Without You by Anthony Rapp, 306 pagesa memoir of love, loss and the musical Rent
Rapp tells the story of the years around when the musical Rent started, which happens to coincide with the diagnosis of cancer and then death of his mother. He originated the role of Mark, and fans of the musical (I've only seen the movie, and loved it!) will enjoy reading how the musical got its beginnings, the tragic death of its author, Jonathan Larson before the opening, and then sing the tunes in their head while reading.
He is brutally honest about his reactions and emotions during the tragic illness of his wonderful mother. He discusses his sexuality, and there are some explicit descriptions of a few encounters, again brutally honest. He is also transcribing his journey of grief and there are lots of sad passages.
I'm off to re-watch the movie. My sister and I gave each other the DVD of RENT for Christmas. We do stuff like that a lot.
Oh, I hope you get to see the musical live sometime. The movie's great but the musical is way much better! I think they have a taped version of the musical on DVD now, which is still not quite as good, but getting closer. :)
ReplyDeleteOoh, I enjoyed this book a lot when I read it. Anthony Rapp is pretty darn awesome.
ReplyDeleteAlso RENT is wonderful. :)
I really really want to read this. It's been on my wish list forever! Maybe I will buy it for my birthday. :) And, I love Rent. Now I think I am going to re-watch it. :)
ReplyDeleteI love memoirs, and this looks like a good one. I have a soft spot for Rent, based on the movie, though I've never seen it on stage.
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