sherming's review against another edition
4.0
I've appreciated Alan Arkin's work over the years, but haven't really sought him out. This memoir is mostly insights into acting method (improvise, be yourself) overlying biographical elements (wanting to be an actor since age 5, high school, college, Second City, various movies and plays and workshops). Listening to this work has the benefit of being able to listen to Arkin perform, which on this CD he does oddly unevenly. The biographical sections are somehow a little rote, but the parts where he's talking about craft show enthusiasm and spirit.
I'm going to recommend this to my friends and family who are actors, and I'm inspired to see if a gathering of non-acting friends could have fun improvising.
I'm going to recommend this to my friends and family who are actors, and I'm inspired to see if a gathering of non-acting friends could have fun improvising.
jeremyhornik's review against another edition
3.0
Read carelessly at the library. An artist’s life, with an artist’s obsessions, adequately told. For improv heads, mostly, more than fans.
katietaylor04's review against another edition
4.0
This is very much a book about acting and so those who are not interested in that at all might want to stay away. That being said, the main point of the book is that acting is a very transparent metaphor for life and so through acting, Arkin has discovered essential truths about the human condition. I am not an actor. I tried to be in high school, but I am one of the people who like to applaud the people on stage, not be a person on stage. However, I am a human being and I think that the point that I found most intriguing about the book was that it is through my human-ness that I was able to relate to the stories Arkin told. The movies, the plays, the dances that we love the most are often the ones that we can relate to the most and show us something about ourselves. I feel that way very strongly. The movies that are my favorites are the ones that I connect the most with the characters, the story, etc. And the more that we understand why it is we do what we do, the better we can move through life, in a very similar way to how actors work on a stage. All the world is a stage, says Shakespeare. Arkin is demonstrating how he has seen this is a very accurate idea. I really enjoyed this book!
erynecki's review against another edition
5.0
A really thought provoking book for me about what it means to be creative and how the choices we make shape the roles we play in life. It is a memoir, but it's really more about how a life in theater has taught Arkin about people and himself.
sarahjsnider's review against another edition
3.0
A brief memoir, focusing on the professional aspects of his career. If I were still an improvisor, I would probably give this another star, but that is not meant to be.
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