This March Nan A. Talese/Doubleday will release Paul and Me, a memoir on Paul Newman, which Kirkus Reviews has dubbed, “an intimate, uplifting account of a profound friendship and a boyish lark that grew into a spectacularly successful enterprise.” Bestselling author A. E. Hotchner first met Newman during the production of a 1955 TV play that proved to be a turning point in both their careers. Together they founded Newman’s Own line of gourmet foods. Their friendship endured until Newman’s death in 2008.
Kirkus writes, “The Newman that emerges from Hotchner’s remembrances is an immensely likable figure, compulsively unpretentious and self-deprecating, hungry for fun and adventure. There are a few scenes highlighting Newman’s movie-star milieu, including a beer-fueled tennis match with Robert Redford and MPAA head Jack Valenti, and a taste test administered by Newman neighbor Martha Stewart. But the author focuses on the actor away from Hollywood, engaged in his passions for racing, boating and just hanging out and shooting the breeze. Sections on the suicide of Newman’s troubled son and a heartbreaking account of the actor’s failing health add melancholic notes to the story, but Hotchner’s memoir is ultimately an inspirational portrait of an extraordinary man.”