Donna C. (karmagirl) -
Helpful Score: 2
This was a very touching and loving tribute to Carol Burnett's daughter Carrie. The book is mostly letters and emails between the two, but you can feel how much she truly loved her daughter, and the heartbreak she was feeling when she lost her. I didn't care very much for the second half of the book, which was an unfinished story that Carrie was writing before her death, I would have loved to read more stories about their relationship and struggles, but overall, I really enjoyed it.
Helpful Score: 1
Review first posted on my blog: http://memoriesfrombooks.blogspot.com/2013/05/carrie-and-me.html
Some disclaimers before I start my review ... First, I grew up watching Carol Burnett and have always loved her work. So, I suppose I am predisposed to liking her work. Second, before reading this book, I was not familiar with Carrie Hamilton's story or her struggles. As such, I had no pre-conception of what this story would bring. Third, this book is really two books - one the memoir written by Carol Burnett, and second, the piece Carrie working on when she died. My review is based primarily on the first - the memoir.
Carrie and Me is a heartfelt tribute to and memoir of Carrie Hamilton written by her mother Carol Burnett. Carrie was the oldest of Carol Burnett's three daughters. She was a precocious child who grew up alongside her mother's career. As a troubled teen, she developed a drug addiction. It took several iterations of detox for her to find the road to recovery. She went on to have a successful career and a happy life. Unfortunately, she lost her battle with cancer at the age of 38.
A bulk of this memoir is written as correspondence between mother and daughter or as excerpts from diary entries. As such, it has such a personal tone. It comes across as true and as real. I know that all memoirs are intended to be true and real, but not all of them read that way. This one does. It draws me in and makes me feel like I am there and present. It makes me feel the love and the heartache.
I am so very sorry for the sorrow in their lives, but I am so glad of the courage to share it with the world throughout - by going public with a drug addiction when such things were kept so private and by this book.
*** Reviewed for GoodReads First Reads Program ***
Some disclaimers before I start my review ... First, I grew up watching Carol Burnett and have always loved her work. So, I suppose I am predisposed to liking her work. Second, before reading this book, I was not familiar with Carrie Hamilton's story or her struggles. As such, I had no pre-conception of what this story would bring. Third, this book is really two books - one the memoir written by Carol Burnett, and second, the piece Carrie working on when she died. My review is based primarily on the first - the memoir.
Carrie and Me is a heartfelt tribute to and memoir of Carrie Hamilton written by her mother Carol Burnett. Carrie was the oldest of Carol Burnett's three daughters. She was a precocious child who grew up alongside her mother's career. As a troubled teen, she developed a drug addiction. It took several iterations of detox for her to find the road to recovery. She went on to have a successful career and a happy life. Unfortunately, she lost her battle with cancer at the age of 38.
A bulk of this memoir is written as correspondence between mother and daughter or as excerpts from diary entries. As such, it has such a personal tone. It comes across as true and as real. I know that all memoirs are intended to be true and real, but not all of them read that way. This one does. It draws me in and makes me feel like I am there and present. It makes me feel the love and the heartache.
I am so very sorry for the sorrow in their lives, but I am so glad of the courage to share it with the world throughout - by going public with a drug addiction when such things were kept so private and by this book.
*** Reviewed for GoodReads First Reads Program ***
Linda K. (lhasalover) reviewed Carrie and Me: A Mother-Daughter Love Story on + 203 more book reviews
I loved this book. I listen to it as audible book since Carol Burnett is reading it. It is great. I watch Carrie in her acting career and was curious to learn more.
Just finished this audio and have to say that it was wonderful to hear Carol Burnetts voice again. I have no idea how she was able to narrate this story about her own daughter, but it was wonderfully done.
Linda B. (24racefan) - , reviewed Carrie and Me: A Mother-Daughter Love Story on + 41 more book reviews
This is a lovely mother-daughter love story which brought me to tears several times. Who among us does not know Carol Burnett? But do we really know what her real life was like? Her daughter, Carrie, had some early difficulties with addiction but she luckily had a supportive family and the willingness to get clean.
Carrie was definitely a different sort of person but then again I guess you might say her mother was too. It was obvious to me from reading the book which is a series of e-mails between Carrie and her mother, that Carrie was a very talented and artistic person. She had quite a bit of success before her untimely death of lung cancer. The second portion of the book was an unfinished book that Carrie had been writing. She had hoped her mom might finish the story for her, but Carol found it impossible to know the direction Carrie would have taken and chose instead to write this book about her daughter instead. I enjoyed the book a great deal.
Carrie was definitely a different sort of person but then again I guess you might say her mother was too. It was obvious to me from reading the book which is a series of e-mails between Carrie and her mother, that Carrie was a very talented and artistic person. She had quite a bit of success before her untimely death of lung cancer. The second portion of the book was an unfinished book that Carrie had been writing. She had hoped her mom might finish the story for her, but Carol found it impossible to know the direction Carrie would have taken and chose instead to write this book about her daughter instead. I enjoyed the book a great deal.
