Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography

When I heard about him releasing this book I was quite intrigued, as I watched him back in the 1990’s when he was ‘Doogie’. I Neil Patrick Harris choose your own then heard it was one of those ‘choose your own’ story type books (which I love as you don’t read from just front to back then you never get the same story twice.)

I was ecstatic when I saw this was an option for me to choose on Blogging for Books, (and on the day when I had gotten my cat Jonathan when I was in High School.) in which I get a complimentary copy to read & review for my blog (now why can’t tv shows & movies do this for us as long as we won’t ruin climatic parts etc?)

The book is (in full) 291 pages, but with the choices I made while reading the first night I’m already on page 46!~ So you may not read the full book if you read it in the ‘Choose your own’ format. Also a choice you make may bring you to page 150 but the next may bring you back to the beginning.

Those choices so far were (number in parentheses was page skipped to)

Chose happy childhood (8)
read Optimism speech
then onto learning magic (14)

then well getting lazy instead of writing out what the choice was I just noted the pages…

40-44 , 46-66, 115, 124, 102, 94 (yes sometimes it brings you back to the beginning)

107 How Neil & his husband David met & David made annotations on the pages. (he seems like a cool guy, and equally funny)

194 start a family with David

207 & 257

So far the writing has a smooth flow and it’s been fun to read as far as the wit and humor we know from the ‘host with the most’ as I call him.

(yes I know that’s more a Beetlejuice line but I don’t care as for NPH in my opinion its true)

There are some illustrations, as well as photos in the middle of the book. One thing I love about books with this format is that when you want to re-read them they are a whole new book depending on your mood you choose different versions of it. So its one to keep in the library.

I have so far much enjoyed skipping around, reading the parts I’m curious about and so on. The book is written from the point of view as if YOU, the reader is Neil, though there are spots where it doesn’t seem so. It’s smooth flow, witty and interesting. Keep in mind, if you ever get a chance to meet him… Don’t call him Doogie or you’re the guy that played doogie’. While yes there is a fondness for the character I can see how an actor (even before reading this) would get annoyed etc about being called the character’s name (especially over and over, but people still seem to do it!! and that was the late 80s early 90s people!)

There’s one part I read about how he met his Partner David in which David makes some annotations on the pages. He seems equally witty to Neil and so makes a nice couple.

Whether you are a fan or not, I don’t think it matters. I think You’d still enjoy reading the book, and the kid inside you will LOVE choosing where to go next.

Also Don’t be surprised if your choices suddenly brings you to the end of the book, without reading the whole thing. Can you read it front to back, You could try & let me know. That’s another reason I like these sort of books, you don’t have to read the whole book the first time, but I do suggest to keep a note inside on what the choices you made were so that you could make different ones next time.

I wish more books were made like this, though something tells me its a lot harder and more work than to just write it being as you have to make the notations at the bottom of where to go if you’d prefer this or that. (I need to find a way to find more books in this format… its great for adventures & even mysteries

I give it 5 stars!