Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself

by Alan Alda

book data

498 ratings, 3.58 average rating, 151 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		21%
4		31%
3		32%
2		12%
1		2%

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published

2007 by Books On Tape

details

Audio CD

setting

United States

isbn

1415943133 (isbn13: 9781415943137)

description

On the heels of his acclaimed memoir, Never Have Your Dog Stuffed, beloved actor and bestselling author Alan Alda has written Things I Overheard While…more

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Sep 17, 2007

Amy rated it:

(review of isbn 1400066174)

bookshelves: biography

Read in September, 2007

This book pulls out all the stops and sets your emotions rolling. I cried during the chapter about 9/11 when a lady in Kansas not knowing what else to do baked a cake or the gentleman who said what they really missed at ground zero was something as simple as a candy bar. You could feel the immense feeling of being overwhelmed by all of the people represented in this chapter.

I laughed out loud about a conversation that he and Peter Jennings had one evening when Peter said that "Y...more

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May 21, 2008

Lisa rated it:

(review of isbn 0739354701)

Read in June, 2008

In the spirit of full disclosure, Alan Alda has always reminded me of my own father; As such, I think I would enthusiastically applaud his reading of the yellow pages. I knew that Mr. Alda was a talented actor and his turns in M*A*S*H, ER, and West Wing always thrilled me, but I didn't realize how multi-faceted he really is until this book. He was funny and introspective and provocative and warm. His words made me think: Is my life meaningful and what IS my definition of a meaningful life? I...more

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Jun 29, 2008

Molly rated it:

(review of isbn 1400066174)

Read in July, 2008

I listened to this on CD - read by Alda, who is very good, giving you the sense he's telling this story just to you. I enjoyed it, but had a few minor issues. For one, it seems to ramble somewhat at times. The other was more with the format (the audio) than the book itself; the book is a collection of Alda's speeches, as well as his reflections on them. Because sometimes he reflects in the middle of a speech - which I'm sure in the book form is expressed through formatting or paragraph break...more

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Jan 11, 2008

Andrea rated it:

(review of isbn 1400066174)

Read in March, 2008

I listened to this on CD on a road trip this past weekend. I was astounded at the number of times Alan Alda has spoken at commencement exercises or other public forums. A lot of the book was excerpts from these "talks" he had given. I enjoyed it, though some aspects of his life he repeated many times (like his mother being schizophrenic). Not that that is a problem, but listening to it it came off as being repetitive. If I had actually been reading the book I would have highlighte...more

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Jan 16, 2008

Cate rated it:

(review of isbn 1400066174)

Read in January, 2008

recommended to Cate by: npr

Got it from the library -- want a copy so I can underline all the funny and so-true quotes.

On the back of the book it says it's a great celebrity memoir, and that's true.

He's a great guy who could be a total snot and totally reclusive now that he's showing his age, BUT he doesn't! What a cool guy. Humble, honest, out there -- way out there; on top of mountains, interviewing all kinds of "little" people who are interesting. And funny -- oh so funny -- with heart....more

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Jan 16, 2010

Stephanie rated it:

(review of isbn 1400066174)

bookshelves: biographies

Read in January, 2010

"And that's something else I want to tell you as we stand in this doorway today. Love your work. If you always put your heart into everything you do, you can't lose. Whether or not you wind up making a lot of money, you will have had a wonderful time, and no one will ever be able to take that away from you." ......

Throughout the decades that make up his nearly sixty-year tenure in the acting industry, Alan Alda has been asked to give countless motivational speeches at place...more "And that's something else I want to tell you as we stand in this doorway today. Love your work. If you always put your heart into everything you do, you can't lose. Whether or not you wind up making a lot of money, you will have had a wonderful time, and no one will ever be able to take that away from you." ......

Throughout the decades that make up his nearly sixty-year tenure in the acting industry, Alan Alda has been asked to give countless motivational speeches at places at which he will be the first to tell you he had no business speaking. He was asked to give these speeches for many reasons, most of them probably having to do with his recognizeable face and the character he became synonomous with in the early 1970s, but also because in addition to everything else that he is, Alan Alda is a man whose intellect reaches no bounds, and who dares to ask the questions that everybody else has always been afraid to ask. Where most people tip-toe over eggshells their entire lives, this guy tap-dances through mine-fields, daring to say the things that everybody else wants to say but can't manage it. He *gives* these speeches because, in his words, he likes to do things that scare him. Out of the hundreds of reasons to admire him that he has offered me in his two autobiographies, his fearlessness, or rather his willingness to accept fear as part of human metamorphosis, is right at the top of the list.

Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself picks up where Never Have Your Dog Stuffed left off: Alan Alda having been spared death by emergency surgery on a mountain-top in Chile. "I was so glad to have not died that day that I made it my ner birthday," he says, and subsequently he was inspired to take an insightful look back on all of the things that he has done, everything that he has learned in his life, and decide whether the life he has lived has been as meaningful as it could have been. If it has then he's among the small percentage of the population who could say that. If he's not then, he asks, what can he do to "squeeze the most juice out of his new life"? In search of the answer to his questions, Alan turns to the bevy of inspirational and motivational speeches that he has cultivates over the years, and using the collection of his own words that has built up over critical points of his life, he strives to determine out of what one, or several, things comes a "life of meaning."

Now, I'm not saying that this autobiography is in any way interchangeable with the first one. Never Have Your Dog Stuffed is one of my most favorite autobiographical offerings in a long time. What *this* book *is*, though, is honest, and insightful, and candid, and witty, and filled with the things that in some dim part of the 90% of our brains that we don't use we have always known to be true, but we just needed somebody else, somebody that, for whatever reason, we have grown to trust, to tell us.

In this book Alan gets personal: and contrary to popular belief, getting personal is not such a simple thing to choose to do when you're an actor. Truth be told, *acting* is about 70 % pretending ---- but the other 30% is having the courage to dig deep into yourself and coax out of the privacy of yourself a passion that maybe you never knew you had, but that is a part of you and needs to be brought forth in order to make the work that you are doing great. That can be a terrifying thing to do, because it exposes a deeply personal part of yourself to thousands of strangers who would take any opportunity to pick your bones clean. Alan admits that he wanted fame --- every celebrity, no matter what they say, *has* to have *wanted* fame at some part in their lives, otherwise they wouldn't be where they are: they would be in grad school, or an office building, or selling half-assed used cars out of a dumpy parking lot in Sarasota --- but he also admits that the concept of *celebrity* is an intimidating, surprising, disblieving thing. It's difficult to get used to. Celebrities have to give a part of themselves over to the character that they're portraying in order to make it worthwhile to themselves as well as the audience. Therefore, when a character is a hit, and accepting into the hearts and homes of millions of people, it can be extremely taxing for the actor portraying that character, because he has to give a piece of himself up to everbody else. He runs the risk of becoming idolized, worshiped, loved, hated, despised, loved ---- *but*, as he says in the beginning of the book, *if you love* what you do, you *cannot lose*. Alan Alda loves what he does: everything that he does.

You will take a lot of inspiring messages from this book. You may love it, you may hate it, you may read it a million times, you may never read it again after you shelf it, but *you will take from it.* Alan Alda has the distinction of being one of those people whom is so masterful of our language that he knows how to bend it to his will in order to make it the most powerful when it reaches the people to whom he is speaking. If he believes in something enough to talk about it then it's worth hearing, because he knows how to say it in a way that makes you wonder why in the hell you haven't thought of that before.

Because of his first autobiography I thought I had become some kind of authority on actors ---- and judging by this tome that I have constructed I now think I'm some kind of authority on giving speeches. I don't profess to be an accomplished writer, and maybe I ramble too much to be completely well understood, but if I have learned anything else from Alan Alda is that I have to do what I love. If you don't even make it to the message at the end of this book, at least take the one from the beginning: do what you love.

I'm going to close this review with a quote, taken from the book, by a man whom Alan Alda both respected, admired, and portrayed in a Broadway play despite knowing that he could never fully make the audience understand how great a person that man was. As he was dying from cancer, the brilliant scientist Richard Feynman refused an anestetic at the end, because, as he said, "If I'm going to die, I want to be there when I do." I love that. I want to do that. But I also want to be there when I live. (less)

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Jul 14, 2009

The_Mad_Swede rated it:

(review of isbn 0812977521)

bookshelves: 2009, memoir-autobiography, non-fiction

Read in July, 2009

Earlier this year, I read Alda's book Never Have Your Dog Stuffed: And Other Things I've Learned, which I really enjoyed.

Because of my appreciation of that first, wonderful and thoughtful memoir, I picked up the sequel, as it were, Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself, and it doesn't disappoint. Not by a long shot.

Following his near death encounter in South America and the book it caused him to write, Alda ponders on the meaning of life. He chooses to do so by looki...more

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May 08, 2009

Melody rated it:

(review of isbn 1400066174)

bookshelves: heard

Read in May, 2009

I should have a shelf called "I knew better". This audiobook would go right in the center, if I had.

Alda's passionate, articulate, engaging but somehow I still found this book both fatuous and smarmy. I don't think it's intentional, of course. I found it desperately annoying. Maybe it's my own bias showing- if I'm deeply touched, I generally respond with humor or sarcasm (preferably both at once), and I think I am embarrassed in the presence of ingenuous emotions like Alda'...more

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Aug 10, 2009

Tommy rated it:

(review of isbn 1400066174)

bookshelves: non-fiction

Read in August, 2009

Alan Alda shows in this book why he is one of Hollywood;s, and America's, best and favorite citizen. In many ways he reminds me of a modern day Socrates with his ever inquisitive nature and thirst for knowledge.

