Every noteworthy person, good or bad, usually finds themselves in a biography at some point, and I'll let you in on a little guilty pleasure of mine…
I absolutely love 'em.
Unlike self-help books that TELL you what to do, biographies SHOW you someone who actually did it… warts, bar brawls, and all.
For instance:
I'm currently reading the authorised biography of Oliver Reed, the late, great British actor who died of a heart attack after drinking and arm-wrestling British sailors off-set during the production of Gladiator.
Quite tragic when you consider the sort of roles he would no doubt have landed after the movie's stratospheric launch into blockbuster history.
Anyway, what's evident early on in the biography is that he was badly dyslexic, though you'd never have sniffed it from the way he spoke.
Teachers deemed him a dunce.
Schools booted him out for his poor results and the rebellious behaviour brought on by the shame of it all.
Yet, despite all the ridicule and rejection…
Despite the deep gash left on his face after being bottled at a club…
Despite being turned away by modelling agencies for having too "exotic" a skin tone…
He trudged on.
(Albeit with a boozing habit that supercharged his infectious, charming persona.)
Without a qualification in English or Creative Arts, and without any stage experience whatsoever, he had the ludicrous desire to be an actor.
But there was a problem:
He was too piss-poor to invest any real time or money into stage school, so he did the only thing he could do — watch copious amounts of movies.
This guy studied the hell out of the actors and actresses.
He took on every extra role the industry coughed up and rehearsed simple lines for hours just so his dyslexia didn't best him when he arrived for auditions.
Eventually, he got his break, and as they say, the rest is history.
A shame he never got to see his final, and most successful, movie. One only hopes in the great beyond there is a means of peering into our world.
That said, biographies truly are well worth the time.
There's always something to be gleaned from these magnificent forms of literature, even from those you detest.
The same is doubly true for fiction.
In fact, one might argue fiction trumps self-help books altogether for how accessible and engrossing they can be, especially once you are invested in the character and storyline.
It's the reason why, if you look right now at almost any book retailer, fiction dominates the top ten.
We cannot get enough of them.
And if you're someone who cannot get enough of epic fantasy set in medieval worlds with wisdom, levity, and characters who must overcome adversity and crippling doubt peppered throughout…
Then you might just enjoy The Divided Region.
You can start Book 1, Exiled, here:
https://djjwatson.com/books/exiled
DJJW