From Under the Truck

'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.

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

About the author

Josh Brolin was born in 1968 and raised on a ranch in Paso Robles, California. He is a producer, director, writer and Academy Award nominated actor. The proud father of four children, he lives with his wife and two youngest in California.