A Fun and entertaining dive into the life of James Patterson, his thoughts and stories. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley.

Readers should take note of the sub-title of this autobiography: "The Stories of My Life." Patterson is a storyteller, proudly and skillfully, and continues to be one even while talking about himself and his own life. His chapters are characteristically brief, the order is somewhat chronological, and the information is presented in a story-like style. I am a Patterson fan, and I knew a little about his pre-writing life, but I learned a lot more after reading this entertaining bio. When I was finished reading, I felt like I had just spent a lovely evening with a new friend. Thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for providing an ARC.

For a rather short memoir; I found myself very entertained by “James Patterson by James Patterson”. Written in the style that his fans have come to appreciate; the autobiography is full of little two to three page vignettes that he has dubbed “The Stories of My Life” and I though for the most part, they were fascinating. I learned a great deal about him, even as vague as some of the stories were. I didn’t know much about his childhood and pre-writing career in marketing before reading this memoir, and honestly, I gained a great deal more respect for him as an author after reading this. He’s very candid with his reasons for using co-authors and how that process works for him, and he eloquently describes a lot of the charity work that he has done in his life; he just seems like a pretty humble guy.

Thanks to Little, Brown for the advanced readers edition.

4.5 ⭐️

This book was sent to me electronically for review from Netgalley. This is the voice of James Patterson. He has his voice...When reading one of his books, I know it is the voice of Patterson. Yes, it is sometimes difficult to determine whose voice is speaking when he writes books with other authors...but he has his own distinctive voice in writing. My favorites are the Alex Cross and the Murder Club books. This book is about the author in his own words. It reads like a novel...it is a quick read...learning about one of my favorite authors was a real treat. Don't miss this book written about himself by one of the world's best.

I'm not a fan of James Patterson. I can't remember the last book of his that I read. However, I love a good autobiography, and this is a fun, entertaining one day read.
Author Patterson's life stories are "nice and tight." Short, to the point, but interesting. Of course, he meets many famous people on his way to the top (where he still remains). He name drops, but not in an annoying way.
The journey of his life that he talks about pretty much touches on a bit of youth, more college, and mostly around the advertising world, which is super interesting. Don't think you'll be getting any writing advice in Pattersons book.. "Write The Book." That's it. That's the advice.
You will, however, heave a sigh of relief to realize Mr. Patterson worked very hard for years, had some duds, really worked at his craft, and is an all around interesting, humble guy.
Also, the story about his first love, Jane...well, damn, it cut my heart short a beat.
OK - POLIITICS..
If you lean right, don't skip this book because Patterson had a Collab with Clinton.
Patterson some how manages to stay middle of the road (and though I find no redeemable qualities about the Clintons) - the small part Patterson's relationship with the Clintons doesn't take away from the book.
This is a mostly upbeat, funny, very interesting look into not only Patterson's life, but those somewhat simpler times we took for granted.
Not just for fans, literally one of those books that I could handsell to just about everyone!