The early part of the book is very interesting as it deals with a child’s view of Hollywood celebrity. The writing style is good and it holds your interest. The author is the son of actor Keenan Wynn and the grandson of the great comedian Ed Wynn. His step father was actor Van Johnson. His childhood memories include Peter Lawford, Lee Marvin, Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich, Betty Grable, and Ava Gardner, among others. However, as he matures, his life has no focus. He feels always out of place among children his own age and joins in with other bullies to pick on the other nerds, just so he can feel part of the crowd. He drifts into alcohol at age 15 and afterward begins drug use. He also has no respect for women, just looking for easy sex and seems to have no real remorse for impregnating a girl and then leaving her. He never speaks of what may have become of the daughter she bore. The more I read, the angrier I became for this wasted life. A life that had so many opportunities to make something of and make a real contribution was spent in an alcoholic, drug, and sex filled haze. As he aged (I can’t say matured because I am not sure if he ever did), he hung out with John Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas. His father, Keenan Wynn, was alcoholic by this time as well. Yes, he did not have good role models as a youth nor did he seem to have a real mentor. Yet, when he had an opportunity to get a job or do something productive, he screwed it up. He seems to have no real feelings even for his family members – just wanting to get away from his dying grandfather. He did finally stick it out with his father’s illness and began to show some maturity at the end of the book. Hopefully this book will reach out to other young people and show them what NOT to do. Hopefully this man has finally grown up and started to accept some responsibility for his actions. ( )