I have very fond memories of watching Happy Days as a child so was delighted to read this autobiography about an actor I knew very little about. I learned much about Henry's post-Happy Days life and am thrilled that he continues to find success in Hollywood. I will definitely check out some of his later projects. My favourite parts were the stories from the set and other anecdotes about actors I am familiar with. I was also pleased to learn about the advocacy that he and his wife are involved in and about all the children's books Henry has co-authored. This teacher approves!

There were sections of the story that I connected little to because I am not an actor and not interested in the craft thus this book is better suited for those starting out in the business.

What surprised me the most, and what I found most difficult to read about, was Henry's mental health issues and how they plagued him his entire life. The relationship he had with his parents was super hard to digest and I could relate somewhat to it.

Thank you NetGalley for this complimentary copy.

I was always a fan of Mr Winkler and this autobiography just reinforced my opinion. He's experienced the ups and downs of show business but still manages to retain his liability and kindness. He names names but only in a good way.

I remember Henry Winkler as Fonzie. I remember Henry as a competent actor trying to grow beyond Fonzie, with mixed success. I've recently learned more about Henry as he's discussed his dyslexia and promoted his books and was finally recognized for his acting chops in Barry. Now with this book, I feel like I not only know about Henry. But I kind of know him in a more personal way.

This autobiography comes across as very personal. Henry might leave a few things out. Probably because he's so nice and doesn't want to hurt any feelings. But he still lets us get very close and see some of his pain and struggles over the years. We also see his great support network of colleagues and family (other than his parents). And we see him grow and succeed and find the joy in life. His story is worth reading.

I knocked off a star for a bit of repetitiveness and a tendency to keep things a bit briefer than I wanted. Henry has hobnobbed with some of the biggest names in Hollywood. I don't expect him to get down and dirty about them. But I would have liked him to expand on more of those stories.

I don’t know Henry Winkler from the Fonz, but I do from his later appearances in Barry, Parks & Rec, and more. As someone who didn’t know much about his life, I enjoyed this story. He seems like such a kind, thoughtful person.

I received a complimentary copy of this book via Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are my own opinions.

You know an autobiography is good when you can hear the subject's voice as you read it.

I greatly enjoyed reading Henry's story and reading his what his thoughts or actions may of been a hindsight.
His humility and his want of self-improvement are what really caught my attention. For some reason, the most shocking thing was that he smoked weed in the 70s. For reasons unknown, this struck me as off. Nothing against it at all. It justnseemed out of character for man I don't actually know know to do.

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“From Emmy-award winning actor, author, comedian, producer, and director Henry Winkler, a deeply thoughtful memoir of the lifelong effects of stardom and the struggle to become whole.”

I quite enjoyed this memoir. I found Winkler thoroughly likeable, if not entirely believable. While I have no doubt his Sunshine Personality let him reframe everything positively, I’m guessing not everyone in Hollywood was as delightful as he recalls.

My favourite part was his frank discussions about his learning challenges. As a librarian, I was surprised I’d never heard about his book series. I immediately suggested them to our Children’s Librarian.

Thanks to NetGalley, Celadon, and Macmillan Audio for this charming ARC.

This was a really interesting read about Henry Winkler and his career in Hollywood. I loved his honesty about dyslexia and how he struggled daily. The way he obtained playing the Fonz was so interesting to read about. He was raw and real about his relationship with the other characters on the show. His life with Stacey was filled with up and downs. I love and enjoy reading about my favorite childhood actors.

I was hooked in the prologue when he talked about his audition for the Fonz. It was pure magic and I wanted more of that.

What I got was a very insecure man, who well into his adulthood, didn't get self-aware enough to get out of his own way and who constantly put himself down. It didn't help that his parents were pretty horrible to him, thinking tough love (more "tough" than "love". More like "abuse". They had their own issues, but don't pass those issues on to your kids!) would get him to buckle down and get better at school, when in reality he had a learning disability that prevented him from excelling in school. It was painful to listen to.

The book was not told in chronological order, jumping around from when he was in his 50s to his 20s and back again. I really wanted to hear about how his dyslexia was discovered and how he worked to live with it, both before and after his diagnosis, but didn't get more than he was really angry when he realized what he had had a name. Not discounting that, but I wanted more.

