Beginning Total Recall was a strange experience for me, action hero Arnold had been a childhood idol, a fact I may have repressed for some time (or at least since Terminator 3.) I've always been vaguely familiar with his body building years, but not being a U.S. citizen I hadn't really followed his political career. Essentially what I'm trying to say is I approached this book with a fair amount of 'blank slate' aside from some historic enthusiasm from movies such as Conan, and Terminator.

As autobiographies go, this is one of the best I've read - although whether this was because of good writing or because of Arnold's particularly intriguing life I can't tell.

The prose is matter of fact and plain, almost to the point of boredom, yet somehow perfect for the story. Even highly controversial topics such as the use of steroids, affairs and politics are discussed simply and to the point. I got the strange sensation that maybe Schwarzenegger held much back about himself writing this, or perhaps was actually a remarkably simple personality, highly intelligent and focussed, yet surprisingly fallible.

To my knowledge this is a highly honest biography - Arnold is frank about his at times devious tactics in competition, some of his political mistakes, and his conflicts across his career and family life. Whatever one's opinion of the guy is, its hard to deny his life is highly compelling and an interesting read.