And loved it: Alfred Pennyworth, the butler, was a beautifully written role and the whole thing was just fabulous . His first major starring roles, beginning in the 1960s, include 'Zulu,' 'The Ipcress File,' and 'Alfie. But I like to think I got to know Michael Caine while reading this book and that he was offering up the same information over and over again to be helpful rather than just to fill pages, or something else less kind. Even so, there are some really entertaining stories throughout, which are told with his ever-present wit and humility.

I might have given the book four stars for a bit of repetitiveness, but I found I wasn't qualified to credit Michael Caine's life with fewer than five.It is almost all sound sense related to positivity, organisation, setting your self up to do a good job, not having an ego and not being an ass (my wording, not his). Caine not only waxes lyrical about his friends and family but entire sections of the book read like extended acknowledgements to those who've helped him on his way, from the bloke at the butter factory where Caine was working who first told him about the Stage newspaper, to Hollywood royalty John Wayne. Hollywood legend and British national treasure Sir Michael Caine, now 85, shares stories from screen and stage alongside some of the lessons and skills that life has taught him. At the very end the book does devolve a little too much essentially into lists of actors he's met and friends that have passed away.

I loved his down-to-earth style and philosophy of life, especially how he used the "little difficulties" to positive effect.To be fair, I'm sure most narrators have episodes like these, but usually the editing is better and another take of the sentence in question is done to fix it. Read by the author, the book is part memoir, part acting tips, part life lessons, but all delivered in a humble cheery manner of a man who is really grateful for the great luck he's had in his life. Though it’s fair to say there’s a bit of overlap in this book to his previous autobiographical tomes, it’s nevertheless an entertaining read and shows off Caine’s storytelling talent and ability to dissect events and understand how to move forward. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. This has lots of stories about his life in the movies and the people he has met, but, more importantly, it has lots of little lessons for life, for anyone.

Blowing the Bloody Doors Off is something of a companion piece to his two previous volumes, and is best read as such, rather than on its own since there are enough occasions in its pages where the author explicitly refuses to repeat stories he's already treated readers to – such as how he met his wife of 45 years, Shakira . As such, I’d describe the book as a bonus volume of life lessons Caine’s learnt along the way, although a less generous reader might describe it as a canny publicity stunt – an attempt to get some extra mileage from those anecdotes and stories that didn’t make the cut the first or second time around. With stories and anecdotes from his more than 170 movies, he relates those things he’s done right as well as those he’s done wrong, and the different impacts each had on his life and career.At time this gets repetitive especially as the man cannot stop mentioning how prepared he always was and on time and so grounded due to his loving wife Shakira (not the singer from South America, she would be too young and is the wife of a football player in the Spanish competition) . The advice is obvious, and while we can all read it and acknowledge it is a good idea, I would expect the vast majority would struggle to follow through. It is part memoir and part advice manual for aspiring actors and anyone else nursing an elusive dream of success.

Caine knows he's been lucky, more so than others around him, whether compared to other boys from the Elephant who never got their break, or his female co-stars who had to contend with the casting couch. While reading, I envisioned sitting in a library or study around a fire listening to him tell me all the tales, the ups and downs, and tucking in bits of wisdom. He is a major Hollywood film star and two-time Academy Award winner with a career spanning over sixty years. He was forced to take on plenty of "dead-end" jobs en route to the heights of stardom – from washing dishes to packing laundry and working in a steel yard .I really enjoy his readings and if you admire him as an actor, take a look on these books and, for sure, you will also admire him as a human being. It is very clear though, that Caine may be a great actor, but he doesn't have much experience reading aloud. In addition, Caine speaks with great wisdom about acting and all aspects of film making, which I found truly fascinating.