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ksuep's review against another edition
5.0
This was an extremely well written memoir. Thought provoking, reflective and sometimes quite ugly. I would highly recommend.
bettylue's review against another edition
5.0
TW: Incest, Child Abuse
I really enjoyed this book. I love that it wasn't all name dropping and was truly a tale of her life thus far. It has very heavy moments for sure, but I really enjoyed it.
I really enjoyed this book. I love that it wasn't all name dropping and was truly a tale of her life thus far. It has very heavy moments for sure, but I really enjoyed it.
aschwartau's review against another edition
4.0
Excellent example of a celebrity memoir. Though I might classify this more as an autobiography written in a memoirish voice (typically, a memoir centers around a specific theme or time period, and this book covered pretty much her entire life).
Her writing was gorgeous! I was not expecting to be so swept up in her language. I listened to the audio book and her narration was pitch perfect as well. She is such a smart, thoughtful woman. Even when she was speaking about people who did her gross injustices or abused her in a number of ways, she wrote with grace and through the lens of being older and wiser.
Some of the stories she shares are hard to hear -- being sexually abused throughout her childhood, the rampant sexism and misogyny she dealt with in Hollywood, the years her mother spent drunk and seemingly unaware of what was going on, the unequal (and emotionally abusive) relationship she had with Burt Reynolds -- but the way she tells them, with years of emotional reflection and time to process the events, makes it easier for the reader. She's not emotionally distant at all, in fact she gets up close and personal with how she felt then and how she feels now. But she does so gently, with compassion for her younger self and the mistakes she made along the way.
I really enjoyed this book. It might be in my top 5 celeb memoirs.
Her writing was gorgeous! I was not expecting to be so swept up in her language. I listened to the audio book and her narration was pitch perfect as well. She is such a smart, thoughtful woman. Even when she was speaking about people who did her gross injustices or abused her in a number of ways, she wrote with grace and through the lens of being older and wiser.
Some of the stories she shares are hard to hear -- being sexually abused throughout her childhood, the rampant sexism and misogyny she dealt with in Hollywood, the years her mother spent drunk and seemingly unaware of what was going on, the unequal (and emotionally abusive) relationship she had with Burt Reynolds -- but the way she tells them, with years of emotional reflection and time to process the events, makes it easier for the reader. She's not emotionally distant at all, in fact she gets up close and personal with how she felt then and how she feels now. But she does so gently, with compassion for her younger self and the mistakes she made along the way.
I really enjoyed this book. It might be in my top 5 celeb memoirs.
googie_1957's review against another edition
So sad. That's what I said when people saw me reading this and asked 'how is it?' This marvelous actress overcame so much - a sad childhood, abuse by a relative, unhappy marriage, difficult career And yet, she has so much to be proud of - career, children, and legacy.
Wow.
Wow.
bgraham5's review against another edition
5.0
Just stunning. Highly recommend listening to the audiobook as she reads it herself. TW: sexual assault, molestation
melissartemis's review against another edition
4.0
This was such an eye-opening look into the emotional life of an American Hollywood icon. I never knew too much about Sally FIeld's personal life, but I always adored her performances throughout the years, and whatever I probably assumed about what she was really like was way off. The way she opened up and showed us those raw pieces of herself is incredibly brave and I admire the courage it must have taken to go there. This memoir deals primarily with her relationships with her mother, step-father and absentee father, and how those interactions, or lack thereof, with them shaped who she was and the decisions she made. We learn a lot about her childhood, and get an inside look into how she came to be Gidget, The Flying Nun, and how her career was shaped after those defining roles. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was because she seemed to take a pretty drastic leap in time, skipping through the 80's, 90's and early 00's, quite abruptly to be honest, and I remember wondering what had happened as I was listening to the audiobook. I was actually looking forward to hearing about her roles in some of the movies I most remember (Steel Magnolias, Forest Gump, Mrs. Doubtfire etc.), and while I understand that she probably wasn't going to discuss everything she was ever in, we also never find out where she was emotionally when her career really took off and that 30 year or so span afterwards. I really would have liked to see how she grew from the time she played Norma Rae to when she was up for the role of Mary Todd Lincoln, which is respectively where she leaves off and picks up again. Maybe that time wasn't relevant to the narrative she was going for, and I can understand how that's so, but because it seemed she was such a different woman in her early career I thought we'd get more about how it is that she became the Sally Field we see today. Other than that personal gripe of mine, I really enjoyed this book. I would also totally recommend listening to it in audiobook form because we get to hear her words in Sally Field's own voice, which adds another level of intimacy to her story.
alongapath's review against another edition
4.0
I picked this up on a whim and was delighted to hear Sally Field's own narration for her biography. She focuses on her childhood and young adult years for about 65% of the book, recounting her upbringing, her siblings, her relationship with her mother and the abuse by her step-father. She shows how she became interested in acting and the steps she had to take to get noticed. She made me understand that her acting is a true calling and she was often desperate to get a job so that she had an outlet for her creativity. She has made me want to see every movie that she has done and to appreciate her in a different light. She believed in herself when no one else did - and that was her strength through it all.
I was struck by the section about dating Burt Reynolds. It shows the absolute lack of glamour in female actors' lives back in the 70s, as Field was paid so little for her roles and was given so little respect in comparison to her male counterparts. Even more so, this section shows what life before the feminist movement was like. Sally was a single mother, working full-time, and she would race home from work to prepare a meal for her children before rushing over to Reynold's to cook him dinner and clean up afterwards!
As with so many memoirs, it felt odd to wrap it all up in a tidy ending. Instead Field focused on her mother during her last years and the light that those final moments together shed on both her mother's troubled life and Sally's own life. Their misunderstandings and differences were discussed and forgiven. It is amazing to see how Sally has been able to take the pain of her abuse and turn it into a passion of expression. Because she had to hide the shame of her abuse throughout her childhood, she became deft at stepping out of herself and completely into the role she was playing. Brilliant.
I was struck by the section about dating Burt Reynolds. It shows the absolute lack of glamour in female actors' lives back in the 70s, as Field was paid so little for her roles and was given so little respect in comparison to her male counterparts. Even more so, this section shows what life before the feminist movement was like. Sally was a single mother, working full-time, and she would race home from work to prepare a meal for her children before rushing over to Reynold's to cook him dinner and clean up afterwards!
As with so many memoirs, it felt odd to wrap it all up in a tidy ending. Instead Field focused on her mother during her last years and the light that those final moments together shed on both her mother's troubled life and Sally's own life. Their misunderstandings and differences were discussed and forgiven. It is amazing to see how Sally has been able to take the pain of her abuse and turn it into a passion of expression. Because she had to hide the shame of her abuse throughout her childhood, she became deft at stepping out of herself and completely into the role she was playing. Brilliant.
kats05's review against another edition
4.0
This was such a treat. I knew very little about Sally Field's personal story, some of which is shocking, but now I feel like I've made a wonderful, warm new friend, plus I want to take time in my life and watch all the movies and TV shows she mentions in this beautifully written memoir.
mebaik62's review against another edition
5.0
I’m still deep in my feelings as I just finished the book. Sally’s writing was raw and unflinchingly honest. We share some unsavory aspects of our childhood. Reading how she dealt with it all, how she discovered her strength, how she forgave so many people for their humanness, is like her speaking directly to my inner child. This book will stay with me forever. Thank you, Sally.