From Under the Truck cover art

From Under the Truck

A Memoir

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From Under the Truck

By: Josh Brolin
Narrated by: Josh Brolin
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About this listen

'A candid, rollicking read…roars with honesty, chaos, self-awareness, literary ambition and drunken benders.' – The Times

A unique and audacious memoir, by turns affecting, funny. uncanny and unforgettable. This is a memoir like no other.

It claws at me with its long, thin nails.

I wince as I hear my parents inside the house fighting, but with the whinnying of the horses so loud, I can't be sure it's them or the dogs or the wolves, whose cages I'll have to clean soon. Even with the sound of the leaves in the trees, the cold grass on my back, there's the strange feeling that all the oxygen in the world is drifting in a direction away from me. Rain is coming though. It isn't here yet, but I can feel it's coming.

Weaving a latticework of different strands, moving back and forth through time, Josh Brolin captures a life marked by curiosity, pain, devotion, kindness, humor. He recounts an unconventional childhood spent on a ranch in Paso Robles, California, far from the glamour of Hollywood.

As a child he was surrounded by the wolves, cougars and other wild animals gathered by his fearless and explosive mother, Jane Agee Brolin. Her tragic early death haunts this book, and the force of her unforgettable personality is felt throughout.

He also brings to life his career in the film industry – from his breakout role in The Goonies to the curious set of No Country for Old Men – documenting his professional and personal ups and downs with unflinching honesty. He shares insights into relationships, addiction, love and fatherhood, while letting the white space in between words speak for itself.

From Under the Truck is an audacious and riveting memoir from a born writer that will stay with you forever.

©2024 Josh Brolin (P)2024 HarperCollins Publishers
Acting & Auditioning Art Entertainment & Celebrities Entertainment & Performing Arts Memoir Fatherhood Funny Witty

Critic Reviews

“Josh Brolin’s out to catch his breath between the slant-eyed suggestions and irrefutable evidence of his past. He hears voices, and he listens, reminding us with brutal honesty that our surroundings were never there to be carried, rather woven into the fabric of the freedom to be who we are.” – Matthew McConaughey

‘The wildest memoir I’ve ever read – fantastically punk' – Chris Evans

'From Under the Truck is raw, honest and self-effacing … . Remarkable.' – Wall Street Journal

“Short and snappy, colorful and witty. He is reckless and unrestrained in the story and candid and unfiltered in the telling of it.”- Malcolm Forbes, Los Angeles Times

All stars
Most relevant  
One would think he is a writer who acts. This book was so beautifully written and impactful. It is set out so different and non linear. Though it is short and I finished it in a couple of days, I'm starting it again right now!

What a book! Highly recommend.

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That rarest of things; a celebrity memoir not only written without a ghost writer, but also with genuine artistry and a unique literary voice.

Brolins a real one

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A refreshing new approach to story telling, only wish it was longer could have listened to it all day
Well done Josh 🤙

Simply epic

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loved the honesty of every day lives for some people. just run with the bulls. but enjoy. the birds

live in the moment. but be respectful

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Not my cup of tears., mildly engaging series of disjointed writing exercises which would most likely not normally be published on pure literary merit. But I would buy more!

Writing exercises

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I found Josh’s honesty about his vices, esp his alcoholism, endearing. His willingness to show himself in an unflattering light is very admirable. Josh has a natural way with words. Josh’s Mom is a unique character and all the stories involving her were enthralling. I enjoyed the ‘behind the scenes’ stories from movie sets. There were a few celebrity stories I found interesting, but the most intriguing ones remained disappointingly as blind items.

Josh is definitely a poetic soul although maybe it's easier to read his words rather than listen to them. He would spend so much time setting a scene I would forget what it was about, or even in what year (or century, sometimes) it was based. The short chapters are each set in a different year, decade or century with absolutely zero through-line. A story would involve someone whom he mentioned just by first name and I didn’t have a clue who he was talking about – a house-keeper, ex-girlfriend, Aunty, friend?

There are some chapters where Josh doesn’t identify who is involved – the only clue is a mention of ‘he’ and/or ‘she’. One entire chapter is Josh yelling a series of phone calls between a ‘he’ and a ‘she’. Are they his parents? Him and his wife? He isn’t kind enough to let the listener know. The only clue about what is happening is a yelled “don’t hang up on me!”. The pauses between the speakers diminished as the conversation crescendo-ed and he didn’t change his tone with each speaker so I soon had no idea who was speaking. And I had stopped caring.

I have never spent so much time restarting chapters in an audio book to try to figure out what the chapter was about. Josh could somehow be incredibly descriptive yet bafflingly vague. I found myself mentally willing him to get to the point. And then I would zone-out again as he described his internal monologue interweaving a childhood memory of a daydream he had during a meal in a diner on a random day in NYC in 2008? 1986? Last week? I have no clue – woops I forgot what he was talking about. If I want to know, I will have to restart the chapter; if I possess the mental energy after wallowing through the extensive verbal molasses.

As descriptive as it is vague

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Couldn’t follow the story as it was not in chronological order. It jumped from different years every chapter. Making it hard to follow.

Too random

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