Roger Ebert is the best-known film critic of our time. He started reviewing films for the Chicago Sun-Times in 1967, and was the first film critic ever to win a Pulitzer Prize. He appeared on television for four decades, including 23 years as cohost of "Siskel & Ebert at the Movies."

In 2006, complications from thyroid cancer treatment resulted in the loss of his ability to eat, drink or speak. But with the loss of his voice, Ebert only became a more prolific and influential writer. Before his passing, he was able to tell the full, dramatic story of his life and career.

Roger Ebert's journalism carried him on a path far from his nearly idyllic childhood in Urbana, Illinois. It is a journey that began as a reporter for his local daily, and took him to Chicago, where he was unexpectedly given the job of film critic for the Sun-Times, launching a lifetime's adventures.

In this candid, personal history, Ebert chronicles it all: his loves, losses and obsessions; his struggle and recovery from alcoholism; his marriage; his politics; and his spiritual beliefs. He writes about his years at the Sun-Times, his colorful newspaper friends, and his life-changing collaboration with Gene Siskel. He remembers his friendships with Studs Terkel, Mike Royko, Oprah Winfrey, and Russ Meyer (for whom he wrote Beyond the Valley of the Dolls and an ill-fated Sex Pistols movie). He shares his insights into movie stars and directors like John Wayne, Werner Herzog and Martin Scorsese.