John Lithgow (1) (1945–)

This book starts with a tender reflection on the cruelty of time balanced with the sweet nostalgia of his father-son relationship. There are enough surprises in this book to help you vicariously observe the happenstance of meeting true legends, some in the ordinary course of life and others in the roiling mess of theatre, film, and TV. Unlike many other biographies, he doesn’t display these interactions with the Bigs as saga of social currency. He stays on point with the storyline.

He was show more just a boy once, his parents ran legitimately successful Shakespeare festivals, and that was his normal. (This reminds me of Peter Shickley’s lecture at the Mary Pickford Theatre years ago, when he stated with humor, ‘As a kid, I thought it was the most normal thing in the world for my parents and family to host string quartets every Friday night in our Dakota home.’)

And then he was a man, fraught with the usual doubts about direction and profession. We should all be glad he has generously worked in every area of the performing arts, not just because he is good, but because he had a hand in dragging in and elevating some of the very best. That is honorable and necessary for the Arts to thrive. Good on you, Mr. Lithgow. It is a true story, and truly told. show less

A delightful dip into the mind of an accomplished parodist. Mr. Lithgow also drew the illustrations, some of them delightfully evocative doodles. The total effect is to remind the USA what a colossal blunder the election of the inept Hotelier to the highest office in the land was. While his rabid fans may try to storm (shturm?) the booksellers to suppress the work, i believe it will have a lasting place in the memories of all who appreciate the harpoon well placed into the body public.

Another winner in the satirical verse category for the accomplished John Lithgow. Very clever rhymes about Trump and his minions and their escapades, accompanied by charming line drawings, also by the multi-talented Lithgow. Some of my favorite rhymes are: "The Torys, or the Tiger King", which tells Trump's life story in the form of a ballad about a tiger cub; "A Requiem Scored For Kazoo"; "Scoundrels and Heroes: Limericks From the Seat of Government (limericks about the idiots and the show more heroes in power these days); and "Recipe For Disaster", which is the oddest recipe you'll ever read: "Try a viral new cuisine, COVID-19...It's quick and easy to prepare/microbial fare. /First preheat an anxious nation/with misinformation.../Sow confusion and mistrust/Make your crust," and so on. Brilliant! show less

Let me start by saying I'm not into theater at all, I've fallen asleep at every play or musical I've ever been to, except Annie when I was around 10. BUT, my mom was a seamstress and she worked backstage at at least a couple plays doing hair, makeup, and costuming, once in a while I dragged along and I always found it pretty fascinating. I even played a mouse, with no lines in a play I can't remember.

I like John Lithgow and I like biographies, so I decided to give it a try. Pretty show more interesting, and often touching, stuff. He's a surprisingly good writer, certain turns of phrase really wow'd me. The audio was great because he reads it, but then he mentioned some pictures that are in the regular book so now I want to find a copy to look through. What I thought was kind of strange was that he barely talked about "Third Rock From the Sun" at all and he never mentioned Shrek. I thought those would be a big part of it because it's what he's most well-known for, but I guess he wanted it to be a book about acting and directing and maybe there are other books about Third Rock. show less