The Life We Choose: A Memoir

'Beautiful and profoundly moving' STANLEY TUCCI

In The Life We Choose, Hollywood actor Anthony LaPaglia crafts a memoir as raw and layered as the life he's lived - a story of reinvention, resilience and the relentless pursuit of something more. From the suffocating suburbs of Adelaide, where family dysfunction reigned, to the gritty streets of New York, where he found himself bartending for Broadway actors and chasing roles nobody thought he'd ever get, LaPaglia's journey is a meditation on identity, survival, fame and the cost of ambition.

At its heart, this is the story of a man who grew up in the shadow of his father, but refused to be defined by him. Instead, he carved his own path, stumbling through mob-run bars, failed relationships and the unpredictable world of acting, all while searching for a truth that felt like his own.

Unexpectedly funny, brutally honest, and steeped in the existential questions of Arthur Miller's masterpiece Death of a Salesman, in which he starred, The Life We Choose is a memoir for anyone who's ever dared to rewrite their story.

'Maybe once a year we get a celebrity memoir that is as good on the juicy stuff - the Hollywood gossip - as the interior excavation; and boy does Anthony LaPaglia deliver both in his new memoir, The Life We Choose' Sian Cain, The Guardian

'A snappy read that is always entertaining' Stephen A. Russell, The Saturday Paper

'Emotional honesty has been the hallmark of [LaPaglia's] decades-long career. That shines through in this memoir, where he brings a sharp-eyed clarity to a story that moves from Adelaide to 1990s New York and Hollywood, taking in award-winning roles, celebrity dirt, multiple divorces and a lifelong passion for soccer' Anthony Morris, Books+Publishing