Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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143 of 147 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Find out about the career AND the person..., 17 Oct 2008
Dawn French doesn't need any introduction - she is a well known comedy actress, loved by many, and is most well known for being half of French and Saunders, and as the wonderful Vicar of Dibley.
What surprised me about this autobiography is the fact that the focus isn't really on her career, and her fame. It's certainly a large part of the book, outlining her early days in the Comic Strip, the films she took part in, as well as her recent roles.
However, the fascinating aspect of this book is the way that Dawn shares her life growing up, the relationships she's had, her heartaches and her joys. She fiercely loves her family, her friends, and her colleagues, and that shines through. (However, she most certainly does not like Madonna! ;))
The book is written as a series of letters, to various people.. a large proportion of these are written to her father, and it's easy to understand why, as he had such an affect on her. One particular letter had me in tears, and I was so glad to see Dawn reaching a type of resolution by the end of the book.. which did make for a good place for it to finish.
Dawn's voice is obvious in the book, you can almost hear her speaking it in your mind.. in her own unique style. There are serious moments in the book, but the humour that you expect is always there. Who else would write a letter to her niece, talking about her life ahead of her.. including what it may be like to have a big bosom?!
For anyone who has enjoyed watching Dawn French over the years, I would highly recommend this autobiography, not only as a peek into her life, but also as a better understanding of the sort of person she is.
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44 of 47 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Moving, funny, uplifting and sometimes surprising., 17 Oct 2008
I really enjoyed this autobiography. I was expecting lots of the usual, 'woe is me, what a bad life I've had' diatribe that's usually found in autobiographies, but no. Dawn French is witty (obviously) but also self-effacing. She remains positive even when discussing the death of those closest to her.
The format of writing a collection of letters to loved ones also gave this a personal touch and a heart-felt warmth.
I'm no ardent Dawn French fan and I don't think you need to be to appreciate the humour and candid nature of her writing.
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20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Very disappointing... a book that does not want to be an autobiography, 19 Jan 2009
I really like Dawn French and have been a fan of her for many years as a comedienne and actress. So it disappoints me to say that this book is very disappointing.
I think the core problem is illustrated in a passage where Dawn talks about her dislike of the cult of celebrity; she doesn't understand it, and doesn't want the attention of a celebrity. Fair enough... but what's an autobiography? It is, in its very essence, a big symbol of celebrity: a voyeuristic look into someone's life we only know through them being famous.
So the autobiography concept is completely undermined by French, and so she instead decides to tell her story in the form of letters to friends and family, both alive and deceased.
The trouble is French doesn't really talk about herself a lot. It's a lot of reminiscing about times in her past which quite frankly on the whole isn't very interesting. It's like sitting in a cinema listening to someone talking... like overhearing a conversation. And while memories are cherished by the person in question, they don't necessarily make good reading. If I talked about my late grandmother's love of quiz shows it means a lot to my family, but would you be interested to read about it?
With this flawed concept in place, it seems at times hard for French to maintain; she's constantly posing questions such as "Do you remember?" to try and keep the letter format intact, but only serving to reinforce the fact that we are overhearing a conversation.
Probably the biggest problem is that French doesn't really talk about much of substance. With autobiographies we want the nitty gritty of an event, and behind-the-scenes insight. And while some anecdotes are amusing, we sadly don't get many substantial stories. She talks about something her husband did, but does not talk about what it was or what happened in response. I think she alludes to him having an affair, but I don't know because she just avoids it - and this is exactly the time an autobiography should give great insight into a key event in someone's life.
There is only one story of substance, and that's the death of her father. But strangely this is marred by being stopped mid-story by a collection of photos of French japing around on set.
The book carries on in this vein, then in the latter half of the book just devolves into an Oscar acceptance speech with tediously gushing, over the top praise for family, friends and colleagues.
I think French is a kind, warm-hearted person and that comes across in this book. She is a genuinely lovely lady with a passion for her family and friends. For that I cannot criticise her.
But as a book with an RRP of £19, it really doesn't cut it.
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