Alda's intellectual curiosity is matched only by his wit and eloquence. He was born to give anecdotes and speeches regarding how to live life to its fullest and be happy. The way in which he weaves actual speeches he has delivered with contextual stories, flashbacks, and comme...more

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Jul 30, 2009

Sueij rated it:

(review of isbn 1400066174)

Read in July, 2009

recommended to Sueij by: heard an interview on the Diane Rehm show

I gave Alda's first autobiography four stars, and feel sad that I don't want to give this one more. In this one, he has gathered speeches and talks that he gave at various times and places and to various groups (lots of college graduating classes and auditoriums full of scientists), and then told the stories of what went into those talks and what was going on for him that he said what he did.

I think it really didn't do as much for me because I just really prefer novels (i.e. longer s...more

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May 18, 2009

Ben Galbraith rated it:

(review of isbn 1400066174)

Read in January, 2009

The biographical material was interesting, but most of book is a collection of his various lectures--many of which are inspiring. Uplifting book. One bit in particular changed me: he explains that his motive for leading protests against arms proliferation wasn't done because he thought he would effectuate real change (he knew his efforts were too small), but because he wanted to do *something* to work towards changing the world--to be able to say that he tried. And if everyone did that, real cha...more

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Feb 19, 2009

David rated it:

(review of isbn 1400066174)

Read in February, 2009

recommends it for: Anyone

I am a big fan of Alan Alda. I could watch M*A*S*H episodes over and over again. I also watched Scientific American Frontiers, religiously.

I was surprised, though, how much I like his book. Mr. Alda recounts a lot of his speeches from commencement addresses to talks with doctors and scientists. He discusses what he thinks is the meaning of life and his ideas on raising his children in addition to seemingly random thoughts, which he later weaves into his theme of "what it a...more

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May 04, 2009

kim rated it:

(review of isbn 1400066174)

Read in May, 2009

I listened to the audio version of this, which Alda reads, but I'm pretty sure that even if I'd read it, I would've heard his voice reading this in my head. This was funny and thoughtfully political without being preachy. This was a quick and enjoyable listen, and it made me wish that Alan Alda had spoken at my college commencement ceremony, because I think there are things from this book that I will actually remember for a while (and I can't recall a single word that Michigan governor Jennife...more

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Sep 22, 2008

Brendan rated it:

(review of isbn 1400066174)

bookshelves: 2008, audio, humor, memoir-autobio, non-fiction

Read in September, 2008

This book is one of the more up and down memoirs I've encountered. Alda tells stories well, and his anecdotes shine throughout the book. His stories about working with Osse Davis on Broadway or meeting his business manager crackle with detail and zip along nicely. At the same time, the organizing principle behind this book is a set of speeches he's given to various groups and venues over the past thirty years or so. In most cases, the speeches themselves have kernels of truth but they weigh ...more This book is one of the more up and down memoirs I've encountered. Alda tells stories well, and his anecdotes shine throughout the book. His stories about working with Osse Davis on Broadway or meeting his business manager crackle with detail and zip along nicely. At the same time, the organizing principle behind this book is a set of speeches he's given to various groups and venues over the past thirty years or so. In most cases, the speeches themselves have kernels of truth but they weigh heavily like aphoristic speeches usually do, and they're the least interesting part of the book.

I like his approach to autographing -- namely that he offers to shake peoples' hands instead of signing autographs. This tidbit comes from the chapter on celebrity, which is one of the most interesting.

I also really liked the story about giving a speech about Jefferson to a group of historians and trustees at Monticello. He decided that there was nothing he could say about Jefferson that would be news to them, so he used a very Ulmer-ian method to find his speech topic. He decided that someone on his upcoming trip to China would tell him something about Jefferson that he didn't know. He ended up meeting and talking to a scientist who'd come up with a way of crossbreeding rice that resulted in higher yields around the world. This man, self-educated and fighting the establishment throughout his life, was one of the only people in China who knew Jefferson. Then Alda reveals that Jefferson also risked his life for rice, smuggling an Italian strain of rice out of Italy at a time when doing so carried a death penalty.

