True Stories from an Unreliable Eyewitness - Christine Lahti
5 STARS!
ABOUT THE BOOK -
A fiercely intelligent, hilarious, and deeply feminist collection of interrelated personal stories from Academy, Emmy, and Golden Globe Award–winning actress and director Christine Lahti.
For decades, actress and director Christine Lahti has captivated the hearts and minds of her audience through iconic roles in Chicago Hope, Running on Empty, Housekeeping, And Justice for All, Swing Shift, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, God of Carnage, and The Blacklist. Now, in True Stories from an Unreliable Eyewitness, this acclaimed performer channels her creativity inward to share her own story for the first time on the page.
In this poignant essay collection, Lahti focuses on three major periods of her life: her childhood, her early journey as an actress and activist, and the realities of her life as a middle-aged woman in Hollywood today. Lahti’s comical and self-deprecating voice shines through in stories such as “Kidnapped” and “Shit Happens,” and she takes a boldly honest look at the painful fissures in her family in pieces such as “Mama Mia” and “Running on Empty.” Taken together, the collection illuminates watershed moments in Lahti’s life, revealing her struggle to maintain integrity, fight her need for perfection, and remain true to her feminist inclinations.
Lahti’s wisdom and candid insights are reminiscent of Nora Ephron’s I Feel Bad About My Neck and Joan Rivers’s I Hate Everyone—and yet her experiences are not exclusive to one generation. The soul of her writing can be seen as a spiritual mother to feminist actresses and comedic voices whose works are inspiring today’s young women, including Amy Schumer, Lena Dunham, Amy Poehler, Caitlin Moran, and Jenny Lawson. Her stories reveal a stumbling journey toward agency and empowerment as a woman—a journey that’s still very much a work in progress.
True Stories from an Unreliable Eyewitness is about the power of storytelling to affirm and reframe the bedrock of who we are, revealing that we’re all unreliable eyewitnesses when it comes to our deeply personal memories. Told in a wildly fresh, unique voice, and with the unshakable ability to laugh at herself time and again, this is Christine Lahti’s best performance yet.
ABOUT CHRISTINE -
Christine Lahti is an acclaimed director and stage, television, and film actress with a career that spans over forty years. She won an Oscar for her short film, Lieberman in Love; an Oscar nomination for Swing Shift; a Golden Globe Award for No Place Like Home; an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award for Chicago Hope; and an Obie Award for Little Murders. On Broadway, she starred in God of Carnage and The Heidi Chronicles, among many others. Her films include Running on Empty and Housekeeping. Her television shows include Jack and Bobby, Law & Order SVU, and The Blacklist. She lives in New York City and Los Angeles.
Follow on Twitter - @ChristineALahti
MY THOUGHTS -
GREAT! I love reading memoirs. Especially ones by people I know and love. I have love Christine Lahti since way back (waaaay back LOL). I was a huge fan of Chicago Hope, watched every show and loved her on that. Now after reading this I am searching Netflix for movies that she has been in so I can watch the ones I haven't seen.
I love that this wasn't really a "story of my life" kind of thing but more of a pick and choose different "life stories". I love strong women like her that make good role models, someone to look up to. She gets very personal with us, the readers. I think Christine was very brave to share all that she did. Especially stories about her family. That couldn't have been easy. How do you decide what to share and what to hold in your heart.
I already loved her but I will now view her in a different way, a better way! Hey soul sister you go girl! I think any woman who doesn't want to be taken advantage of, anyone who believes in equal rights for women, and any mom who wants their daughter to grow up strong - should all read this book! My own daughter is turning 30 this fall and I will definitely have her read this book - she will love it!
This book is sad, funny, and witty. I don't think you necessary have to be a fan to love it.
* A little warning - there is quite a bit of swearing.
I voluntarily posted this review after receiving a copy of this book from TLC Book Tours and HarperCollins - Thank You!!
A fiercely intelligent, hilarious, and deeply feminist collection of interrelated personal stories from Academy, Emmy, and Golden Globe Award–winning actress and director Christine Lahti.
For decades, actress and director Christine Lahti has captivated the hearts and minds of her audience through iconic roles in Chicago Hope, Running on Empty, Housekeeping, And Justice for All, Swing Shift, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, God of Carnage, and The Blacklist. Now, in True Stories from an Unreliable Eyewitness, this acclaimed performer channels her creativity inward to share her own story for the first time on the page.
In this poignant essay collection, Lahti focuses on three major periods of her life: her childhood, her early journey as an actress and activist, and the realities of her life as a middle-aged woman in Hollywood today. Lahti’s comical and self-deprecating voice shines through in stories such as “Kidnapped” and “Shit Happens,” and she takes a boldly honest look at the painful fissures in her family in pieces such as “Mama Mia” and “Running on Empty.” Taken together, the collection illuminates watershed moments in Lahti’s life, revealing her struggle to maintain integrity, fight her need for perfection, and remain true to her feminist inclinations.
Lahti’s wisdom and candid insights are reminiscent of Nora Ephron’s I Feel Bad About My Neck and Joan Rivers’s I Hate Everyone—and yet her experiences are not exclusive to one generation. The soul of her writing can be seen as a spiritual mother to feminist actresses and comedic voices whose works are inspiring today’s young women, including Amy Schumer, Lena Dunham, Amy Poehler, Caitlin Moran, and Jenny Lawson. Her stories reveal a stumbling journey toward agency and empowerment as a woman—a journey that’s still very much a work in progress.
True Stories from an Unreliable Eyewitness is about the power of storytelling to affirm and reframe the bedrock of who we are, revealing that we’re all unreliable eyewitnesses when it comes to our deeply personal memories. Told in a wildly fresh, unique voice, and with the unshakable ability to laugh at herself time and again, this is Christine Lahti’s best performance yet.
Christine Lahti is an acclaimed director and stage, television, and film actress with a career that spans over forty years. She won an Oscar for her short film, Lieberman in Love; an Oscar nomination for Swing Shift; a Golden Globe Award for No Place Like Home; an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award for Chicago Hope; and an Obie Award for Little Murders. On Broadway, she starred in God of Carnage and The Heidi Chronicles, among many others. Her films include Running on Empty and Housekeeping. Her television shows include Jack and Bobby, Law & Order SVU, and The Blacklist. She lives in New York City and Los Angeles.
Follow on Twitter - @ChristineALahti
MY THOUGHTS -
GREAT! I love reading memoirs. Especially ones by people I know and love. I have love Christine Lahti since way back (waaaay back LOL). I was a huge fan of Chicago Hope, watched every show and loved her on that. Now after reading this I am searching Netflix for movies that she has been in so I can watch the ones I haven't seen.
I love that this wasn't really a "story of my life" kind of thing but more of a pick and choose different "life stories". I love strong women like her that make good role models, someone to look up to. She gets very personal with us, the readers. I think Christine was very brave to share all that she did. Especially stories about her family. That couldn't have been easy. How do you decide what to share and what to hold in your heart.
I already loved her but I will now view her in a different way, a better way! Hey soul sister you go girl! I think any woman who doesn't want to be taken advantage of, anyone who believes in equal rights for women, and any mom who wants their daughter to grow up strong - should all read this book! My own daughter is turning 30 this fall and I will definitely have her read this book - she will love it!
This book is sad, funny, and witty. I don't think you necessary have to be a fan to love it.
* A little warning - there is quite a bit of swearing.
I voluntarily posted this review after receiving a copy of this book from TLC Book Tours and HarperCollins - Thank You!!
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I'm so glad you loved it! It sounds like the perfect recipe for a memoir.
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