By Kate Joseph
Staff Writer
Chances are, you are not Neil Patrick Harris, but if you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to be the Emmy and Tony award-winning actor, now you can in “Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography.”
Throwing back to the style of the late 20th Century Choose Your Own Adventure books, you, the reader, will read about Harris’s life and career from his point of view.
If you want to have a fun-filled childhood with supportive and loving parents, you can, but if you’d rather have a cold and depressing childhood with a caretaker who doesn’t know your real name, just go to the right page and you can do that too!
This style continues throughout the book, also allowing the reader to skip sections of Harris’s life, or read the book in any order they choose.
“If you think that I’m the kid from the doctor show that you’ve grown up with then you can choose that adventure, that autobiography,” Harris told “The Daily Beast.” “If you’d rather assume that I’m Barney Stinson… then you could read that autobiography.”
The actor, who got his start on “that doctor show” also known as “Doogie Howser M.D,” also didn’t want to shove any aspects of his life on readers, hence the ability to skip around at one’s own leisure.
“That’s the beauty of the structure. When something seems uncomfortable it was easy to jump to something that wasn’t,” said Harris. “I’m not trying to force my life down anyone’s throat, but if you want to read about things being forced down throats, you can go to that page.”
The book is just another addition to Harris’s impressive resume which includes starring in the CBS sitcom “How I Meet Your Mother” for nine seasons, hosting the Tony Awards four times, and acting on Broadway, most recently as star of “Hedwig and the Angry Inch.”
Whether you’re familiar with Harris from television, film, the stage, or you’re hearing about him for the first time — if that’s even possible — the book is a fun and diverse experience for anyone. There is truly something for everyone in Harris’s book, including chapters on nearly every aspect of his life so far, including his acting career, his coming-out story, his work as the President of the Magic Castle, his family, and a few cocktail recipes mixed in for good measure.
In a word, the star’s autobiography is legendary.
