Without You: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and the Musical Rent by Anthony Rapp Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Without You: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and the Musical Rent
Book Review: Deep, Heartfelt, Tragic, Honest, Very Appealing
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm a RENThead who has been looking forward to this book for a long time and expected it to be a pretty good read. When I actually started reading it, I was entralled by the emotional impact it had on me. This book has some very personal moments that make you feel for the author, Anthony Rapp.
You can relate to him in so many ways. Grieving the deaths of his friends and family, losing and gaining lovers, nervousness of a performance, and other ways. When I was reading it, there was something in amost every chapter that reminded me of my life and my emotions towards my life. It's unbelivable how truthful he is about all of the dramatic and tear-jerking moments. It's hard to put down once you get into the very depth of the book because he's not afraid to share the most sorrowful, embarrassing and even awkward times of his life within these pages. This book will make many people cry and just think 'Whoa' at times and it's very hard not to even get a little teary, especially when talking about his mother and her fight against cancer.
There are also many moments of joy and happiness that are very pleasing to read. When someone in the book is happy, you feel happiness for them. It's very refreshing to read after many pages of sorrow at a time.
This is a book that can be, and should be read by anyone. It's not something to be passed up.
Book Review: Anthony's gift to us
Summary: 5 Stars
Anthony Rapp is best known for his wonderful portrayal of Mark, the frustrated filmmaker trying to make the ends of his life meet in the groundbreaking musical, "Rent". Also a film celebrity, Anthony can now proudly add to his resume the word "author". "Without You: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and the Musical Rent" is a magical, wonderous, heartbreaking journey of discover of life and of oneself.
"Without you" is a gift to many different groups. First, us "Rentheads" who love and have every musical syllable memorized, will absolutely devour Anthony's recollections on the making of the musical, both the stage version and a brief mention at the end of the book of the new movie version. Secondly, people who have suffered the loss of a loved one will treasure Anthony's story of his mother's brave battle with cancer. Third, those who love a good coming out story will apprecaite Anthony's amazingly honest recollections of his growing up years as he came to terms with himself. This is a book for everyone.
I was struck by Anthony's gentle and honest prose. His writing is vivid, accurate, and honest. There were times, especially when he discusses his relationships, that it was painful to read; I felt as if I were there, listening to him recount these painful stories. Rarely does writing bring me to tears, but Anthony's remembrances of the loss of Jonathan Larson was stunning and heartbreaking, and I required a box of Kleenex right next to me. The same for the story of his mother's last days.
It's not normal for me to read a book cover to cover in the course of a couple of days. The last one I remember doing it for was the most recent Harry Potter. But Anthony Rapp has written a memoir of love and loss that I simply could not put down. Whereas Jonathan Larson's gift to us was Rent, Anthony Rapp's gift to us are his memories, and his recollection of them in "Without You".
You simply have to read this book.
Book Review: What are you doing staring at your screen? Go buy Without You!
Summary: 5 Stars
I have a feeling most people will think that Without You is a behind the scenes look at Rent, almost like a book parallel to the infamous Rent "bible". This is not the case at all. While touching on Anthony Rapp's journey through Rent, Without You delves much deeper than the show itself. Without You is a great read, and shouldn't, in my opinion, only be read by "Rentheads".
I'm not the type of person who usually is deeply affected by books. But, wow, did this one hit me hard. It was just so emotionally charged - you can easily tell that the words came pouring right out of Anthony's heart. Anthony has a great narrative voice, and although not known as a writer, he's got such an entrancing way with words. He's such a talented writer with so many great stories to tell.
The book is so touching, and at times, truly tragic. It's honest and raw and enthralling and pure and most of all, it's so brave. It's quite personal and at times I almost felt like I shouldn't be reading what was sitting in front of me. Anthony just laid his flesh out on the table. He held nothing back, and it took a lot of courage for him to do that. There are things that I didn't expect, that surprised me a little bit about his character, but if anything, seeing Anthony come through all of these situations only upped my respect for him as an actor, as a writer, and as a person.
I think this is the type of book you can pick up ten times, and still be affected and find something different that pulls you in. Obviously, I extremely enjoyed it - and I think most other people will too, regardless of whether or not they are familiar with Anthony's other work.
Book Review: Amazing Read! Rapp is a captivating writing worthy of all his praise!
Summary: 5 Stars
Without you, by Anthony Rapp is a touching story of the best moments and the worst moments in life. I was excited to read this book, thinking that it would be all about the musical Rent, but it was so much more than that. Rapp describes much of his life and captivates the reader in an emotional way. This is a tell-all book revealing a side to Rapp that many people can connect with and it shows that although he played Mark Cohen on stage, behind the scenes was a tough journey for Anthony. I truly connected with all he had to say in his biography and read the entire thing cover to cover in under one day because I was so captivated by his use of language and emotional lure.
This book is a must read not only for 'Rentheads" but those of us strugging with loved ones loss, sexuality, pain, and life in general. So many emotions went into writing this story and the reader will go through so many emotions reading this. This is an amazing story of a man's journey with not only Rent, but with issues many other people go throguh and some even more difficult.
Book Review: Wicked ride
Summary: 5 Stars
As my amazing title says, this book is one wicked ride. I'm always skeptical when approaching certain things. A memior written by a great singer and actor is one of them. Who can really be good at all of these things? Well, apparently Anthony Rapp. This was an amazing book, I think. It's touching, honest, and brings up things that we all deal with but shove under the rug and perfer not to think about. I was amazed and almost moved to tears throughout the performance after Jonathan's death (I don't cry easily, so for me, this is a big accomplishment, for a book to bring out this reaction). It was painful to read sometimes and as I did I found myself cringing for him or feeling what he was going through.
I am honestly impressed. The play swept me away, the great opener Rent, (even though my mother and I ran six blocks in heels to get there on time which is quite a feat, I think. Or I'm out of shape) was powerful and blows the mind. But to be apart of it? I never thought I'd get that chance and now I have, thanks to Anthony Rapp and his honest account of his life in this wicked awesome book ^_^