I Am Jackie Chan

I Am Jackie Chan
by Jackie Chan

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Book Summary Information

Author: Jackie Chan
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1999-03-12
ISBN: 0330375903
Number of pages: 360
Publisher: Macmillan

Book Reviews of I Am Jackie Chan

Book Review: origins of jackie chan
Summary: 5 Stars

This book really takes the reader into many aspects of Jackie Chan's early life from China, to the Peking Opera House where he was schooled in his martial arts, to Australia, and even a mansion where he lived a few short years after being born. There's more to one of the best action heroes in Hollywood than just punches and kicks and this book will keep you reading and sometimes laughing from Chan's antics as a mischevious kid. Also you'll read about other Chinese cinema superstars such as Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao growing up with Chan in the opera house. All in all a very solid book very much worth reading for any fan of Chan.

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Summary of I Am Jackie Chan

Jackie Chan is a martial arts superstar. The star of some 40 movies, for decades his adrenaline-charged moves won fans; in 1995, with the release of "Rumble in the Bronx", the mainstream caught on - and now he ranks alongside Bruce Lee. Despite widespread media exposure (from chat shows to men's magazines and a host of Internet websites), Jackie has never told his own story in his own words. He relates his story from an almost Dickensian childhood (his parents nearly sold him to the doctor who delivered him!) apprenticed to a Chinese opera master, to his glory days today following hsi "discovery" as a stuntman by the director John Woo.

Since his first role in 1962 at the age of 8, Jackie Chan has appeared in more than 70 movies. For more than 20 years, he has been the biggest star in Asia, but in the West he remained a secret, his movies passed around on tape and his fame growing by word of mouth alone. In the '90s, with the success of crossover movies like Rush Hour and the support of a new generation of filmmakers who grew up watching Jackie Chan videotapes, his star finally rose in the West. But where did he come from, and how did he achieve so much?

His autobiography, I Am Jackie Chan, answers those questions in an engaging, almost novelistic style. When his father moves to Australia to take up a new job, the young Jackie is placed in Hong Kong's China Drama Academy under the tutelage of Master Yu Jim-yuen. For the next 10 years he is trained in martial arts, dance, acrobatics, singing, and comedy, while suffering extraordinary hardships, including regular beatings and near-starvation. Yet he can look back on this period of his life with considerable affection, not least because it taught him the skills, and provided him with the network of friends, that would sustain his film career for decades. Chan has always earned the respect of his fans by committing himself wholeheartedly to creating the most death-defying stunts possible. His achievements seem even more remarkable when set against the struggles described in this book. In the Drama School, as a young stuntman, in his first troubled attempts to make movies in America--Chan's personality shines through, and I Am Jackie Chan can only enhance his reputation as one of the most likable and admirable movie stars in the world. The book also includes Jackie's comments on all of his movies, lists of his favorite stunts and fights, and an astonishing catalog of all his major injuries. Can you imagine what it must feel like to dislocate your cheekbone? --Simon Leake

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