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If all you know about Alan Alda is his days as Hawkeye Pierce on M.A.S.H. or his other movie rolls then you are missing out. In his biography he relives the moments in his life that changed him in one way or another. It is not just a retelling of his acting credits or look at all the amazing things I have done but a story of boy growing up and a man counting to grow and learn new things.
I am not always a fan of biography or autobiographies especially those about actors. I mostly find them dull ...more
I am not always a fan of biography or autobiographies especially those about actors. I mostly find them dull ...more

One of the better autobiographies I've read. I'm not a huge fan of MASH but the rest of my family is. Alan Alda was always just ok in my book.... until I read this book. He seems really down to earth and to think about things. Even when he is name dropping, he isn't name dropping. His ideas about fame and mental health and oh, anything he wrote about really, made sense.
Although my stint as an actor, on the stage anyway, was over years ago, maybe to be revised, we will see, so much of his revelat ...more
Although my stint as an actor, on the stage anyway, was over years ago, maybe to be revised, we will see, so much of his revelat ...more

This definitely qualifies as
"light reading." Half the time I wondered why I was reading it and the other half I was amused. The book did explain why he came off as such a know-it-all on the science program he hosted. He did in fact stuff his dead dog... ...more
"light reading." Half the time I wondered why I was reading it and the other half I was amused. The book did explain why he came off as such a know-it-all on the science program he hosted. He did in fact stuff his dead dog... ...more

Funny, enjoyable and interesting. Alda is a good writer and actor. He is honest in his human-ness.
A quote I really liked: "The difference between listening and pretending to listen, I discovered, is enormous. One is fluid, the other is rigid. One is alive, the other is stuffed. Eventually, I found a radical way of thinking abut listening. Real listening is a willingness to let the other person change you. When I'm willing to let them change me, something happens between us that's more interesti ...more
A quote I really liked: "The difference between listening and pretending to listen, I discovered, is enormous. One is fluid, the other is rigid. One is alive, the other is stuffed. Eventually, I found a radical way of thinking abut listening. Real listening is a willingness to let the other person change you. When I'm willing to let them change me, something happens between us that's more interesti ...more