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4.48 AVERAGE
4.48 AVERAGE
funny
reflective
medium-paced
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
I do enjoy a celebrity memoir, and clearly so does Jeff Hiller as he uses fellow memoir titles as his chapter headers for his memoir Actress of a Certain Age: My Twenty-Year Trail to Overnight Success, using those individuals' ages as examples on when they got their start in the industry. I must say I probably have seen Jeff in commercials or side bits in movies in the past, but I really know him through the GEM of a series Somebody Somewhere which has an all too short three-season run on HBO (seriously, if you have not seen you must, though it's hard for me to envision someone picking this book up without having seen the show).
Hiller focuses much of this memoir on on the slog he had to go through in the industry to finally get a co-starring role on a series as he approaches middle age. He highlights crap jobs he had (Olive Garden server was a doozy), weird commercials he has been featured in (though Snickers was a money maker), and the day to day grind of rejection but still putting yourself out there. His writing about the sweet relationship his fellow cast member of Somebody Somewhere and him had was very sweet to read about and absolutely tracks with the show. A lot of his character on the show overlaps with Jeff's personal life. It was great to read about Hiller finding the right vehicle for him on TV, and how he got to that point. His childhood (growing up gay in Texas) was tough to read, but I really appreciated how much his mother in particular supported him. This was not a particularly revelatory memoir, but fans of Jeff's TV work will appreciate learning more about his background.
Thank you to Simon & Schuster via NetGalley for the advance reader copy in exchange for honest review.
Hiller focuses much of this memoir on on the slog he had to go through in the industry to finally get a co-starring role on a series as he approaches middle age. He highlights crap jobs he had (Olive Garden server was a doozy), weird commercials he has been featured in (though Snickers was a money maker), and the day to day grind of rejection but still putting yourself out there. His writing about the sweet relationship his fellow cast member of Somebody Somewhere and him had was very sweet to read about and absolutely tracks with the show. A lot of his character on the show overlaps with Jeff's personal life. It was great to read about Hiller finding the right vehicle for him on TV, and how he got to that point. His childhood (growing up gay in Texas) was tough to read, but I really appreciated how much his mother in particular supported him. This was not a particularly revelatory memoir, but fans of Jeff's TV work will appreciate learning more about his background.
Thank you to Simon & Schuster via NetGalley for the advance reader copy in exchange for honest review.
I have only seen a few episodes of Somebody Somewhere, so I am mostly familiar with Jeff Hiller from his appearances on the Gilmore Guys podcast and on a couple of episodes of my favorite show, 30 Rock (which he mentions in this book!). But in my limited experience with him, I thought him to be very witty and fun and seemed like a genuinely lovely person. This book confirms that he is indeed all those things. The writing is conversational and fun and you can tell he's great at telling stories. I loved the framework of using the titles of other celebrity memoirs for the chapter titles/themes, and that he is very tongue-in-cheek about the idea of a celebrity book throughout. I laughed out loud in almost every chapter, and cried during a few, especially when he talked about his mother. Definitely recommend this if you're looking for a funny and heartfelt memoir, even if you are not familiar with his work.
Thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the eARC for review!
Thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the eARC for review!
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced