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Sonny Boy

A Memoir

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Sonny Boy

Written by: Al Pacino

Narrated by: Al Pacino

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About this listen

The Instant New York Times Bestseller • One of People Magazine's Top 10 Books of the Year

"The rare celebrity memoir that's also a literary read. As funny as it is reflective, it shares stories behind Pacino's hardscrabble upbringing, classic films and journey to icon status."—People Magazine

From one of the most iconic actors in the history of film, an astonishingly revelatory account of a creative life in full

To the wider world, Al Pacino exploded onto the scene like a supernova. He landed his first leading role, in The Panic in Needle Park, in 1971, and by 1975, he had starred in four movies—The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, Serpico, and Dog Day Afternoon—that were not just successes but landmarks in the history of film. Those performances became legendary and changed his life forever. Not since Marlon Brando and James Dean in the late 1950s had an actor landed in the culture with such force.

But Pacino was in his midthirties by then, and had already lived several lives. A fixture of avant-garde theater in New York, he had led a bohemian existence, working odd jobs to support his craft. He was raised by a fiercely loving but mentally unwell mother and her parents after his father left them when he was young, but in a real sense he was raised by the streets of the South Bronx, and by the troop of buccaneering young friends he ran with, whose spirits never left him. After a teacher recognized his acting promise and pushed him toward New York’s fabled High School of Performing Arts, the die was cast. In good times and bad, in poverty and in wealth and in poverty again, through pain and joy, acting was his lifeline, its community his tribe.

Sonny Boy is the memoir of a man who has nothing left to fear and nothing left to hide. All the great roles, the essential collaborations, and the important relationships are given their full due, as is the vexed marriage between creativity and commerce at the highest levels. The book’s golden thread, however, is the spirit of love and purpose. Love can fail you, and you can be defeated in your ambitions—the same lights that shine bright can also dim. But Al Pacino was lucky enough to fall deeply in love with a craft before he had the foggiest idea of any of its earthly rewards, and he never fell out of love. That has made all the difference.

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What the critics say

“Pacino’s high energy proves to be as mesmerizing in print as it is onscreen. Sonny Boy is a page-turner that allows the reader to experience the struggles, inspirations, tragedies, and triumphs of an artist from humble beginnings who becomes infatuated with ‘the power of expression’ at a very young age . . . So touchingly reflective that [it] left me in tears.”—The Washington Examiner

“A movie superstar of rare stature . . . In Sonny Boy, Mr. Pacino still sounds like the actor who dazzled in his heyday. The book, written with Dave Itzkoff, preserves Mr. Pacino’s personality, with all his intelligence, his wit and his eagerness to talk about the theater history he loves.”—Farran Smith Nehme, Wall Street Journal

“Very revealing of an artist’s soul . . . a beautiful, heartfelt piece of work.”—San Francisco Chronicle

Editorial Review

Al Pacino brings the heat, the love, and the voice

Quick, who’s your favourite Pacino? A brilliantly understated antihero like Michael Corleone, or the extravagantly operatic Tony Montana or Frank Slade? Dearest to me – at least until his epic moment on stage at this year’s Oscars – is Dog Day Afternoon’s Sonny. Touchingly, “Sonny” was also what Al’s beloved mother called him, back when he was a South Bronx street kid in the 1940s. Sonny Boy, Pacino’s hotly anticipated memoir, takes us back to those days, from growing up in a fractured Italian American family, to his creative awakening in New York theatre, to his dizzying rise and long career at the heights of cinema. His boyhood friends – whose lives were destroyed by crime and drugs while Al, thanks to his mother and grandmother especially, was spared – used to call out “Sonny” and “Pacchi” from the sidewalk, waiting for him to come down and play. Now, the world waits for his voice and story, for the man behind the roles that live in our hearts. Here he is at last, and as Pacino himself might have it, no further preamble is needed. — Kat J., Audible Editor

Most relevant

Sonny Boy is a deeply moving and intimate glimpse into Al Pacino’s life. I felt completely immersed in his childhood—the struggles, the streets, the warmth, and the ache. His decision to narrate the book in his own voice made it all the more personal and powerful.

What touched me the most was his deep bond with his mother and his childhood friends. Those stories stayed with me long after I finished the book. There are moments that ache the heart, but overall, my heart feels full after reading it. It’s an emotional ride—one that leaves you feeling connected to the soul behind the legend.

I absolutely loved this book.