In both memoirs and autobiographies, authors tell their own life stories. Whereas an autobiography usually covers a person’s entire life, memoirs focus on particular aspects of a person’s life, such as their professional career or a unique experience. Celebrity memoirs, a subset of this genre, often combine stories from famous people’s careers and personal lives, revealing details that have been hidden from the public. Celebrity memoirs are popular because they offer the public a glimpse into the inner lives of people they see on television and hear on the radio. Oftentimes, these celebrities live lives far different than those of their readers. Some celebrity memoirist writers use ghostwriters or “tell” their stories to a professional writer, who crafts the book. Will Smith wrote his own book with the assistance of professional writer and podcaster Mark Manson. He did not use a ghostwriter. Other recent celebrity memoirs include Prince Harry’s Spare, Britney Spears’s The Woman in Me, and Matthew Perry’s Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing.

Smith’s memoir follows the typical celebrity memoir structure in its focus on his career and his personal life. However, it covers an unusually long period, beginning before his birth and ending as he celebrates his 50th birthday.