Actress and human rights activist Sharon Stone's brave， contemplative and inspiring memoir， THE BEAUTY OF LIVING TWICE， is a tale of survival: surviving physical and sexual abuse as a child， an aneurysm and stroke that derailed her life for two years and the 13-year legal fight to regain the custody of her first adopted son。Stone's acting career skyrocketed with 1992's BASIC INSTINCT。 She was 34 and writes， "I was aging out of the business I hadn't really gotten into yet。" The role earned her a Actress and human rights activist Sharon Stone's brave， contemplative and inspiring memoir， THE BEAUTY OF LIVING TWICE， is a tale of survival: surviving physical and sexual abuse as a child， an aneurysm and stroke that derailed her life for two years and the 13-year legal fight to regain the custody of her first adopted son。Stone's acting career skyrocketed with 1992's BASIC INSTINCT。 She was 34 and writes， "I was aging out of the business I hadn't really gotten into yet。" The role earned her a Golden Globe nomination， but she remembers when her name was read at the ceremony， many in the audience laughed。 That disrespect and sexism continued on the sets of other films （including one unnamed director who wouldn't direct her unless she sat on his lap）。 Even though she produced the 1995 western THE QUICK AND THE DEAD， she had to fight for her choice of director and co-stars。 （She personally paid Leonardo DiCaprio's salary when the studio didn't want him。） In 2001， she suffered a stroke。 "My right vertebral artery。。。 was torn to a fine shred and I was bleeding into my face， my brain， my head， and my spine，" she writes。 Doctors told her family she had a 1% chance of survival。 "No one told me those odds，" she writes。 "I read them in People magazine。" Her painful and arduous recovery took more than two years。Stone's tough and touching memoir reveals the traumas， setbacks and gritty determination to survive and thrive that have previously been hidden beneath a beautiful façade。 This will be a book club favorite。 This is a candid and remarkably inspiring memoir of abuse， loss， survival and revival for readers who appreciate gritty tales wrapped in Hollywood glitter。 。。。more