We Speak Authors
Sylvester Stallone Tells His Story in ‘The Steps: A Memoir’
Fifty years after he first ran up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Sylvester Stallone is telling the story himself. The Steps: A Memoir, published September 29 by William Morrow, became an instant #1 New York Times and USA Today bestseller — a fitting reception for the man who turned an unknown boxer named Rocky Balboa into one of cinema’s defining underdogs.
The memoir is framed between two bookends: Stallone’s arrival in New York City in 1969 and Rocky’s triumph at the 1977 Academy Awards. In between, he writes candidly about a difficult birth and childhood, his struggles in school, and the creation of Rocky — the film that changed his life and American movies with it. It is the origin story behind the origin story: the years when Rocky was still taking shape and its creator was still an unknown trying to break through.
Stallone narrates the audiobook himself, with original music by Bill Conti, the composer whose score made Rocky’s training montages immortal. The title, of course, is the most famous staircase in film: the museum steps Rocky conquered in the scene that taught generations of moviegoers what it looks like to go the distance.
Plenty of movie stars publish memoirs; very few built their legend the way Stallone did. Half a century later, those steps remain a pilgrimage site for anyone who has ever rooted for an underdog — and now Stallone has told, in his own words, what the climb really cost and what it gave back. The Steps is that story told by the only man who could tell it. The 304-page hardcover is priced at $32.50.
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Erin Napier understands that a house holds a family’s memory — and in her new picture book, the house gets to tell the story. The Christmas House, published October 6 by Tommy Nelson, is Napier’s holiday companion to her bestselling The Lantern House, told from the point of view of the house itself as it is decorated and filled with joy for Christmas.
Page by page, the house watches the season arrive: decorations are carried down from the attic, a hand-carved nativity is set out, cookies are baked, and a family treasure is uncovered in the basement. At the center of it all is Grandpa’s cracked wooden Christmas star — worn, imperfect, and the most important decoration of all — in a story that gently honors a family member who has passed and the way traditions keep loved ones present. Folk artist Adam Trest illustrates, in the same warm style that made The Lantern House a favorite.
Napier, beloved as a co-host of HGTV’s Home Town, announced the book to her followers in August, describing it as a story about how Christmas traditions keep the people we love alive forever. She will take it on the road this season, with stops including Birmingham, Alabama on November 7; Jackson, Mississippi on November 21; New York City on November 30; and Laurel, Mississippi on December 5.
Written for ages 4 to 8, The Christmas House runs 40 pages and is priced at $19.99 — a read-aloud built for the nights when the tree goes up and the whole family crowds in close.
E. Lockhart Dives Into Dark Waters With ‘The Pools’benny blanco Flips Failure Into Fuel in ‘F*ck Failure’Michael Douglas Looks Back in ‘One Helluva Ride’
Sylvester Stallone Tells His Story in ‘The Steps: A Memoir’Sophia Chang, the First Asian Woman in Hip-Hop, Claims Her Title With ‘The Baddest Bitch in the Room’ PodcastBehavioral Scientist Dr. Zelana Montminy Asks Why We Don’t Do What We Know Is Good for Us in New LA Times Studios PodcastDani Shapiro’s ‘Family Secrets’ Joins Lemonada Media as the Hit Storytelling Podcast ReturnsFrom Podcast to Primetime: ‘Nick Cannon @ Night’ Makes the Leap to BET-
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