Admit One: My Life in Film

Admit One: My Life in Film by Emmett James is one of the funniest, easiest, reads I’ve been sent in a long time. I wasn’t prepared for how witty this book is and after reading the cover blurb assumed Admit One would be a sad memoir of a poor youth raised in Croydon, South London. Memoir as a genre can be self indulgent and frankly I have read far too many that fall into the let’s blame my parents for every sad thing that ever happened to me category. This story however is not one of those point the finger maudlin tales. From start to finish this is a catchy, witty saga of a young lad who seeks solace at the movies and in fact tells his life story as it relates to major movies that came out during specific times of his life. It is a simple device _ this echoing of life’s stories through other media, such as film, books, art. And yet when used effectively it is a lovely way to frame a story and it can propel plot along nicely. Admit One starts with an open letter prologue to Steven Seagal which made me chuckle. James begins to list the top 10 films of his youth and then goes on to note that readers will notice no Steven Seagal movies on the list, with good reason. I enjoyed everything about this book. Its deadpan humour was a perfect pick me up for this reader during a long dreary winter in Canada. There’s even an adoption subtheme that made me like the book even more as it is revealed that James’ mother was adopted and then goes on later in life to adopt a pair of girls. As some of my readers know I am an adoption advocate, frequent speaker and writer about adoption. Chapter One starts with The Disney version of Jungle Book 1967 and it is clear that a young boy’s reverence for film will feed his imagination and shape his destiny early on. The author’s musings on films and directors/animators tweaked a nostalgia in me that was unexpected and a welcome reminder of days gone by and also major films  and television shows/ rituals that shaped my own childhood. In my own family as a youngster we would gather around the TV on Sunday nights without fail to watch Walt Disney’s weekly family movie. James knows these are the things that bind us, often strangely even more than life’s big events, the small weekly rituals with emotional resonance long preserved into tiny gems hidden within longterm memory. Remarkably this memoir ends up carrying us to Hollywood and the older James stumbles through a series of humourous missteps as an extra, eventually landing himself a part on the blockbuster hit Titanic. I thoroughly enjoyed this one as a light, entertaining read.

Admit One: My Life in Film, by Emmett James, Fizzypop Productions, 2010. 2nd edition. $19.95 hardcover. (A very good price)

The first edition was published in 2007, by Wheatmark Books in Arizona
thriftymommastips rating $$$$ out of $$$$$
Thriftymomma was no compensated for this review but instead received a free copy of the book for review.