Being Henry: The Fonz . . . and Beyond

Henry Winkler is one my all-time favorite actors. I used to watch re-runs of Happy Days (where I was first introduced to Henry) and it made my hard days easier. There is something to be said for television when you are a latch-key kid, who is very quiet and nerdy and spends almost 80% of their time alone.

That being said, there is so much more to our favorite actors and celebrities than we will ever know. Being Henry is easy to relate to. I love Henry Winkler even more after reading parts of his life journey.

There is a part towards the end when an autistic girl has her first word...Fonz. Boy did that make me cry. Highly recommend this one.

I sincerely appreciate Celadon Books for the review copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

I just finished Being Henry - The Fonz and beyond by Henry Winkler and here are my thoughts.

Everyone knew who the Fonz was when I was growing up. Even the people who didn't watch happy days knew who he was. He was an icon, a hero, the kind of big personality that shone on our little TV. That delight the whole house felt when we heard the words... Sunday Monday happy days....

I wasn't sure what to expect from this memoir. As someone who doesn't read many memoirs and I've read more recently this year than I had in my whole life before, I wasn't sure if this was going to make me feel about learning about the man who made my childhood epic.

Henry talks about how he started out in acting. I had no idea that he has dyslexia and I can only imagine the challenges that presented when trying to read scripts and going to auditions. I had no idea what kind of a man Henry really was until I read this book and he is even more loveable than I could ever have imagined.

I found the book to be well written and tidy its execution and I finished it in one sitting. It's definitely my favorite memoir. Of all the things I learned about Henry, my biggest take away was he is a humble, big hearted gentleman and I am truly honored to get to know him better and see that things weren't always easy for him but still, he made his mark on this world and brightened it a little bit too.

Thank you to @celadonbooks for my gifted copy.

5 stars

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Henry Winkler is a mensch who deserves the late-career success (and awards) he's experienced after finally breaking free from his image as The Fonz. He has a sense of humor and perspective about his life (sure, he couldn't get a decent job for decades, but his earnings from Happy Days were nice to have). I wish he were a little less patronizing towards children with disabilities - he labels them as “special” (cringe) and uses them as an example of how lucky he is in comparison when he fundraises for them. But his openness about his dyslexia and the emotional wounds he endured from parents who constantly criticized him for being a lazy no-goodnik render this book more interesting than the average Baby Boomer memoir.

Rating: 4.5 leaves out of 5-Cover: 5/5-Story: 3/5-Writing: 4/5Genre: History, Autobiography, Memoir-History: 5/5-Autobiography: 5/5-Memoir: 5/5Type: AudiobookWorth?: YeahHated Disliked Meh It Was Okay Liked Loved FavoritedWant to thank Netgalley and publishers for giving me the chance to read this book.I requested this book for a challenge I was doing, which was to read a celebrity memoir. I had been dreading this prompt since I don't care much about a celebrity's life. I still don't, but it was nice to hear about Henry Winkler. I have seen him a few times growing up and seeing a book about him put me in my feels real quick.The books was good for what it was worth. Henry seems like a funny guy, but I think he also seemingly went through a whole “artist life”. Parents didn't like his career choice, he makes it big and now they seem to approve. Cookie cutter stuff, but the stuff in between was really nice to hear. Also Henry reading felt like a nice warm cup of coffee in the cold morning.If you like him I suggest picking up the book.

Really entertaining and fun memoir! Henry Winkler seems like a great person and his stories are very good. I feel like he has tried to maintain integrity in a cut throat business and people think very well of him so I'm happy for all his success and this book was very readable.

Winkler read the audiobook himself and was a delight, injecting a lot of humor and pathos into the material.