Loitering with Intent: The Early Years

I've always known Peter O'Toole is a great actor, but have been wonderfully surprised to learn he is also a great writer. His stories of his early life are priceless, and his use of the English language is poetic, humorous, and as descriptive as a master's painting. I had read this book when it first came out, delighted in re-reading it again recently, then went online and bought three additional copies to share my enjoyment with friends.

A charming book; somehow surprising, as the critics say too:'a new face of O'TOOLE': indeed, the tone of the story is a very warm one, with romantic overtones in the first part, without any trace of cynism or sophistication; therfore, it is contrary to his style maybe, or, a better word is to his type of characters he plays as an actor-usually being in a delicate psychological or emotional status. PETER is creating his book like a sort of collage of memories, keeping coherently the time which gives it a sense, a direction, yet somehow not enough as he needs a second link: Hitler's image(...). In the second part, still, a change of tone: more aggressive when it is about the war; a genuine atmosphere of the 40s, now in flashbacks in the 90s.Classic and modern at the same time as approaching, quite poetic.

If you are remotely interested in Peter O'Toole, this is a great account of his childhood (most interestingly the three major influences in his life including Hitler) and how he first broke into acting (his jokes regarding Bernard Shaw are hilarious). There are some interesting annecdotes regarding the filming of `Rogue Male', his first film. His narrative style can a times be a bit disjointed, but the overall picture is wonderful. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

RUSS SARTAIN ([email protected]) From creeking through the old house and rediscovering a youth not forgotten, to vivid chidhood memories of Der Furer, this book could be describing many a wild haired youth in war time Ireland and England, but could never be retold with such passion and utter beauty as the great Peter O'toole did in this sweeping portrayal of his childhood. I was mesmorized on how vivid each memory was in his mind. It reminded me of my own childhood but was described in a way that is difficult for even me to remember, and I am only 25 years of age. I highly reccomend this for any one and any aged person who longs to remember and aches to be reminded of his own wild eyed care-free youth. A MUST READ!

Perhaps I shouldn't give this a 10, unfamiliar as I am with the life-of-an-actor genre. But this is a wonderful book; O'Toole's intelligence and musical appreciation of and approach to prose shine in every line of every page. It is unfathomable to me how anyone as talented as O'Toole could possibly have chosen to go into *shudder* acting. Fair Warning: If you are the kind of movie fan who wants to know who slept with whom (or who slept with who, as you would be more likely to put it), you will find this book utterly baffling. You would be better off reading the latest Danielle Steele drivel.