keharv's review
5.0
I would give this book 100 stars, if I could. Loved it front to back. I was so caught up in the excellent storytelling that I had to frequently remind myself that this was a real person's real memories, which brought such gravitas to this book I could not put down.
dixiet's review
4.0
Couldn't put it down. An honest, fascinating, moving portrait of an actress I have long admired.
aharman13's review
4.0
I'd give this book more of a 3.5 stars instead of a full 4 as I found at a few times that it dragged on and was hard to keep going. Overall, the story was interesting and well presented.
abeth_parker's review
3.0
Although the celebrity lifestyle is not one I would go looking for, it is interesting to read the unfolding stories of people we think we know. Humble beginnings? Check. Amazing opportunities? Check. Just as much heartbreak, stress, and family drama as anyone else? Possibly more so.
We truly only see the glitzy side of celebrity lives. She struggled as a daughter, sister, mother, and wife. Her tenacity is something else, though. She truly goes after what she wants. I'm looking forward to reading her other memoir.
We truly only see the glitzy side of celebrity lives. She struggled as a daughter, sister, mother, and wife. Her tenacity is something else, though. She truly goes after what she wants. I'm looking forward to reading her other memoir.
tanya_the_spack's review
3.0
I love Captain Janeway, so read this to learn about the actress behind the character. It's well written and interesting, but also frustrating. Almost the entire book is a recollection of one bad relationship after another, hitting each one with passion, but then every single one of her romantic relationships never goes beyond the infatuation step (even her marriage!), and when infatuation fades (as it always will), she never moves on to the love, friendship, and commitment phase of a relationship. When she's young, fine, whatever. But as she grows older, she never goes beyond these immature relationships, and she seems to have no self-awareness about it. For the most part the men she jumps to are harmless (the creepy Italian guy who was setting up an abusive relationship being the obvious exception), so she's been very lucky, at least.
Another staggering lack of awareness: She divorced right before she got the role of Janeway, so her young sons were reeling from the divorce, and then her new job required crazy long hours (12 to 18 hours a day), so from her sons' perspectives, they'd sort of lost access to both parents (it seems like she got primary custody). The kids acted out a bit. Instead of attributing it to, well, all that, she attributed their acting out to her just being a woman, that her kids would have been fine if she were a man working long hours. She seemed completely oblivious to the sudden lack of both parents at the same time, and since their dad wasn't around for them to be angry to, the were angry to her.
The second key part of her memoir (besides her bad relationships) involves the daughter she gave up for adoption. I am a big supporter of adoption, and I give her major props for taking that path instead of abortion. The story of when she gave birth and gave up her daughter is truly sad, though - not allowed to even see or hold her daughter. And then the lies told to her later on from the organization that arranged the adoption.... The birth mother is doing something incredibly difficult and brave. Can we at least not make it harder?! Their reunion when her daughter was grown was sweet.
It's clear she loves acting, and she seems like a nice person who would make a good (if melodramatic) friend. But girl's definitely got her issues.
Another staggering lack of awareness: She divorced right before she got the role of Janeway, so her young sons were reeling from the divorce, and then her new job required crazy long hours (12 to 18 hours a day), so from her sons' perspectives, they'd sort of lost access to both parents (it seems like she got primary custody). The kids acted out a bit. Instead of attributing it to, well, all that, she attributed their acting out to her just being a woman, that her kids would have been fine if she were a man working long hours. She seemed completely oblivious to the sudden lack of both parents at the same time, and since their dad wasn't around for them to be angry to, the were angry to her.
The second key part of her memoir (besides her bad relationships) involves the daughter she gave up for adoption. I am a big supporter of adoption, and I give her major props for taking that path instead of abortion. The story of when she gave birth and gave up her daughter is truly sad, though - not allowed to even see or hold her daughter. And then the lies told to her later on from the organization that arranged the adoption.... The birth mother is doing something incredibly difficult and brave. Can we at least not make it harder?! Their reunion when her daughter was grown was sweet.
It's clear she loves acting, and she seems like a nice person who would make a good (if melodramatic) friend. But girl's definitely got her issues.
blmonahan's review
5.0
Katherine Hepburn has always been my favorite actress...Kate Mulgrew ranks up there next to her.
