Never Grow Up (An Entertaining Celebrity Memoir)

This book borrows heavily from JC's first autobiography, 1998's My Life In Action, and so if you've already read that book just know this new book includes many of the same stories. this book, however, definitely covers a lot of new ground, and not just post-1998 events, so it's not entirely redundant.Also, compared to the first book, Never Grow Up seems far less fictionalized. My Life In Action contains a lot of detailed dialogue, much of it from JC's very early life, and at times reads like a story book more than an autobiography. With Never Grow Up, it's easier to imagine JC himself telling the stories--the voice seems more authentic, and there aren't nearly as many dramatized and drawn out moments.One other notable difference is how much this book focuses on JC's son and wife, who are scarcely mentioned in the first book. I always had the impression that JC married and then was a completely absentee husband, but this book makes it seem like he and his wife are close and have always been fairly close. I'm not sure how much of that is an attempt to craft the image JC wants, or whether it's real.All in all, a good introduction to Jackie Chan's life and career, and a very easy read.

I truly enjoyed this book. I have only seen Mr Chan in snippets of movies so I didn't know much about him. I think I'm going to watch some of his movies in the near future.I enjoy reading non fiction and I was very impressed to finally read an autobiography that sounded real. Mr Chan doesn't sugar coat his persona and gave us an honest look at his life,not just the good but also the bad.I'm pretty sure that when he decides to stop doing movies, he will embark on something extraordinary and probably oriented towards benefiting society. Please, don't grow up Mr. Chan.

I was very shocked and surprised by what I read in the book. Jackie comes across like a pain in the behind and bragging a lot. Yet at times he seems tender and a emotionally connected person. He seems very hard to work with but loyal. I'm stunned at the money he waste when he was raised in poverty. I always thought of him as a laid back personality until I read his book. It was very eye opening. I still love his movies and I'm still a fan

There are bits to like in this book, learning about film making in Hong Kong is great, and Jackie’s early life is interesting. But after this it becomes a slightly odd book where almost every chapter is “I did something stupid and/or mean and now I’m going to lecture you about how I learned that it was stupid or mean”. By half way through I was really starting not to like the guy, who seems to be crass with money and mean to his family. I suppose it’s honest? But not a good book

I loved Jackie Chan's book. I have been a kid since Police Story movies watching doing stunts and just simple acrobatics like jumping over a street railing wearing jeans. Now I am an old man, and still a fan so I had to buy his book. His tell-all book explains much of what I heard about him growing up. His poor childhood to his fame, success, and affair with the Pageant beauty - while married to Joan Lin. Jackie explains it so well you understand his emotions, and thoughts. Zhu Mo also narrates her opinion of Jackie in a positive light and adds a bit more perspective. All in all, this book allows you as a reader and fan to step closer into Jackie's life. Now I only wish I can meet Jackie in our life time and get to know him better. I am a big fan, and never criticized him harshly for his decisions, but always look forward to his next movie - which is always a big movie to me.

Even if you've never watched a Jackie Chan movie, you may be touched by this book. The events are astonishing and the writing is amazing. Translated from Chinese, every sentence is concise and simple, and the conversational simplicity is powerful. Plus he is so disarmingly candid about the consequences of his poor childhood in Hong Kong. For example, he is still not able to read and write fluently, which creates problems when he is asked to sign an autograph naming the recipient. "If I walk into an event, for charity or publicity, and see a pen and paper or a calligraphy brush on the table, I get scared and pretend I have to be somewhere else."Also very candid about a period in his life when he was an arrogant, nouveau-riche jerk. I've read a lot of autobiographies, but this stands out as exceptional.

I found this book to be highly entertaining and interesting. Prior to buying the book, I read a few reviews suggesting that the book portrayed Jackie Chan as a bit of a jerk. I did not find that to the case at all. Rather, the book seems to provide an unvarnished version of key events in Mr. Chan's life. I say kudos to him to have the courage to put this out there. Especially as someone who is a resident of China....not exactly the sort of place that encourages tales of racy escapades such as Mr. Chan's. Now I understand how Jackie Chan got so far in life.

The way I understand the Oscars, people are recognized for things that they do, one time. Best Actor for one film. Best Supporting Actress for one film. I remember Jackie Chan being given an honorary Oscar, recognizing his whole career. The way I see it, he was given an award for being who he is.That’s what I picked up from this entertaining book of his memories. You can be ordinary and extraordinary at the same time. More than pressure, passion is what makes the difference, and the only path to passion is being true to yourself.Thank you for your life, Jackie. I pray you continue to inspire the world.

Lots of different emotions throughout this book, he was brilliant at his job and looking after his crew, charity work and generous with his money. But I feel he missed out on a true family life with being parted from his own parents, and never being there for his wife and son.Money is great but family is more important.He is dedicated to the art and that must have at times been lonely and impossible to share his time with everyone.I thank you for your dedication and remarkable films throughout your lifetime.

I am 48 years old. Born and brought up in Hong Kong. Speaks fluent Cantonese. What Jackie Chan have done, and still doing, no one on planet earth was able to do. I never liked any of his American production films. Rush Hours and all the others are nothing compared to Project A, Police Story or Armour of God series.Yet here we read about his life to stardom, his good side of life and his bad. Since I was a kid, I have read every single news article about him. Many good and a lot of them bad. This is a book where he have consolidated all that together. And it can't get more frank and honest than this.

After reading the first book of Jackie Chan my life in action when it was released in 2000 and I thought I knew you all about Jackie Chan as that book was one of the books I read when I was a kid which I was fixated on that got me obsessed with Jackie Chan and all of his movies this book is pretty limited on his life before or he goes and makes rush hour as his first book is very detailed about his life growing up which is fascinating but there are stories in this book that I haven't heard of that make it very interesting especially if you're a Jackie Chan fan

It's not a bad read but frankly it's nowhere near as good as his previous one.Willie Chan seems more or less written out and there is far less detail about his relationship with the other opera school graduates.But hey ho, he's always worth a read especially the injury list.

I have been a fan of Jackie's for years. I am not one for googling and looking up actors, this is one of the first autobiography I have read. It was good to get an insight of who Jackie is, what he has achieved and where he's came from. I enjoyed the read and I'm sure you all will as well.