Product Description

One of the great performers of our time recounts her personal, professional, and spiritual lives, from her troubled childhood in Detroit to her triumphant film career as an award-winning film and stage actress.

Abridged CDs - 5 CDs, 6 hours

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #85326 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-02
• Format: Bargain Price
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 464 pages

From Publishers Weekly
In her first book, Oscar- and Tony-winning actress Burstyn has cast a life story that could easily light up the silver screen, replete with abusive parents, high school tragedy, showbiz triumph, reversals of fortune and a plucky heroine in search of professional and spiritual fulfillment. Burstyn begins with impressionistic memories of her Detroit childhood, including her tumultuous relationship with her mother and stepfather Lou, moving from the scare of her brother's near-fatal struggle with pneumonia when she was not yet 3 to the traumatic illegal abortion she had at age 18. Burstyn's career kicks off a few years later on Broadway, launching her on a challenging path to movie stardom, a number of failed romances-including a mentally ill husband who would stalk her for years-and her globe-spanning search for religion. Burstyn's tell-all works beautifully, thanks to her talent for spare but clear description; the happy story of Stone House, her home in upstate New York for 11 years, covers just a few pages, but Burstyn still makes her farewell to the house resonate: "I walked away with a sense of carrying my own chapel with me." The blemish in this upbeat, chatty book is Burstyn's occasional tendency toward self-help language-"The more I struggled to free myself, the more entangled I became"-but it's easy to forgive, given the honesty, bravery and warmth with which she tells her story.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From AudioFile
Nothing this Tony Award and Oscar winner has played can rival the story of her own life. In a mature yet refreshing voice, Burstyn details the chaotic details of her life--her flight at age 18 from Detroit; three bad marriages, including one to a psycho who stalked her for decades; and her stubborn struggles to make it to the top. She also confesses to having manipulated agents, authors, directors, and studio heads to get her own way. Too much time is spent on her search for her inner being, but one can see that her self-awareness becomes the backbone of her success. This is also an intoxicating history of life for women in the '50s, '60s, and '70s and their contributions, artistic and otherwise, to that history. M.T.B. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Booklist
Cast as Chris MacNeil in The Exorcist, Ellen Burstyn cinematically confronted the devil. Born Edna Rae Gilloolly, she confronted demons of her own, from her demeaning mother to her psychotic and sadistic husband. Now as one of the most acclaimed and respected actors of her generation, the ebullient Burstyn reflects on her life and 40-plus-year career, nimbly tracing the paths she followed, risks she took, mistakes she made, and lessons she learned to assess the price she paid for hard-earned wisdom. Armed with little more than a burning ambition to refute her narrow Midwest Catholic upbringing, Burstyn resolutely struck out on her own at age 18. Landing in Manhattan, she became a devoted acolyte of Lee Strasberg's Method school of acting, a technique that served her well. Foundering in a violently unstable marriage and still bearing the psychic scars of a damaging childhood, Burstyn applied the same painstaking deliberation to her quest for spiritual guidance, which took her from the heights of the Himalayas to the depths of New York City's homeless shelters. Candid and unassuming, Burstyn's intuitive memoir is a balanced mix of insider theatrical anecdotes and inspired philosophical revelations, a guileless apologia for one woman's desire to authenticate her experiences professional and personal. Carol Haggas
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

so much better than expected
I picked up "Lessons" on the way to a summer vacation simply because I like memoirs and there it was. I expected nothing more than a white suburban girl makes good story while clawing her way to Hollywood. Instead, you are off on a tour of world religions, meetings with great intellectuals, spirit quests, horrifying abuse, and relentless self examination. To paraphrase Emerson "the examined life makes great reading"! What a wonderful read; so sad when you have to put it down. Here's wishing for a sequel -- and soon.

Getting to Know You
Ellen Burstyn has always been one of my favorite actresses. Her warmth and sensitivity has always illuminated her performances, and her bravery in tackling difficult material such as Requiem for a Dream has been impressive. This book tells why she is able to let herself go in roles that other actors would soft pedal.

Amazing woman, excellent book
In these times when our culture is focusing on so many lost souls in Hollywood, Ellen Burstyn's book emerges with honesty, insight and lessons for all of us. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about her life and how she overcame an extremely unloving and abusive childhood to emerge as a strong and powerful woman and incredible actress. As a 45 year old woman it is people like Ellen Burstyn that inspire me on this journey of life. She is an incredibly wise soul and I am very grateful she shared her life with us in such a frank and open way.