My Next Breath — A Memoir
By Jeremy Renner
Flatiron Books
ISBN: 978-1250383532
224pp.

Whether you call it a near-fatal or life-changing accident, one thing’s clear: the American actor Jeremy Renner is lucky to be alive. The accident that occurred on New Year’s Day in 2023 would have broken a lesser man, but Renner proves he’s not just a tough guy on screen — he’s a survivor offscreen as well.

The two-time Oscar nominee recounts the harrowing incident in My Next Breath: A Memoir, a powerful testament to his resilience. In his debut as an author, the Avengers and Mission: Impossible star revisits one of Hollywood’s most shocking accidents — one that shook his family, friends and fans alike.

According to this book, on that fateful New Year’s Day, the Renner clan had gathered at his Lake Tahoe lodge to celebrate the holidays. After a massive storm, the 52-year-old actor and his 27-year-old nephew, Alex, set out to clear the snow. But the true villain wasn’t on screen — it was his 14,000-pound industrial snow-clearing machine, which suddenly went out of control during the clean-up.

For the first time, Renner opens up about what went wrong with his snowcat. He believes he may have forgotten to engage the handbrake, which caused the machine to slide toward his nephew. Following his instincts, he leapt on to the moving vehicle to stop it — but slipped and fell, crushed beneath its massive tracks.

Hollywood star Jeremy Renner’s memoir is about his miraculous recovery from a horrific accident but is also a meditation on fragility, faith and mortality

He broke more than 38 bones — including six ribs shattered in 14 places — and lost a dangerous amount of blood. At one point, he recalls, he could “see his left eye with his right.”

If you or someone you know has ever stood on the edge between life and death, you’ll connect deeply with Renner’s words. He takes readers on a journey that begins with a cheerful Renner family gathering and ends with loved ones praying for his life. The way he describes his brush with death is among the most moving passages you’ll read anywhere. His retelling is not just a gruesome account of what happened that morning, but also a testament to the human spirit’s capacity to endure, evolve and find purpose in the face of unimaginable adversity.

If you assume the book dwells only on the horrific accident, you don’t know Renner. Yes, he recounts the tragedy and its aftermath, but he also writes about his recovery and shielding the news from his daughter until he could face her himself.

Renner credits his nephew and his neighbours, Rich and Barb Fletcher, for saving his life as they called for a helicopter rescue and kept him awake and breathing until the paramedics arrived. Renner also believes he might have died right there on the ice — his heart rate had plummeted to just 18 beats per minute. But somehow, he pulled through, as the sound of the helicopter blades became his lifeline.

He broke more than 38 bones — including six ribs shattered in 14 places — and lost a dangerous amount of blood. At one point, he recalls, he could “see his left eye with his right.”

After multiple surgeries and two blood transfusions, Renner was on the long road to recovery. He jokes that he was “the world’s worst patient” yet takes pride in never spending another night in the hospital after being discharged.

He wasn’t a writer when he began compiling his thoughts but, by the end, he’s speaking directly to the reader — a mark of genuine authorship. The latter half of the book moves at a slower pace, not because the storytelling is weak, but because the opening chapters are more gripping in comparison.

Renner emerges as a changed man, channelling the pain and perspective gained from his near-fatal accident into a mission that redefines what recovery looks like. His RennerVation Foundation isn’t just about restoring old trucks, ambulances and buses — it’s about restoring purpose.

Each vehicle he revives becomes a lifeline for a community in need, from mobile classrooms to emergency response units. Through this work, Renner turns mechanical repair into a metaphor for personal renewal, proving that rebuilding what’s broken can drive real change.

He writes tenderly about his close-knit family — especially his daughter, Ava — to whom the book is lovingly dedicated. In these passages, Renner reveals that she is the real reason behind his unceremonious exit from the Mission: Impossible franchise. He wanted to spend more time with her, which limited his stint to just two films alongside Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt.

The photographs in the book capture the week that changed everything for the Renner family. The first few show the arrival of the clan; the rest focus on the injured Jeremy and the snowcat that nearly ended his life.

Renner even injects moments of unexpected practicality. At one point, he quotes the PistenBully user manual, explaining how easily the snowcat can slip if the handbrake isn’t engaged. It’s a humble gesture — an A-list actor turning his misfortune into a cautionary note for anyone who might one day find themselves operating heavy machinery.

Ultimately, My Next Breath stands as a meditation on fragility, faith and the thin line separating life from legend. Renner the actor and Renner the man finally merge here — not in an explosive climax, but with a quiet recognition of mortality.

“What I learned,” he concludes, “is that breathing isn’t something you do — it’s something you choose.”

Divided into three parts — the incident, the patient and the recovery — the book unfolds like a three-act film. Renner also reflects on how the accident reshaped his career, as many wondered whether he would ever return to acting. The memoir’s release coincides with his re-emergence on screen — he’s set to appear in the next Knives Out instalment and the possibility of reprising his role as Hawkeye in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

The book, and Renner himself, offer something rare in Hollywood: authenticity earned the hard way. Behind every comeback is a story worth reading, and Renner’s is written in blood, bone and grace. “No matter how low you fall,” he reminds us, “even the steepest odds can be conquered — one breath at a time.”

The reviewer is a broadcast journalist who also writes on sports, film, television and popular culture

Published in Dawn, Books & Authors, January 4th, 2026