As an author, Ms. Mulgrew can describe a moment so well, you feel like you were observing it first hand. Her Mom, her children, her loves...
My favorite scene might be the premiere of Star Trek Voyager. As a Mom, I completely understand her thought process in bringing her boys. As the daughter of a person who's job took them away for months at a time, I get her sons' reaction to attending the premier.
Ms. Mulgrew, please keep writing!
As an author, Ms. Mulgrew can describe a moment so well, you feel like you were observing it first hand. Her Mom, her children, her loves...
My favorite scene might be the premiere of Star Trek Voyager. As a Mom, I completely understand her thought process in bringing her boys. As the daughter of a person who's job took them away for months at a time, I get her sons' reaction to attending the premier.
Ms. Mulgrew, please keep writing!
theonionboy's review against another edition
2.0
This was painful to listen to. It started off feeling like someone who wasn't an author trying too hard to be a writer. Everything was too flowery and overdone. But as it progressed, it became annoying in a new way. She is so over dramatic that it is very off-putting. Every other autobiography I have listened to drew me to the person and gave me a new respect for them. This one pushed me away from her and made me dislike her very much. Instead of thinking, "Wow, it would be nice to meet this person.", I thought, "Wow, I am glad I never had to be around her!"
She makes her life to be so ridiculously over dramatic that it is extremely annoying and exhausting to listen to. Picture Anne of Green Gables all grown up and going through men like a fashionista would go through outfits. That may be unfair, I don't actually know anything about Anne of Green Gables, because I never read or watched her stories, but my wife used to, and the bits I would pick up on as I passed by painted a picture of someone who was so melodramatic that it was repulsive. This story takes that to a whole new level.
She seems to live in a world that I thought no longer existed, the world of the world-famous actresses from the era of the 40's or 50's, where you live in places that have names, you fly to other countries on a whim, you summer in another of your multiple homes that has a name. Not just wealthy, but living a life on a different plane from the rest of us.
Her search for her daughter given up for adoption came across as in-genuine, more like a role she was playing than her sincere feelings about the matter.
I have to admit that she told her story well, and seemed brutally honest about herself. But I couldn't wait to be done with this audiobook. It ended in a very odd place, with the story very much unfinished. I cannot recommend this, especially to fans of her work. Better not to peek behind this curtain.
She makes her life to be so ridiculously over dramatic that it is extremely annoying and exhausting to listen to. Picture Anne of Green Gables all grown up and going through men like a fashionista would go through outfits. That may be unfair, I don't actually know anything about Anne of Green Gables, because I never read or watched her stories, but my wife used to, and the bits I would pick up on as I passed by painted a picture of someone who was so melodramatic that it was repulsive. This story takes that to a whole new level.
She seems to live in a world that I thought no longer existed, the world of the world-famous actresses from the era of the 40's or 50's, where you live in places that have names, you fly to other countries on a whim, you summer in another of your multiple homes that has a name. Not just wealthy, but living a life on a different plane from the rest of us.
Her search for her daughter given up for adoption came across as in-genuine, more like a role she was playing than her sincere feelings about the matter.
I have to admit that she told her story well, and seemed brutally honest about herself. But I couldn't wait to be done with this audiobook. It ended in a very odd place, with the story very much unfinished. I cannot recommend this, especially to fans of her work. Better not to peek behind this curtain.
julibug86's review
5.0
This was so good. So so good. Only really knowing Kate Mulgrew from OITNB and her role on Star Trek, I didn't know what she'd have to say and if it would be something I would want to hear. Turns out, she is phenomenal. I had Googled "best audio books of 2016" and this came up. She actually reads her own audio book and it is enthralling. The language she uses has a poetic quality to it, perhaps a nod to her early ambitions of being a poet herself. It made me want to sit in traffic longer! One review described Mulgrew as unapologetic for her life and the way she lives it and they hit the nail on the head. It was refreshing to read a memoir of a woman who doesn't apologize for any past transgressions and who also doesn't wax poetic on how "blessed" she is to have her level of success. Mulgrew is talented, which she knows, but also passionate and smart about her work. Her career is the result of all three of these things - not just a stroke of luck.
Kate Mulgrew is wonderful and I wish her mother would write a memoir, because I would also be interested in reading that.
Kate Mulgrew is wonderful and I wish her mother would write a memoir, because I would also be interested in reading that.