Hollywood producer Brian Grazer wants to know things, so he asks a lot of questions. He asks them of the people who know the things. He banks on his curiosity in order to fuel his passions, to create more success in business, to be a better husband and father, and to build human connections with those around him. And he recommends we all do the same
Using the idea of curiosity as a road to a better life, Grazer, along with co-author Charles Fishman, encourages us all to live life with gusto, with bravery, and with a burning inquisitiveness to find out what drives others, what makes life worth living, and what makes us all so incredibly human. He gives us a peek into the “curiosity conversations” he’s had with political leaders, artists, scientists, and survivors, sharing his own inspiration for the movies and television series that he’s made and that we all love.
Also woven in are stories of Hollywood from his early days as a producer (love those!) and stories of his grandmother, the kind of grandmother that every kid deserves (a little jealous, really). And though there is some repetition of the stories, the overall entertainment value (and educational/inspirational value) of Brian Grazer’s A Curious Mind is well worth the journey.
I grabbed the audiobook on this one, and narrator Norbert Leo Butz is the ideal reader for this book. Aside from giggling every time I think of his name (seriously, I’m only like 8 years old on the inside), he read this book perfectly. There was not a wrong note throughout. And Grazer himself reads the introduction as a bonus.
I’m a big fan of Grazer’s movie work and of Imagine Entertainment in general, so I was excited to read this book to see what I might learn about the inside of the Hollywood machine. But what I ended up learning was so much more, so much richer, that I fell in love with this book and the ideas within. Be smart. Be motivated. Be curious, and live a bigger life than you previously imagined!