Cover of Total Recall

Total Recall

My Unbelievably True Life Story

by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Simon & Schuster Inc · first published 2001

17mentions
7recommended by
14HN commenters
2011–2025first – last mentioned

50% recommend43% neutral7% critical

Why HN recommends it

Arnold Schwarzenegger's memoir traces his rise from an Austrian village to bodybuilding, film and politics. It is engaging and motivating, especially for founders and anyone seeking inspiration from his story.

Summarised by Claude from recommending comments

Born in the small city of Thai, Austria in 1947, Arnold Schwarzenegger moved to Los Angeles at the age of twenty-one. Within ten years, he was a millionaire businessman. After twenty years, he was the world's biggest movie star. In 2003, he was elected governor of California and a household name around the world. Proud of his accomplishments and honest about his regrets, Schwarzenegger spares nothing in sharing his amazing story.

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Mentions per year

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What Hacker News says

  • redmaverick · Dec 28, 2013 · Recommends

    1. Think and Grow Rich - by Napolean Hill 2. Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story - by Arnold Schwarzenegger 3. The Motivation Hacker - by Nick Winter.

    on “Ask HN: What book changed your life in 2013?” ↗
  • theatraine · Dec 29, 2019 · Recommends

    Some great books have already been mentioned but those which were the most personally influential which haven't yet been mentioned: - Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story by Arnold Schwarzenegger - Elon Musk by Ashlee Vance - Bad Blood by John Carreyrou - Kochland by Christopher Leonard - Masters of Doom by David Kushner I read a lot…

    on “Ask HN: Best books you read in the past decade?” ↗
  • SuperChihuahua · Nov 15, 2012 · Recommends

    Coders at work The numbers behind Numb3rs Statistical methods in counterterrorism Total recall (the biography by Schwarzenegger) From dictatorship to democracy (available for free here: http://www.aeinstein.org/organizations98ce.html) The miracle of mindfulness The design of everyday things…

    on “Ask HN: What are some Good Books you have read in past one year or so..” ↗
  • jpamata · May 11, 2018 · Recommends

    …Irvine -my first introduction to stoicism. 2. Mastery by Robert Greene -stories about the lives of luminaries such as Henry Ford, Michael Faraday, and Da Vinci on what it takes to be successful. 3. Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story by Arnold Schwarzenegger -for providing me a new mental framework on building discipline and confidence. 4. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop…

    on “Ask HN: Which books have made you introspect?” ↗
  • stevekemp · Dec 9, 2016 · Recommends

    His book, Total Recall, was a fascinating read. I found it a lot more interesting than I expected to. He's also somewhat active in the fitness groups on Reddit, passing on tips and advice.

    on “I am not a self-made man” ↗
  • tuhin · Sep 22, 2011 · Recommends

    …these pics on my hard drive and mobile that were years old and yet I had never shared them anywhere because they were just private bits of my life. That is when I read more about it and laid my hands on "Total Recall" and that gave a whole new dimension to the idea. I am kind of sad actually when I realise that when in say a month from now I launch the product, people would think it was inspired by FB or is atleast…

    on “Facebook Timeline” ↗
  • dopeboy · Oct 7, 2023 · Recommends

    If you're a founder or just someone who wants to be inspired, read his book 'Total Recall'. It's a fantastic story of his life and I came away really motivated reading it.

    on “Arnold Schwarzenegger has one main guiding principle: 'Be Useful'” ↗
  • …2010 and my feeling about books is that lots fall under motivational porn and they provide instant gratification then things you can apply. Seeing your list now I want to read Arnold Schwarzenegger book Total Recall and tempted to read Zero to One. I would love to aspire to your level of success you had with CD Baby.

    on “Derek Sivers: Books I've Read” ↗
  • ternaus · Sep 26, 2023 · Mentions

    …muscles for free, they just allow faster progress, and faster recovery. Natural athlete will be able to handle training plan that person on steroids can. For example Arnold Schwarzenegger talks in his book Total Recall on how he trained twice a day, every day with heavy weights. Other people that I talked to were not satisfied with their appearance, I would say they were insecure, lifting weights did not give much…

    on “Male weightlifters who use steroids are more prone to psychopathology” ↗
  • The reason I disliked Arnold Schwarzenegger's biography, Total Recall, was that it white-washed his path in life. It's clear now that he's been a successful businessman, with great achievements in bodybuilding and physical culture that will have him remembered for a long…

    on “Risk of Discovery (2017)” ↗
  • …Also Direct Democracy is a nightmare. See: California. Arnold Schwarzenegger outlines why his attempt at making most of his major issues ballot initiatives in his first term was a disaster in his book Total Recall.

    on “Tech Companies and Government May Soon Go to War Over Surveillance” ↗
  • Right author, wrong short story. The short stories that inspired both Total Recall and Minority Report can be found in this anthology: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780806537948

    on “TSA-style body scanners are coming to public spaces” ↗
  • walterbell · May 21, 2024 · Mentions

    …documents he has read or produced, CDs, emails, and so on. He continues to do so, gathering web pages browsed, phone and instant messaging conversations and the like more or less automatically. The book Total Recall describes the vision and implications for a personal, lifetime e-memory for recall, work, health, education, and immortality. In 2010, Total Recall was published in paperback. As of 2016, Bell was no…

    on “Gordon Bell has died” ↗
  • avagate · May 22, 2024 · Mentions

    His lifelogging was a project called MyLifeBits. He wore a camera that took a picture every 20 seconds. Even called the book about his work Total Recall (and MSFT's new product that does something similar on the desktop is called Recall). Someone who worked with him at MSR wrote about it: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/gordon-bell-standing-shoulder...

    on “Gordon Bell has died” ↗
  • walterbell · May 31, 2024 · Mentions

    …documents he has read or produced, CDs, emails, and so on. He continues to do so, gathering web pages browsed, phone and instant messaging conversations and the like more or less automatically. The book Total Recall describes the vision and implications for a personal, lifetime e-memory for recall, work, health, education, and immortality. Lifelogging was referenced by 10,000 academic papers over two decades, https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=lifelogging

    on “Recall: Stealing everything you've ever typed or viewed on your own Windows PC” ↗

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