Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
fast-paced
As a child I enjoyed watching Mara Wilson play characters that I always seemed to identify with, or characters that I was grasping onto. We both were young, had brown hair, and had pale complexions... so there was that, but her characters were always girls that had depth. They were girls that were emotional, happy, big readers, big hearts, questioned things...
Reading this book it made me understand how her life as a child actress was and how she ended up getting some of those roles I enjoyed so much. There is also the fact that she struggled with finding out her identity post acting.
The part that really got me is here chapter about her struggle with OCD and anxiety. Reading it almost brought me to tears, not only because she opened up about something personal... but that, again, I shared something in common with her. I too have anxiety and OCD and just reading what she was picking up or identifying with as a child was what I was going through. I never knew that what I had was anxiety or OCD, and it waxed and waned (which is apparently what it's famous for doing) but I recognized so many things and I wish that in a strange way I would have known her so that we could be there for one another. Thankfully she was diagnosed when she got older (as was I), but the chapter still affected me me greatly.
In the end, I loved her essays and I think she is a fab writer. I like that she speaks honestly, and from the heart, and that's all I'm expecting of her now.
Thank you Mara for a glimpse into your life and your past.
Reading this book it made me understand how her life as a child actress was and how she ended up getting some of those roles I enjoyed so much. There is also the fact that she struggled with finding out her identity post acting.
The part that really got me is here chapter about her struggle with OCD and anxiety. Reading it almost brought me to tears, not only because she opened up about something personal... but that, again, I shared something in common with her. I too have anxiety and OCD and just reading what she was picking up or identifying with as a child was what I was going through. I never knew that what I had was anxiety or OCD, and it waxed and waned (which is apparently what it's famous for doing) but I recognized so many things and I wish that in a strange way I would have known her so that we could be there for one another. Thankfully she was diagnosed when she got older (as was I), but the chapter still affected me me greatly.
In the end, I loved her essays and I think she is a fab writer. I like that she speaks honestly, and from the heart, and that's all I'm expecting of her now.
Thank you Mara for a glimpse into your life and your past.
reflective
medium-paced
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
fast-paced
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
Read for book club. Interesting if you're into child star memoirs, though not my favorite. I really enjoyed about half the chapters but didn't like the rest. Didn't love the audiobook narration.
I originally bought this for my 12-year-old. Not sure if it's appropriate for that age, but I really, really enjoyed this!
Witty, smart, heartfelt, and inspiring. This is, by far, the best book I've read this year. You should pick it up.
Witty, smart, heartfelt, and inspiring. This is, by far, the best book I've read this year. You should pick it up.
Mara Wilson is a born storyteller and this was an absolute delight to read!
Wilson delves into her child stardom, anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder, body image, the Matilda + Whore complex, breaking up with Hollywood, her mother's death, Robin Williams' death, and forging her own path as a storyteller. It's non-linear and reads less as a story of her life, and more of a recap of a few key formative moments and awkward phases.
It's no secret that I never read autobiographies (hell, just look at my shelf). I had this preconceived notion that they're all lengthy, depressing or scandalous tomes about cocaine-fuelled orgies, trauma, and other things I have no interest in reading about. I live my life in the speculative fiction aisle; I'd rather read about fictionalised trauma and gay dragons than real life trauma and no dragons.
But this might have just changed the game for me. I can't relate to shooting up drugs on a tour bus, but Mara Wilson feels like someone I could be friends with, whose neuroses and quirks I can see in myself or other people. Her tales of stardom, mental illness, and finding her path as a storyteller had me laughing out loud and ugly crying on my couch in the middle of the afternoon!
What a neurotic, cynical little delight of a book.
Wilson delves into her child stardom, anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder, body image, the Matilda + Whore complex, breaking up with Hollywood, her mother's death, Robin Williams' death, and forging her own path as a storyteller. It's non-linear and reads less as a story of her life, and more of a recap of a few key formative moments and awkward phases.
It's no secret that I never read autobiographies (hell, just look at my shelf). I had this preconceived notion that they're all lengthy, depressing or scandalous tomes about cocaine-fuelled orgies, trauma, and other things I have no interest in reading about. I live my life in the speculative fiction aisle; I'd rather read about fictionalised trauma and gay dragons than real life trauma and no dragons.
But this might have just changed the game for me. I can't relate to shooting up drugs on a tour bus, but Mara Wilson feels like someone I could be friends with, whose neuroses and quirks I can see in myself or other people. Her tales of stardom, mental illness, and finding her path as a storyteller had me laughing out loud and ugly crying on my couch in the middle of the afternoon!
What a neurotic, cynical little delight of a book.