Another great story comes from his early theatre days, when Alda had to bring his infant daughter to rehearsal because his wife had the flu. His daughter started crying while he was on stage, stuck at the top of a telephone pole. The director--most of the time a total hard-ass--asked Alda if that was his daughter. When Alda affirmed that it was, he said "Why don't you come down and attend to her, and we'll work on something else?"(less)

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Aug 14, 2008

Zach rated it:

(review of isbn 1400066174)

bookshelves: 2008-books, audio-books, biographies

Read in August, 2008

Not great. MASH is still (in my opinion) one of the greatest TV shows and when I was a kid, I was sure Hawkeye Pierce was based on my dad (later learned Korea/Vietnam--different) I had heard good things about Alda's previous book, however the library only had this available.

Most of the book are parts from speeches Alda has given, mostly at college commencements and the book is very similar to most commencement speeches I have heard--it tries to impart lofty guidance about how to l...more

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Jul 14, 2008

Paula rated it:

(review of isbn 1400066174)

bookshelves: autographed

Read in July, 2008

Alda's first book was better than his second, but since he writes the way he speaks (and I like the way he speaks) I still rated this fairly high. It almost seems like this book was an excuse to print graduation speeches Alda gave over the course of his life, since all but two or three of the anecdotal stories contain, in full, graduation speeches he gave over the last thirty or so years. But there is one chapter where he recorded three eulogies, and two others where he simply talks about his fa...more

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May 16, 2008

Sarah Sammis rated it:

(review of isbn 1400066174)

bookshelves: borrowed

Read in July, 2008

Last month I read and enjoyed Never Have Your Dog Stuffed (2006), Alan Alda's first memoir. I eagerly dove into his second book, Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself. Unfortunately it didn't hold my attention as much as the first.

Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself starts with Alda contemplating his life after nearly dying from a bowl obstruction. So it begins promisingly as a sequel to the first book. Rather than following on the path of how he has continued to live his...more

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Oct 29, 2007

L rated it:

(review of isbn 1400066174)

bookshelves: nonfiction-memoir

Read in February, 2008

recommends it for: everyone

This is a really inspiring book to read if you are stuck at a point in life and wonder if you are where you need to be, if you are down and need a good kick to get moving again and appreciate life again. Alda gives lots of speeches at college commencements, and it seems like someone is always asking him to give meaning to their life. I loved how eloquently he spoke for example....

"It seems to me that your life will have meaning when you can give meaning to it. And not until t...more This is a really inspiring book to read if you are stuck at a point in life and wonder if you are where you need to be, if you are down and need a good kick to get moving again and appreciate life again. Alda gives lots of speeches at college commencements, and it seems like someone is always asking him to give meaning to their life. I loved how eloquently he spoke for example....

"It seems to me that your life will have meaning when you can give meaning to it. And not until then. Because no one else will give meaning to your life. There isn't a job or title or a degree that has meaning in itself. The world will go stumbling on without you no matter how high your office. And there isn't any liquor that will give meaning to your life, or any drug or any type of sexual congress either. Not for long, anyway."

It sort of reminded me of my favorite quote on Goodreads
"Never allow someone to be your priority while allowing yourself to be their option." Annonymous.

The whole emphasis of the book is Alda deciding if all the things he has done, all the fame, awards etc. over the years has made his life full. With all the awards and sucess he saw in his life does he consider his life lived to its fullest or were things taken for granted, opportunities missed.He starts the book with a health crisis which made him question everything. I can relate to that and thought it ironic that I was reading this book from a hospital room as I fought a life threatening infection. It was as if he were talking to me saying "wake up and start living your life, really living it, not just going about the motions"

I picked the book up because of an interview with Alda that I saw just as the book was being released. I always loved to watch him on MASH when I was little, his short stay as a doctor on ER, then I watched him on Scientific American Frontiers and which is probably the most enjoyable Science shows made for those of us not fluent in the study of Science. I felt a little self conscience while reading the book in the hospital. The nurses, I guess thought I should be reading some smut romance novel while I was laying there.(less)

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Oct 03, 2007

Annie rated it:

(review of isbn 1400066174)

Read in January, 2008

On the heels of his acclaimed memoir, Never Have Your Dog Stuffed, beloved actor and bestselling author Alan Alda has written Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself, an insightful and funny look at some of the impossible questions he’s asked himself over the years: What do I value? What, exactly, is the good life? (And what does that even mean?)
Picking up where his bestselling memoir left off–having been saved by emergency surgery after nearly dying on a mountaintop in Chile–Alda...more

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Sep 27, 2007

Tammie rated it:

(review of isbn 1400066174)

Read in October, 2007

Alan Alda and New York City almost go hand-in-hand. I picked up the book out of curiosity. Never a huge M*A*S*H fan but my attention always focused on Mr. Alda when I did watch it, I wanted to read what he had to say.

The book is mostly made up of his many college speakings. I found his lead into or followup of an engagement more interesting than the speech.

I have to admit the only thing that made me hesitant to pick up the book was fear of some sort of liberal spouting...more