Home Books A Pocketful of Happiness: A Memoir

A Pocketful of Happiness: A Memoir

A Pocketful of Happiness: A Memoir

by Richard E. Grant

Simon & Schuster ·2023 ·336 pages
Near the Top
Near the Top
I Index
66/99
Maybe Someday

42/99

Critics' Rating Index

Top of the Pile

89/99

Readers' Rating Index

n/a

Scholars' Citation Index

66/99

Volume of Reviews

88/99

Volume of Reader Ratings

Sign in to add to your shelf, rate, or review this book.


About This Book

Academy Award–nominated actor Richard E. Grant's "genuine and compelling" ( The New York Times ), "moving and entertaining" ( Publishers Weekly , starred review) memoir about finding happiness in even the darkest of days. Richard E. Grant emigrated from Swaziland to London in 1982, with dreams of making it as an actor. Unexpectedly, he met and fell in love with a renowned dialect coach Joan Washington. Their relationship and marriage, navigating the highs and lows of Hollywood, parenthood, and loss, lasted almost forty years. When Joan died in 2021, her final challenge to him was to find a "pocketful of happiness in every day." This honest and frequently hilarious memoir is written in honor of that challenge—Richard has faithfully kept a diary since childhood, and in these entries, he shares raw details of everything he has both the pain of losing his beloved wife and the excitement of their life together, from the role that transformed his life overnight in Withnail and I to his thrilling Oscar Award nomination thirty years later for Can You Ever Forgive Me? . In "one of the bravest, strongest, funniest memoirs I've ever read" (Bonnie Garmus, New York Times bestselling author of Lessons in Chemistry ), A Pocketful of Happiness is a powerful, funny, and moving celebration of life's unexpected joys.


Reviews

"Brutal, yes, but a necessary description of going behind the curtain and seeing what is pulling the ropes."

Victoria Segal· The Times (UK) Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"I think he wrote his book too soon, but I also see that he needed to do something, the gap in his life being so unimaginably huge, so very hard to bear."

Rachel Cooke· The Guardian Read review ↗ Maybe Someday

"The woman in the book whom I could easily do without is … Barbra Streisand ..."

Amy Bloom· The New York Times Read review ↗ Maybe Someday

"But it's worthwhile all the same."

Cristina Jaleru· Associated Press Read review ↗ Near the Top

"The title is twee but the content isn't ..."

Hermione Eyre· The Spectator (UK) Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"The result is a moving and entertaining celebration of life and love."

Publishers Weekly Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

Preview


Reader Reviews

0 reviews

Sign in to write a review.

No reader reviews yet. Be the first!