Today was day two of throwing out the reading "shoulds" and reading the way I would if I wasn't writing a blog. And it felt great. I feel energized - invigorated - and I'm so glad because I only have six weeks (which truly boggles my mind) left of this blogging project and I want to finish on a high note. So naturally, this meant reading my favorite genre, autobiography. And what better place to start than with the autobiography of an actress from one of my all-time favorite TV shows, The Golden Girls.
Today's book, "The youngest Golden Girls star offers a chatty, thoughtful and effervescent tour of her surprisingly turbulent professional and private life. Like her TV alter ego Blanche Devereaux, McClanahan charts her experiences through the men in her life. After much stage work, she found success in her late 30s on TV's Maude. Later, "languishing in Love Boat limbo," she was rescued by The Golden Girls, which brought her an Emmy and financial security. Fans will relish her sweet and tart memories of friendships and tensions filming that show. A breast cancer survivor, she ends the book happily celebrating an active career and a decade with husband number six."
Shallow thoughts:
- Well, first things first, I LOVED today's book. But I do feel I should include a disclaimer, I think a big part of the reason why I loved the book was because I am such a huge Golden Girls fan. So, if you are a loud and proud Golden Girls fan, or if you enjoy really blunt people (and you must or you wouldn't be reading my blog), then I think you will enjoy today's book as well. The one downside to it was that the first chapter sort of veered all over the place - but a long and rambling first chapter can have a certain charm to it, so I don't think it really detracted from the book too much.
- And then there is my favorite part of the book, when Rue uses the expression "dear readers." I cannot find the words to express how much I love it when books use that expression - which is the reason why I started using that in the first place. I instantly like a book better when the expression is used. Well, actually, I love any kind of acknowledgement of the readers from the author. It reminds me of those old movies from the 60s where the entire scene freezes except for one character who then begins talking directly to the audience. It's so corny, and yet I love it!
- Rue shares a story of how her Mother let her drink out of bottle so long that she was actually sent to the store to buy the rubber nipples for the bottles herself. I hate to act like the parenting police, but really? That seems a bit extreme. And it reminds me of my Dad's reaction to watching those diaper commercials that feature children singing about the diaper they're wearing. The reaction involves him hitting the mute button while bitterly saying, "If you're old enough to sing about your diaper, you're too old to be wearing one." He's so wise.
- I had a very hard time pacing myself while reading the book because I wanted to hurry up and get to the part of the book where Rue starts working on The Golden Girls. I was really tempted to skip ahead. Okay, I did skip ahead, but not to worry dear readers, I did go back later and read the pages I skipped. And I learned this fun fact about the show: Bea Arthur originally turned down the role of Dorothy. Say what? After reading that, I spent a few minutes trying to imagine what the show would have been like without her, but there are some places too dark to go to, and I just couldn't do it. I'm so glad she reconsidered.
