8/7/2019 AdmitOneJamesReaderViewsReview

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Admit One: My Life in FilmEmmett JamesFizzyPop Productions (2010)ISBN 9780984258109Reviewed by Ron Standerfer for Reader Views (01/10)

Most memoirs are organized around a series of dates and places that provide a framework upon which theauthor can describe in detail how his or her life unfolded. In fact, it is not all that uncommon for a writer totitle each chapter of his memoir with the date and place, and nothing else, e.g. “North Africa, 1940.” But“Admit One: My Life in Film” by Emmett James is a different story; mainly because James is totallyobsessed with movies and has been since childhood. The result is a delightful, witty, and totally engagingbook in which each chapter begins appropriately with the title of a well-known film, the year it was released,the name of the director, and a brief synopsis of the story. If you are a lover of old movies this book isdefinitely going to work for you.

Emmett James spent his childhood and adolescent years in Croydon, South London. While his friendsendured those difficult years in the manner children normally do, he chose to escape the pains of adolescenceby going to the cinema. It was there in the darkness of the theater that he was able draw into his own privateworld, sometimes with aloof indifference to what was happening on the screen and other times coalescingwith the movie itself. It was while at the movies that he learned some of life’s more distressing lessons. Forexample, one afternoon he took a seemingly shy classmate there and ensconced her in the darkest corner of

the theater with the express purpose of “making out.” But before he could execute his well thought -out plan,a gang of rowdy young men sat down nearby and began to tease and taunt them. What ensued was a melee of shouting and screaming that ended when the “shy girl” bloodied the nose of one of the intruders and thenstormed out of the theater telling James that she would never speak to him again--- and she didn’t. Ah the joysof adolescent love!

James always believed that film has a correlation to our past and so it was no surprise that in a case of lifeimitating art he eventually realizes that his calling is to be on the s ilver screen, not sitting in front of it. That’swhen he travelled to the United States and eventually to Los Angeles. Like most aspiring young actors hiscareer took off slowly; and along the way he takes us on a humorous journey of adventures from forgery topornography to crashing the Academy Awards under the alias of a nominated screen writer. Eventually hestumbles into acting in the highest grossing movie of all times, Titanic.

The narrative of “Admit One” by Emmett James reflects a smooth writing style laced with wry, self-deprecating humor and observation that makes it eminently readable. I enjoyed the book immensely andsuspect you will too.