Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography (Book Review)

Disclosure of material connection- I received a copy of the book from the publisher via Blogging for Books. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions stated are 100% my own.

About the book-

Sick of deeply personal accounts written in the first person? Seeking an exciting, interactive read that puts the "u" back in "aUtobiography"? Then look no further than Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography! In this revolutionary, Joycean experiment in light oof celebrity narrative, actor/personality/carbon-based-life-form Neil Partrick Harris lets you, the reader, live his life. You will be born in New Mexico, will get your big break at an acting camp. You will get into a bizarre confrontation outside a nightclub with actor Scott Caan. Even better, at each critical juncture of your life you will choose how to proceed. You will decide whether to try out for Doogie Howser, M.D. You will decide whether to spend years struggling with your sexuality. You will decide what kind of caviar you want to eat on board Elton John's yacht. Choose correctly and you'll find fame, fortune, and true love.  Choose incorrectly and you'll find misery, heartbreak, and a hideous death by piranhas. All this, plus magic tricks, cocktail recipes, embarrassing pictures from your times as a child actor, and even a closing song. Yes, if you buy one book this year, congratulations on being above the American average, and make that book Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography.

My thoughts-

I always loved the choose your own adventure books when I was younger, but I was terrible at adventuring through them. I would get to the page that gives you the two options and I would always hold that page with my hand and flip through to read both options. Apparently, I am no different as an adult, except that instead of flipping through to see both adventure options, I pretty much just read this book straight through. I think Neil Patrick Harris is one of the funniest, most talented actors of his generation. I loved watching him as a teen on Doogie Howser, M.D. and he was one of the funniest parts of  How I Met Your Mother, but beyond that, he is very good at hosting multiple award shows, holds his own on the Broadway stage and made one of my very favorite independent movies, Doctor Horrible's Sing Along Blog (if you haven't seen this, immediately look it up and watch it!). The book was great. It is obvious where the parts of the autobiography are made up and the parts that are true. I could tell I would like this book from the first few sentences where NPH talks about his parents and his brother. I loved learning about his time on set of Doogie Howser and I also really loved the several notes from people in the business he has worked with or befriended over the years. This is a happy book. It is nice to see someone in the industry so happy. Anyone who is a Neil Patrick Harris fan should read this book immediately! There are lots of really adorably awkward photos from his adolescence too and that is always fun! There were also some fun hidden gems throughout the pages- there is a "secret" page, a cryptic crossword puzzle, cocktail recipes and even a closing song. NPH is always entertaining and his foray into writing is no exception. I loved it.