'Beautiful and profoundly moving' STANLEY TUCCI

In The Life We Choose, Hollywood actor Anthony LaPaglia crafts a memoir as raw and layered as the life he's lived - a story of reinvention, resilience and the relentless pursuit of something more. From the suffocating suburbs of Adelaide, where family dysfunction reigned, to the gritty streets of New York, where he found himself bartending for Broadway actors and chasing roles nobody thought he'd ever get, LaPaglia's journey is a meditation on identity, survival, fame and the cost of ambition.

At its heart, this is the story of a man who grew up in the shadow of his father, but refused to be defined by him. Instead, he carved his own path, stumbling through mob-run bars, failed relationships and the unpredictable world of acting, all while searching for a truth that felt like his own.

Unexpectedly funny, brutally honest, and steeped in the existential questions of Arthur Miller's masterpiece Death of a Salesman, in which he starred, The Life We Choose is a memoir for anyone who's ever dared to rewrite their story.

Details

ISBN13: 9781460768990
Format: Hardback
Number of Pages: 288
Edition:
Publication Date: 27 Oct 2026
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd
Publication City, Country: New South Wales, Australia
Dimensions (cm): 24.2(H)x16.2(L)x2.8(W)550
Weight (gm): 550

Author Biography

Anthony LaPaglia is a multi-award-winning Australian actor celebrated for his extensive work across film, television and theatre. Recently, he starred on stage as Willy Loman in the Australian production of Death of a Salesman, earning rave reviews, and appeared on screen in Netflix's Boy Swallows Universe, which became a global hit. LaPaglia gained widespread recognition for his role as FBI agent Jack Malone in the hit CBS crime drama Without a Trace, earning a Golden Globe in 2004. His portrayal of Simon Moon on NBC's Frasier won him a Primetime Emmy. On stage, he delivered a Tony-winning performance in the 1997 Broadway revival of Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge. In film, LaPaglia's wide-ranging roles include Lantana, Balibo and Nitram, each of which earned him three AACTA Awards. His other notable credits include So I Married an Axe Murderer, Empire Records, Sweet and Lowdown and Road to Perdition. He also lent his voice to the animated films Happy Feet and its sequel Happy Feet Two.

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