What I DID love was his love for his wife and how he had her interject her thoughts and feelings into the story he was telling. In the audio book, she actually narrated her own parts, which was just so interesting and sweet.

His daughter came across as a pretty mean and nasty person, but he wasn't trying to show her in that light, he clearly loves his kids, bio as well as step, but her actions and words come across to me as really very self-centered and un-feeling. Ironically, his step-son has dyslexia and that's how Henry found out he had it too. I say ironically, because it's an inheritable trait and his step wasn't related by blood. I think one of his bio kids might have it too, but it's been a bit since I listened to this, so can't recall clearly.

I did read and listen to this book, but since it was a Buddy Read with a lightning fast reading Buddy, I ended listening more than reading and I don't think that hurt my enjoyment of this book any. His life story is incredibly interesting and at many points due to his lack of ego and beating himself up, incredibly difficult to listen to.

I just want to hug the poor man from the past and tell him, "It's ok. God loves you, He created you and loves you just the way you are. You don't need to look for approval from others. You are enough." He is there now, but it took him a long time to get there. That makes me sad for him, but at least he is there now.

Recommended if you like actor memoirs and nostalgia for the shows/movies he acted in, but WARNING, the mental and emotional abuse he experiences from his parents and his feelings of no self-worth are difficult to take. It could be triggering if you have been abused by your parents.

3, parents can REALLY mess up their kids, but the kids can overcome it, it just takes time and hard work, stars.

My thanks to NetGalley and Celadon Books for an eARC of this book to read and review, as well as libro.fm and Macmillan Audio for an ALC to listen to and review.

So fun and sweet. I enjoyed the behind the scenes tea and life advice. The audiobook was so adorable with a fun cameo from his wife.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an uncorrected edition of this memoir.

Henry Winkler is warm, honest, funny, and incredibly open about his struggles both professionally and personally. I knew about him at a very high level going into this book, as many readers might. But even though I didn’t go in knowing much about him and his personal life, I felt immediately engaged and connected. Henry is a strong writer and clearly a strong conversationalist. This memoir reads like a very candid and engaging conversation with Henry. I don’t think folks need to be big fans going in to enjoy this book. Henry’s professional and personal arcs are so different from my own in almost every way, yet I still related to him. Really great read overall.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! This book was great. Initially, it was difficult for me to get into, but once it got going it really got going.

I feel like in recent years I primarily knew Henry Winkler from Barry (an excellent performance and also, recency bias) so it was wonderful reading this and reminding myself of his other roles that I’ve seen and enjoyed. There’s a lot of interesting information that I liked. I think he does tend to gloss over conflicts - like with the Happy Days cast, or describing Jessica Walter’s and the Arrested Development cast as having “static” between them. It felt a bit sanitized at those points to make everyone look okay.

But, his writing style was very engaging and I really enjoyed reading this book. I especially loved the portions from his wife. They added so much and I ended up looking forward to her portions to see what she would say.

Henry Winkler's memoir is surprisingly frank and honest. He doesn't just rely on the typical career highlights of a celebrity autobiography. Of course his time as Fonzie on Happy Days is of primary interest, but he relates too his struggle to break out of being typecast. He shares his struggles with dyslexia and parents who didn't understand him, along with his own journey of self-understanding. Winkler is to be commended for his introspection and sharing so openly with his fans.

Delightful story of the life of a great actor and a tremendous human being. Winkler writes about his years growing up, his success in Hollywood, a stalled career, family joys and more.

I really loved this book! This memoir details Henry’s (Barry, Happy Days, etc) life from his childhood through present day and feels so thoughtful and real (and funny!). It had such great anecdotes about his life and was full of great advice for people of all ages.

It was so interesting to hear about how he was feeling at all the different stages of his career. I was surprised to hear about how his dyslexia and various anxieties affected so much of his career choices and life in general. It was also cool to have sections written by his wife, sort of in response to what he was detailing in the book about their life and feelings at the time. It was just so well-written in general.

I would highly recommend this as a holiday gift to any Henry Winkler fans in your life! I feel like this would be a great gift for parents or grandparents (I struggle to gift for older relatives sometimes and feel like this book could be a home run for some!).

