Audiobook Review: The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family, written and read by Ron Howard and Clint Howard

The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family

by Ron Howard and Clint Howard (Compact Disc Biography Howard)

 

This is an absolutely charming autobiography of the Howard boys — both Ron and Clint — and the influence their parents, Rance and Jean Howard had over their lives. Told roughly in chronological order, after a framing sequence in which Ron and Clint remember going through their parents’ home following the passing of Rance, the Howards share stories about what their lives were like during their childhoods, when Ron was appearing on The Andy Griffith Show and Clint was starring in Gentle Ben. Ron shares memories of the making of Happy Days, and his relationships with his fellow castmates on that legendary sitcom, particular his friendship with Henry Winkler, and Ron’s efforts to move behind the camera to become a director.

 

But despite all the tales of Hollywood, The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family is also a very personal chronicle of the very ordinary lives they lived in the Howard family home — a modest suburban tract where actor Rance Howard and his wife Jean were success in imparting a set of good values in their two boys. Rance and Jean both had dreams of striking it big in film and TV, but it was ultimately the boys who found that success. But the elder Howards proved to be the stable rocks in the family, shepherding the boys between film gigs, serving as sharers of worldly wisdom and more.

 

I particularly enjoyed the audiobook (on CD) version of this, which is personally narrated by Ron and Clint, and has an audio introduction by Ron’s daughter, Bryce Dallas Howard. You can clearly hear the sincerity in both Howard boys’ voices as they recall their formative years, and Clint matter-of-factly addresses his substance abuse issues and the fact that his parents stood by him even in his darkest years. This was a truly special audiobook — I highly recommend it, for anyone wanting a peek behind the scenes on the production of TV series and movies, anyone who grew up on Ron and Clint’s performances, and anyone who loves to hear about close-knit families working together to get through tough times.

 

(This book will inspire you to re-watch many of the TV shows and films that the Howard boys appeared in. Fortunately, the libraries have many of them, including multiple seasons of The Andy Griffith Show, and most of the films Ron Howard has directed, as well as a few of Clint’s cult movies — and don’t forget his appearance as “Balok” in the season one episode of classic Star Trek!.)

 

( Publisher’s official The Boys web site ) | ( Ron Howard and Clint Howard Wikipedia entries )

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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