Making It So
22nd January 2024
Celebrity memoirs are not my usual choice of reading material, but when it’s Patrick Stewart there is an obvious exception.
I went in with some trepidation - can he write well? Will I like him after reading it? But both gave a yes answer.
The book starts quite brutally. Sir Patrick spends a lot more pages talking about his early years than later ones (in fact it felt like 1987 to present was over quite quickly compared to the rest) - and there are some shocking elements to his youth that seem quite distant to a modern audience.
Beyond that, the majority is naturally the story of a career in acting. There are some surprise celebrity guest appearances, including early on, and a lot of lists of people that Sir Patrick has worked with on probably hundreds of plays.
What really comes through to me are two things: his passion for acting, and how that has driven all of his choices and major life events; and how emotional a person he is. There are moments littered throughout where there is far more than I think would be expected from Captain Picard.
On the whole, I found this a very comfortable read (apart from the bits at the start), and I’ve really enjoyed taking the time to spend this time with Patrick Stewart.
