Sylvester Stallone’s own rags-to-riches story
From our UK edition
If you think that Rocky is the greatest movie ever made, and Sly Stallone the finest actor, you will love this book. Otherwise, not so much. I find it easier to diagnose than to review: it suffers from ADHD, extreme narcissism and fathomless self-pity. Stallone was born in New York in 1946 ‘to the surprise of my mother, who never wanted to have kids’. Jackie was on a bus when she went into labour and a kind passenger took her to hospital. The baby had to be delivered by forceps, which damaged a nerve in his cheek, leaving him with a crooked smile and slurred speech. In fact Jackie had had a baby four years earlier, Sly’s older brother Frank, but she always denied giving birth to him. She was ‘very peculiar’, we are told.
