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Loading... Never Have Your Dog Stuffed: And Other Things I've Learnedby Alan Alda
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. Autobiography of author and actor Alan Alda[MASH}.Effect of unconventional upbringing on him.Mother with mental health issues and father travelling actor.Road to his success and his vision of life .Metaphor of stuffed dog of hanging on to and living in the past which he does not want to do.Believes one should move on .His own struggle to be spontaneous and compassionate.Also questions the validity of memories and what we see as our past.OK easy read but felt a little ambivalent about it all tho liked his stuffed dog idea. ( )I'll admit I don't like autobiographies anyway and I read this for a book club. But I expected more humor (a LOT more humor) from Alan Alda. Other than a few lines, it was pretty dull stuff. Alda is also surprisingly confused about his purpose in life. He qualifies his acting ability as an accident. He certainly doesn't seem to work at it and just accepts whatever roles he can get. After a life-changing experience, he knows he wants to live a purposeful life but doesn't quite seem to know how (or at least doesn't express it in the book). Perhaps the follow-up goes deeper. So much better than the average celebrity autobiography that it's actually worth reading just for that. This is a great book, revealing in a way that I didn't expect. Like umpteen zillion TV viewers, I grew up expecting to find Mr. Alda in our living room on a weekly basis for some 11 years of M*A*S*H, then the re-runs were a delight and cable/satellite still brings M*A*S*H along with his movies and science shows to be loved by young and old. His presence on the tube has been as reassuring as a pleasant family friend, and this autobiography is an extension of that easy familiarity--the uncle or brother we all wish we had. His book is a gift of himself--a sharing of philosophy, lessons of life, acts of compassion, and above all a sense of humor. Written with rare honesty and "completely unstuffed". Treat yourself and your friends to this satisfying read. Alda's writing is as witty and warm as his acting and this book is full of wonderful and illuminating anecdotes. I was slightly disappointed that there was so little in here about his MASH years and next to nothing about his family. What's in here is gold, nevertheless. no reviews | add a review
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(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:16 -0400)
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