I'm halfway through reading Arnold Schwarzenegger's autobiography at the moment. He was my idol when I was a kid but I have to say I'm liking him a lot less now... though my opinion of him had already dropped a fair bit when he went into politics as a Republican.
There's very little self-reflection in the book, it's basically one long descriptive brag about how awesome he is. I admire his drive and work ethic to a point, but he comes across as being self-focused to the point of being a sociopath.
I do like the fact it seems like he's written it himself rather than using a ghostwriter. The less polished prose does give it a little charm.
He has a ghostwriter but he did a great job of adapting it to Arnie's way of communicating. He doesn't come across as the type to do a lot of writing in a Stallone way. He's never pitched a story for a film, even Van Damme and Seagal have done that.
Yeah I agree to a certain extent to what you're saying. However, I do think Arnie as self serving as he is, at least tries to do some right in the world, even if he doesn't fully understand why people do that, if you know what I mean? You won't see him get involved in bar brawls or take himself too seriously however will hurt others emotionally if it'll serve his need at the time. All the affairs he had proves that, but he does accept the criticism and knows it isn't the proper thing to do, even if he'll likely do it again. I guess being in his position since his teens and having others being overwhelmed by your mere presences would inflate an ego to that degree. I compare Arnie to someone like Stallone in the way they made their films. At the height of his power, Arnie would make sure the director and crew got everything they needed in order to make the film work, pitching demands on producers as if it was him asking for it. Stallone on the other hand is all about making sure no one out does him on screen, using puppet directors, and demands a screen credit (even in cases where he didn't deserve it). I know who I'd rather work with when making a film.
Have you ever seen Pumping Iron? That probably gives the viewer the closest idea to who Arnie really is.