Stephanie S. reviewed on 1/12/2011 + 168 more book reviews

After reading and enjoying this book quite a bit, I then read some of the reviews of it here at PBS---and was surprised to find that most didn't like it! I thought his foundation was interesting: to go back and review speeches he has given in the past (at college commencements, for instance) and try to explain what led him to those particular thoughts at that particular time in his life. His outlook is lively, upbeat, always interested in learning something new, always striving to get the best out of life. At times, I felt my mind wander while reading a speech or two. However, if I set the book aside for a bit and returned to it, inevitably I became engrossed in what he was trying to say. Perhaps I am jaded, as I am a huge MASH fan and have alwayds admired Alan Alda.

That said, this book contained a line that literally made me gasp (and that is rare indeed!). This is not a spoiler......Alda wrote, "If I could go back and do it again, I would not have shot my pet rabbits dead when I was eleven years old". Wow. Alan Alda did that? I had to keep reading...

***1/2 Three and a half stars.

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