About this title: In this funny, touching, and extremely candid memoir, actor Alan Alda (ne Alphonso D'Abruzzo) chronicles his early childhood on tour with his father, a burlesque and vaudeville performer; his travails dealing with his mother, a paranoid schizophrenic; his painful treatment for polio at age 7, and the challenges he faced as a young man in launching ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Random House
Date Published: 09/2005
ISBN-13:9781400064090ISBN:1400064090
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. 240 p. Contains: Illustrations. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Random House
Date Published: 09/2005
ISBN-13:9781400064090ISBN:1400064090
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. 240 p. Contains: Illustrations. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Random House
Date Published: 09/2005
ISBN-13:9781400064090ISBN:1400064090
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. 240 p. Contains: Illustrations. Previous Owner's Inscription. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Date Published: 2006
ISBN-13:9780812974409ISBN:0812974409
Description: Acceptable. Overall below average used book. May have highlighting, underlining, notes, price sticker on cover, or be an ex-library book. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Random House
Date Published: 2005
ISBN-13:9781400064090ISBN:1400064090
Description: A wonderful copy with some minor edgewear to the cover. Dust Jacket has some edgewear present. -, Hard Cover, Very Good / Very Good. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Random House
Date Published: 2005
ISBN-13:9781400064090ISBN:1400064090
Description: A wonderful copy with some minor edgewear to the cover. Dust Jacket has some edgewear present. -, Hard Cover, Very Good / Very Good. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Random House
Date Published: 2005
ISBN-13:9781400064090ISBN:1400064090
Description: Good in Good jacket. 97-X Books rated "Good" may have some notes, underlining, or highlighting. These books also may contain the previous owner's name, stamp, sticker, or gift inscription, or may be library discards. read more
Description: Fine. Almost in new condition. Book shows only very slight signs of use. Cover and binding are undamaged and pages show minimal use. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
ISBN-13:9780812974409ISBN:0812974409
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
ISBN-13:9780812974409ISBN:0812974409
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
ISBN-13:9780812974409ISBN:0812974409
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Random House
Date Published: 2005
ISBN-13:9781400064090ISBN:1400064090
Description: Good. NO DUST JACKET. MAY HAVE COVER WEAR, SPINE CREASES, HIGHLIGHTING, UNDERLINING & PAGES YELLOWED FROM AGE. FASTER SERVICE FROM US! ! ! read more
"I'll admit that I don't read many celebrity biographies, so I can't really say if it's accurate, but Alda at one point talks about the usual biography being a chronicle of the celebrity's "rise to stardom", as it were. Alda brings it up because that's really not what his book is about. There is a chapter on M*A*S*H, but it's not the end of the book, it's somewhere near the middle. Alda writes more about self discovery, and not only with regards to acting, but primarily in learning how to deal with his mother's schizophrenia. It's a very odd, but touching book, and the bottom line is that if you enjoy Alda's wit on television, you will enjoy his wit in this book. Now I need to get my hands on Alda's second book."
"I never read celebrity memoirs, ever, but Alda's mother had schizophrenia, so I picked this one up. He doesn't write a whole lot about her, but I am reminded of the fact that I love Alan Alda. Partly because when he smiles in a certain way he looks a little bit like my dad, but also I like his work. He turns out to be a wonderful writer. He wanted to be a writer as a boy and he has really worked at it, a lot, all his life, a lesson to all of us...Who knew he had polio when he was 7 or grew up reading the Congressional Record because it was in dialogue form and full of funny sarcasm. I think my favorite part of the book is the last couple essays about his work on Scientific American Frontiers for PBS, which I did watch some of. Again reminds me of my dad, who's a scientist. Alda wound up having emergency surgery in Chile--one of the surgeries he "performed" on MASH, as it happens. His recovery makes very funny reading.
I always like a book that I'm sorry to finish. Even though I hate finishing it."
"Admittedly, I've never read many biographies; in fact, I think the last one that I read without an assignment attached to it was Beyond Uhura by Nichelle Nichols in eighth grade. I don't remember the details, of course, but I recall the sense of drama in the story, and of all the names that I only recognized as I got older. That said, Alda drops no names and tells no grand dramatic tales.
The book's greatest virtue and it's greatest fault exist together in it's style: there is no narrative, no overarching theme, not even a definitive chronology; at best, it's a series of related essays about important moments in his life. Surprisingly, the form works really well with the writing style and the whole book comes together like a collection of your grandfather's more coherent musings.
It didn't change my life, but I'll freely admit that I cried during the account of his father's funeral. It brought the whole story together, and, were this the kind of book with a theme, narrative, and chronology, it might have ended there. And there's the final beauty of the it all for you: life doesn't end on the big moments, it just keeps on a-goin'."
"This is far from a "Hollywood tell-all"; in fact, he tells very little about specific shows/movies with the exception of "Mash". A passing reference to "West Wing" and a mention of an Academy Award nomination for "The Aviator" but doesn't even explain what part he had. Instead, it's an honest look at his development as an actor and a person and particularly the influence on his life and choices of having a famous actor dad and a seriously mentally ill, paranoid mom. I listened to this book and it wasn't read by Alan Alda!! Very disappointing. I know I would have gotten much more from it if had been that familiar voice."
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