Tovah Feldshuh

This might be my favorite book this year, and I’m so glad to have listened to the audiobook as it’s perfect; I do want to find the book itself as I hope there are photos (the cover one of her bat mitzvah is perfect). I only know the author from Law & Order and the movie Kissing Jessica Stein (I loved her in that), but she was wonderfully generous sharing her story along with that of her mother. This made me laugh and cry and really was like an amazing theatre production; it’s show more definitely a keeper.
P.S. I found the photos too, and they’re so worth it. show less

Tovah Feldshuh isn't exactly a household name, but her numerous appearances as fiery defense attorney Danielle Melnick in Law & Order, and her unforgettable turn as Rebecca Bunch's overbearing, critical mother on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend made me a fan. Unfortunately, Feldshuh's memoir is not so memorable. Much of the focus is on her complex relationship with her own mother, Lily, who embodied the upper middle class Jewish housewife of the 1950s. I would have preferred fewer descriptions of Lily's show more stereotypical critical, emotionally withholding behavior and more about Feldshuh's interesting and diverse career - she starred in Hello Dolly! on Broadway and had a major character arc on The Walking Dead! Also a lot of the book flaunts her rich, white privilege, and she makes a tone-deaf Anne Frank remark that shocked me with its tastelessness. Sometimes it's better not to know too much about the famous people you admire. show less

This heartwarming and funny memoir from a beloved actress tells the story of a mother and daughter whose narrative reflects American cultural changes and the world's shifting expectations of women.