Sylvester Stallone’s own rags-to-riches story
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.
