Unavailable
Unavailable
Unavailable
Ebook235 pages4 hours
Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself
By Alan Alda
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
An insightful and funny look at some of the impossible questions Alan Alda has asked himself over the years: What do I value? What, exactly, is the good life? (And what does that even mean?)
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.”
In a book that is candid, wise, and as questioning as it is incisive, Alda amuses and moves us with his unique and hilarious meditations on questions great and small. Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself is another superb Alan Alda performance, as inspiring and entertaining as the man himself.
Praise for Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself
“Engagingly thoughtful and thought-provoking . . . [Alan Alda] candidly shares many stories of his life, so easily and wittily you can hear him speak as you read.”
–Sydney Sun Herald
“Alda is chatty, easygoing and humble, rather like a Mr. Rogers for grownups. His words of inspiration would be a perfect gift for a college grad or for anyone facing major life changes.”
–Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Smart, engaged, funny and observant.”
–San Antonio Express-News
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.”
In a book that is candid, wise, and as questioning as it is incisive, Alda amuses and moves us with his unique and hilarious meditations on questions great and small. Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself is another superb Alan Alda performance, as inspiring and entertaining as the man himself.
Praise for Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself
“Engagingly thoughtful and thought-provoking . . . [Alan Alda] candidly shares many stories of his life, so easily and wittily you can hear him speak as you read.”
–Sydney Sun Herald
“Alda is chatty, easygoing and humble, rather like a Mr. Rogers for grownups. His words of inspiration would be a perfect gift for a college grad or for anyone facing major life changes.”
–Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Smart, engaged, funny and observant.”
–San Antonio Express-News
Unavailable
Related to Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself
Related ebooks
through infinity: forever and a day book 1: forever and a day Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJUNKIE II: Firefly Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Other Side of Ego: From Cancer to Consciousness Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBlooming: Finding Gifts in the Shit of Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMy Life: Exposed Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Stranger’S Touch Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTo Serve Man: What Americans Need to Know, But Don't Want to Hear Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPockets Full of Poseys Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReincarnation: Inklet, #90 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsInto The Peaks Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Conversation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEscape from B Movie Hell Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThrough The Eyes Only Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Hilarious World of Depression Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Leap Year: Making sense of the roller-coaster of emotions after a breast cancer diagnosis Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLittle Waves: A Tiny Memoir Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsYou Don't Need Permission: Finding your path to a purely authentic life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMind to Mind Conversation: Change Your Mind, Change Your Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNobody's Girl: An Incredible Story About Finding Freedom Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEverything Fails: A Science Fictional Memoir Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMy... Life Behind Bars Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNow It Begins: HoMombies Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Barrier Island Chronicles: Stories Told to Me by an Immortal Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Therapy Journal Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHeart Behind The Mask Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGhost of A Chance Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAll in a Row (Book 2 in the John Keegan Mystery Series) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Love That Story: Observations from a Gorgeously Queer Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Get the Funk Out!: %^&* Happens, What to Do Next! Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Stop it. Your Ego is Showing Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Entertainers and the Rich & Famous For You
Down the Rabbit Hole: Curious Adventures and Cautionary Tales of a Former Playboy Bunny Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5IT'S ALL IN YOUR HEAD Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Mother of Black Hollywood: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Finding Me: An Oprah's Book Club Pick Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Elvis and Me Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I'm Glad My Mom Died Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Make Love Like a Porn Star: A Cautionary Tale Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Woman in Me Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Can't Make This Up: Life Lessons Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Failing Up: How to Take Risks, Aim Higher, and Never Stop Learning Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Counting the Cost Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Open Book Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Coreyography: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Foundling: The True Story of a Kidnapping, a Family Secret, and My Search for the Real Me Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Boldly Go: Reflections on a Life of Awe and Wonder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Recovery: Freedom from Our Addictions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bowie: An Illustrated Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The History of Sketch Comedy: A Journey through the Art and Craft of Humor Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMommie Dearest Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Confessions of a Prairie Bitch: How I Survived Nellie Oleson and Learned to Love Being Hated Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bad Mormon: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Scrappy Little Nobody Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I'm Your Huckleberry: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Life in Parts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Taste: My Life Through Food Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Magnolia Story (with Bonus Content) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
5 ratings6 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I really enjoyed the audio book. I found it engaging and insightful as well as funny. Interesting musings about life read by author Alan Alda.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5I should have a shelf called "I knew better". This audiobook would go right in the center, if I had.
Alda's passionate, articulate, engaging but somehow I still found this book both fatuous and smarmy. I don't think it's intentional, of course. I found it desperately annoying. Maybe it's my own bias showing- if I'm deeply touched, I generally respond with humor or sarcasm (preferably both at once), and I think I am embarrassed in the presence of ingenuous emotions like Alda's. And a little voice in my head adds gratuitously, "especially at his age". It's a sincerely sentimental book full of earnestly sweet and genuinely good advice. Nevertheless, I couldn't wait for it to be over. That's more about me than Alda, isn't it? - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Though I should have been reading other books, I simply had to sit and listen to Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself. My parents raised me to appreciate M*A*S*H, and so I've always had an interest in Alan Alda. Of course, as Alda discusses, celebrity is a strange thing, and celebrities often disappoint on closer inspection. I will probably never meet Alan Alda, so I can't say whether he would disappoint if I did meet him, but listening to this audiobook has only made me admire him more.
The title is a strange one, and means exactly what it says. In Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself, Alan Alda considers various speeches he gave throughout his life, such as commencements and eulogies. He looks back at what he said then and tries to boil down them down to what he really believes and what he really wants to pass on to people about living life. While initially skeptical about this construct, it proves to be an incredibly fascinating pursuit, as he learns from his past self.
No doubt this book will also lose him fans. Alan Alda is a very political man. He has very strong opinions on things like equal rights and the environment and the arms race. I happen to agree with him on pretty much all of this, so I appreciate his candor, but those staunchly on the other side of the spectrum will likely be offended.
Alda makes several basic observations and then looks at them again and again. Still, the book managed not to come across as repetitive, though it might seem that way to those less interested in continual philosophical musings. His thoughts on the divide between the humanities and science are especially compelling.
For those looking for an in depth look at Alan Alda's life, this is not the place to get it. He does mention his family quite often and famous friends too, but they are not the point of the book. They are sometimes illustrative of an argument he's trying to make, but this is not a biography. The subjects covered are those dealt with in speeches to a public audience, so he mostly skims the surface of private life.
If you read Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself, I recommend the audio highly, because, hello, you can listen to Alan Alda. He has a unique and delightful voice, so immediately recognizable as him. He's a delight to listen to, and who better to tell his story than him? - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This guy has always made me laugh; even when he was Hawkeye. This book is about all his speeches he's made to medical students who are graduating - even though he only played the part of a doctor and isn't actually one. He still in great demand even today.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I decided to read this book because I have been watching Mash and saw the book at the library and picked it up. I have always loved Alan Alda and he reminds me of my father by his stature. Tall, thin, and lanky.I wasn't disappointed. Reading about Alan Alda's life and some of the speeches he has given through his lifetime were very interesting. How can an actor give a speech to students graduating from medical school and are actual doctors? It was interesting to see how he went about building the speeches and why he did them.Now I just need to listen one of his own books that he has narrated.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fantastic book about a fantastic actor and all round nice human being.