James Patterson by James Patterson: The Stories of My Life

"Damn near addictive. I loved it . . . that Patterson guy can write!" -Ron Howard "I felt I was interviewing James Patterson under the highest permissible does of sodium pentothal, the truth serum, for hours--and he spilled the whole story of his truly astonishing life."--Bob Woodward How did a kid whose dad lived in the poorhouse become the most successful storyteller in the world? On the morning he was born, he nearly died. His dad grew up in the Pogey- the Newburgh, New York, poorhouse. He worked at a mental hospital in Massachusetts, where he met the singer James Taylor and the poet Robert Lowell. While he toiled in advertising hell, James wrote the ad jingle line "I'm a Toys 'R' Us Kid." He once watched James Baldwin and Norman Mailer square off to trade punches at a party. He's only been in love twice. Both times are amazing. Dolly Parton once sang "Happy Birthday" to James over the phone. She calls him J.J., for Jimmy James. How did a boy from small-town New York