Ronald A. (rarendt) reviewed on + 107 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
When I had got through 4 of this audio book's 9 cd's, I was already fairly unimpressed. The whole undertaking was a little too precious for my taste, and it was clear that the author and I are from different planets. He's a Shakespeare bigot, and I find myself not that moved by the Bard of Avon. Lithgow's whole life to this point revolved around the stage; I prefer books, movies, and some good TV dramas and series. Up to that point he and his entire tribe Struck me as ultra liberal while I'm definitely bent the other way, but I was willing to listen to the rest of his offering, bored as I was at times....
About three tracks into cd 5, I hit a roadblock. Lithgow was in England on a Fullbright grant, learning the actor's trade - well good for him, but it turns out he had an ulterior motive - a draft deferment. No big deal there; Bill Clinton got one. When the grant expired, he applied for a second year, hoping for another year's deferment, but the draft board didn't see it that way, even though they did allow him to report to a US Air Force base in he UK for his induction physical.
At this point, Lithgow started rehearsing in earnest for what he calls "the roll of a lifetime" - the one where he would convince the authorities that he was undraftable. He went into method actor mode - stopped bathing, started urinating in his shorts and biting his nails, went without sleep as much as possible, mentally revived and expanded every neuroses he might have had, etc. According to him, he got "rave reviews" - and was classified 4F.
Now forty-plus years later, he reveals this rather sordid episode in his life for the first time and says he's ashamed of his conduct (but not too ashamed to brag about what a clever actor he was). Sorry Charlie, it just won't wash, no more than Jane Fonda saying she might have been wrong when she went to Hanoi and posed sitting on an NVA anti-aircraft gun.
I realize a lot of time has passed, and I can forgive a lot - my brother-in-law got deferred by pulling a suicide gesture in the induction center - I've forgiven him. In fact I'll lend him one of my five honorable discharges if he wants it.
I guess it just hit home for me because while Lithgow was living the good life in England on somebody else's dime (after four years at Harvard on somebody else's dime)I was in the Far East on my third overseas tour. As I listened to him talk about how much he really loves his country, I couldn't help thinking about friends who didn't get back. Obviously, John Lithgow is way too talented and way to sensitive to have undergone an experience survived by millions od Americans, being drafted. By then I was so repelled I couldn't listen to any more.
About three tracks into cd 5, I hit a roadblock. Lithgow was in England on a Fullbright grant, learning the actor's trade - well good for him, but it turns out he had an ulterior motive - a draft deferment. No big deal there; Bill Clinton got one. When the grant expired, he applied for a second year, hoping for another year's deferment, but the draft board didn't see it that way, even though they did allow him to report to a US Air Force base in he UK for his induction physical.
At this point, Lithgow started rehearsing in earnest for what he calls "the roll of a lifetime" - the one where he would convince the authorities that he was undraftable. He went into method actor mode - stopped bathing, started urinating in his shorts and biting his nails, went without sleep as much as possible, mentally revived and expanded every neuroses he might have had, etc. According to him, he got "rave reviews" - and was classified 4F.
Now forty-plus years later, he reveals this rather sordid episode in his life for the first time and says he's ashamed of his conduct (but not too ashamed to brag about what a clever actor he was). Sorry Charlie, it just won't wash, no more than Jane Fonda saying she might have been wrong when she went to Hanoi and posed sitting on an NVA anti-aircraft gun.
I realize a lot of time has passed, and I can forgive a lot - my brother-in-law got deferred by pulling a suicide gesture in the induction center - I've forgiven him. In fact I'll lend him one of my five honorable discharges if he wants it.
I guess it just hit home for me because while Lithgow was living the good life in England on somebody else's dime (after four years at Harvard on somebody else's dime)I was in the Far East on my third overseas tour. As I listened to him talk about how much he really loves his country, I couldn't help thinking about friends who didn't get back. Obviously, John Lithgow is way too talented and way to sensitive to have undergone an experience survived by millions od Americans, being drafted. By then I was so repelled I couldn't listen to any more.
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