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by Alan Alda
Picking up where his bestselling memoir left off – having been saved by emergency surgery after nearly dying on a mountaintop in Chile – Alda finds himself not only glad to be alive but searching for a way to squeeze the most juice out of his new life. Looking for a sense of meaning that would make this extra time count, he listens in on things he’s heard himself saying in private and in public at critical points in his life–from the turbulence of the sixties, to his first Broadway show, to the birth of his children, to the ache of September 11, and beyond. Reflecting on the transitions in his life and in all our lives, he notices that “doorways are where the truth is told,” and wonders if there’s one thing – art, activism, family, money, fame – that could lead to a "life of meaning."
"His words of inspiration would be a perfect gift for a college grad or for anyone facing major life changes." - PW.
This information about Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Alan Alda played Hawkeye Pierce for eleven years in the television series M*A*S*H and has acted in, written, and directed many feature films. He has starred often on Broadway, and his avid interest in science has led to him hosting PBS's Scientific American Frontiers for eleven years. In 2005, his memoir Never Have Your Dog Stuffed, and Other Things I've Learned became a New York Times bestseller. He was nominated for an Academy Award in 2005 and has been nominated for thirty Emmy awards. He is married to the children's book author/photographer Arlene Alda. They have three grown children and seven grandchildren.
Name Pronunciation
Alan Alda: AL-da. Most pronounce the first syllable to rhyme with ball, but considering Alda's father created the name from the first two letters of his first and last name (Alphonso D'Abruzzo), arguably the first syllable should be as in the Al in Alphonso.
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