Thanks so much to Henry Winkler, Celadon, and NetGalley for the ARC. I grew up watching Happy Days nonstop with my dad and love Barry so I was fangirling hard when I got the ARC acceptance notification!

Happy Days was before my time. I never really was a big Fonzie fan. I think the only movie I ever watched with him in it was The Most Wonderful Time of Year.

I'm a homeschool Mama and one of my girls has a hard time learning to read. I've wondered if she was Dyslexic. One day I was talking to my librarian about my daughter possibly being Dyslexic. She told me that Henry Winkler had written books that were published in a font that was easier for Dyslexia people to read. I'm pretty sure she told me that Henry Winkler used his own money to help fund research for an easier font for Dyslexic people to read. This is one of the reasons I wanted to read Being Henry. I haven't done the research on this nor was there anything in the book about it, so I don't know if it is true.

This book took me a while to get into. In the beginning, I was capture for a few minutes because I couldn't believe some of the things that he had to deal with when he was a child. I also couldn't believe some things about his parents and the lies they told. It was interesting reading the book and seeing how he went from the Fonz to basically nothing but that.

The interesting parts of the book for me was when he talked about Bryce Howard. I recognized her name because she played in one of the Twilight movies. It was interesting to see her be talked about as a young child.

Another part of the book that really got to me was when he talked about John Ritter. I was never a big Happy Days fan but I was a big Three's Company fan. I also was a big fan of John Ritter. I watched 8 Simples Rules just for him. I also watched Problem Child just for him. It was a sad part of the book for me when he talked about John Ritter and his death and how everyone was in shock. As I was reading that, I realized that it has been 20 years since he's passed away.

The one thing I took from this book is just because you can't read, doesn't mean you should let it hold you back. I feel like Henry Winkler would be a good example of that. This was back before Dyslexia was really recognized. But he didn't let that stop him. He did everything that he could do to be who he was, especially when he had the parents that he did.

I have always loved Henry Winkler so was really excited to get an advanced copy of his book.

I will be getting this for my best friend as she and her mom and aunt need to read it as they are huge Henry Winkler fans as well and they have a story about when they met him in the 80s that has made him even more interesting.

I just sat down for a chat with Henry Winkler while he told me all about his life. I didn't really, of course, but that's what it felt like reading this down-to-earth and unpretentious autobiography. Henry lays out his life revealing all his insecurities that never would have been expected of 'the Fonz' - and this only makes him more relatable.

This book is well-written, enjoyable, and inspiring.

This book is a look at “Being Henry” from Henry himself. Although he might bristle at being called a nice guy, he does in fact, seem to be a very nice guy.

His undiagnosed dyslexia caused him to have a childhood full of turmoil, leading to a lifetime of insecurity. Throughout his life, he has continued to work on understanding how the manner in which his parents treated him impacted how he thought of himself and the world around him.

This was an enjoyable read, and I thank Netgalley and Celadon Books for allowing me to read and give my opinion of this book.

I enjoy Henry Winkler’s acting, but didn’t know much about his personal life. This was an interesting book. He had a rough childhood and everything he overcame to get into good schools despite poor grades. It was surprising to read about the struggles and insecurities he dealt with in his career. I loved when he talked about his family and their dogs. His love for his wife, kids, and grandkids was apparent. He talked about his failings as well. I was amazed at the number of books he’d written. It was an entertaining read and I was sad to have it end.

Thank you to the author, Celadon Books, and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) copy of this book and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

In this memoir, Henry Winkler covers all kinds of topics, in roughly chronological order. He covers his family relationships - his difficult parents, his wife of many decades (who chimes in periodically throughout the book to share her perspective) and his children. We also learn about his dyslexia, which was not diagnosed until he was an adult. And of course, much of the book is dedicated to all the ups and downs of his career in show business. Though this is no tell all - he has nothing but kind words fir almost everyone, save for one or two people who are no longer alive.

I actually got both an early physical and electronic copy from the publisher, but I didn’t get an early audio, so I actually waited for this one to be published so I could listen to it! And that was a great choice, as I loved hearing it all in Henry’s own warm, funny, and self-deprecating voice - plus the parts read by his wife.