Book Review | Will | Will Smith

 It is not very often that a book manages to act as a pensive and transports you to the lives of the characters. In this instance, Will Smith’s autobiography does just this. So, when Will is feeling anxious about his first ever acting audition (an impromptu one at that), I am right there with him on that terrace, feeling anxious with him, for him. The book manages to engross you and invoke your emotions, whatever they maybe.

The book is not just a chronological description of the man’s life, unlike a few others I have recently read. Well, it is chronological, but not just a banal description of events. The book truly captures his personality and his mindset, so much so that you feel for the man. You understand his core values, his belief system, and pardon me for my lingo, but operating model in life.

Now, just to be clear, I am not saying this is, the, or one of the best autobiographies I have ever read. There have been a few great ones like “Becoming” by Michelle Obama or Born a Crime by “Trevor Noah”. But something about this book, makes this more real than most, as if you are sitting with him in his mansion and just talking. He has borne his authentic self in the book, or so it is feels and speaks to the readers honestly in this book. This is unfiltered.

Being able to love and respect and care for this father even after repeatedly witnessing domestic violence at home in your childhood. Not a lot of people would reveal that publicly for the fear of being condemned. Even I don’t understand this. But this is who he is and has talked about in the book. Another thing that I really appreciate is that through the book, he is vey open and shows us the vulnerable side of himself. He very casually mentions crying in the book when feeling overwhelmed. I respect that. And lastly, he talks a lot about the fact that he did put in a lot of time, effort, and energy to becoming who he is. He correlates his “talents” to his environment growing up at home and at school, that led him to develop a skill set that came in handy when acting. It is not innate talent, there is a reason behind the talent.

As I read through the book, I felt like I knew Will Smith the person a little better with every turn of the page.