I am Jackie Chan

I am Jackie Chan by Jackie Chan $25

I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed reading Jackie’s autobiography. I have no idea how much of it he really wrote, but I found the chapters covering his early years through the apprenticeship at the Peking Opera School to his first films very interesting. I loved his discussions regarding his relationship with Sammo and Yuen Biao. The style is very casual and it feels as if Jackie is almost talking to you. There is a great deal of fairly personal and seemingly honest details about his love affairs and his disagreements with certain directors. I am not sure if you come away from this book truly understanding what it is that drives him so much, but the book is certainly not a complete whitewash.

There is actually not a lot included about his career after he makes it big. These years are covered in a fairly cursory manner and one has to wonder whether he is saving material for another book. He includes listings of his favorite fights and stunts. This is a very easy fun read that you can get through fairly quickly.