Never Have Your Dog Stuffed
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Product Description
Book Description
'Honest, touching and very funny - like Mr Alda himself' David Mamet, author of Glengarry Glen Ross
--This text refers to the Paperback edition.
Product Description
He’s one of America’s most recognizable and acclaimed actors–a star on Broadway, an Oscar nominee for The Aviator, and the only person to ever win Emmys for acting, writing, and directing, during his eleven years on M*A*S*H. Now Alan Alda has written a memoir as elegant, funny, and affecting as his greatest performances.
“My mother didn’t try to stab my father until I was six,” begins Alda’s irresistible story. The son of a popular actor and a loving but mentally ill mother, he spent his early childhood backstage in the erotic and comic world of burlesque and went on, after early struggles, to achieve extraordinary success in his profession.
Yet Never Have Your Dog Stuffed is not a memoir of show-business ups and downs. It is a moving and funny story of a boy growing into a man who then realizes he has only just begun to grow.
It is the story of turning points in Alda’s life, events that would make him what he is–if only he could survive them.
From the moment as a boy when his dead dog is returned from the taxidermist’s shop with a hideous expression on his face, and he learns that death can’t be undone, to the decades-long effort to find compassion for the mother he lived with but never knew, to his acceptance of his father, both personally and professionally, Alda learns the hard way that change, uncertainty, and transformation are what life is made of, and true happiness is found in embracing them.
Never Have Your Dog Stuffed, filled with curiosity about nature, good humor, and honesty, is the crowning achievement of an actor, author, and director, but surprisingly, it is the story of a life more filled with turbulence and laughter than any Alda has ever played on the stage or screen.
From the Hardcover edition.
“My mother didn’t try to stab my father until I was six,” begins Alda’s irresistible story. The son of a popular actor and a loving but mentally ill mother, he spent his early childhood backstage in the erotic and comic world of burlesque and went on, after early struggles, to achieve extraordinary success in his profession.
Yet Never Have Your Dog Stuffed is not a memoir of show-business ups and downs. It is a moving and funny story of a boy growing into a man who then realizes he has only just begun to grow.
It is the story of turning points in Alda’s life, events that would make him what he is–if only he could survive them.
From the moment as a boy when his dead dog is returned from the taxidermist’s shop with a hideous expression on his face, and he learns that death can’t be undone, to the decades-long effort to find compassion for the mother he lived with but never knew, to his acceptance of his father, both personally and professionally, Alda learns the hard way that change, uncertainty, and transformation are what life is made of, and true happiness is found in embracing them.
Never Have Your Dog Stuffed, filled with curiosity about nature, good humor, and honesty, is the crowning achievement of an actor, author, and director, but surprisingly, it is the story of a life more filled with turbulence and laughter than any Alda has ever played on the stage or screen.
From the Hardcover edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
61 of 63 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book was so easy to read, and so enjoyable, i was rather upset that it was so short.
This book doesn't deal with any one topic about Alan Alda's life. It deals with both his career and his personal life, yet he never delves TOO deeply into either, yet he integrates them with a mastery i have never read before. I assume it's because, unlike a lot of actors, acting WAS a part of his private life, and so much more than just a career.
It's amazing how he writes; he can describe an amusing moment in life then turn to something more morose, yet, with the exception of his mother's last days, the humour, though cynical and sarcastic, is always there.
The only minor problem i can see is that he never really kept any track of time in the book. I constantly found myself wondering what year were we in? How old was he now?
Other than that, this is a brilliant book written by an amazing man.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Alan Alda is one of the most versatile actors the movie or TV industry has seen and this book represents the man himself very well. He doesn't go for a warts 'n' all approach but instead relays certain events in his life in an almost anecdotal style whilst always keeping the user entertained. Having watched him appear on the various chat-shows to promote the book it just sounded like a great read and, whilst maybe being a bit brief, it is!
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
If you're looking for the standard show-biz autobiography you'll be disappointed. If you're looking for the life-journey of a curious mind who settled for acting, you're in for a treat. This is a 'what I learned and how I learned it' full of gems; worth the price simply for his definition of listening - only if you're prepared to change as a result of what you've heard can you call it listening (he puts it better) - and there's more, much more.
Being UK-based, I didn't know that he'd presented a show based on interviews etc. with scientists, but it all made sense; who else could play Richard Feynman? This book is far more profound than those written by people who hail from more 'serious' professions; reflective, searching, pattern-seeking, independent, honourable ... of course I'd love the blow-by-blow account of what it was like to create MASH, and maybe we'll get that some time, but this is a treat of a different and remarkably nourishing order.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Love is such a funny thing
A famous actor father, growing up in comic theatreland of Burlesque, excruciatingly handsome, talented writer and actor: Yes, there is everything for a man to hate in Alan Alda. Read more
Published 10 months ago by W. Rodick
Witty, erudite and surprising.
Here's proof that an odd upbringing doesn't have to make you warped. There's been plenty of weird stuff in Alan Alda's life making for some good stories, including things that... Read more
Published 16 months ago by Raymando
enjoyable...but not enough about MASH!
i like his style of writing, but would have like to have had more content about his MASH years.
Published on 1 Mar 2010 by Cherie Matrix-Holt
Exclent
I really love this book,i am only half way though it but what i have read so far i recomend it.
Published on 18 July 2009 by Michelle R. Harris
What a life, and funny too!
I didn't know what to expect from this book, as I knew nothing about alan Alda's personal life- but what a life! Read more
Published on 7 May 2009 by Book Monster
Terrific
A joy from beginning to end, the only downside being I think my wife is even more in love with him than she was before I foolishly bought this for her...
Published on 7 Jan 2008 by Stephen Matthews
Alan Alda at his best
Never have your dog stuffed is the story of Alda's life. It begins with his mentally ill mum trying to stab his dad when Alan was 6, this was in the days when it was shameful to... Read more
Published on 3 Nov 2007 by E. Dale
With a title like that ...
It's easy to remember and locate ... I'm not a fan of movie star autobiographies unless I'm really hooked on them, and the best actors are not the best writers - it's usually those... Read more
Published on 6 Sep 2007 by Sarakani
Not what you may expect
If you have seen Alan Alda interviewed or on the screen then you may expect a typical actor's autobiography full of witty anecdotes and name dropping. Read more
Published on 9 July 2007 by Peter
Wow, an existentialist celebrity autobiography!
This is a breath of fresh-air: an autobiography that doesn't attempt to glorify the writer's achievements, or threaten to overload on name-dropping and "hilarious" recollections of... Read more
Published on 5 July 2007 by Caterkiller
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