sense of a conversation with him that I mentioned before. His ability to reflect his personality into the text makes the book easy to read and easy to relate to on a personal level. In the end, I am glad I read Brian Cox's autobiography, and I definitely have a new view about him, many of the actors he mentioned, the entire acting world in general, and particularly life.