Talking as Fast as I Can by Lauren Graham was one of those books I didn’t plan to read – at least not now. As I was browsing my shelves on GR it caught my eyes and as it turned out, it was on sale so I said, “why the hell not?”. It was a nice palate cleanser, in any case between SPFBO and other fantasy books.
I put this book on my Armed with a Bingo card, under the ‘A memoir‘ square.
About the Book
| Series: – | Genre: autobiography, nonfiction |
| Date of Publishing: November 29th 2016 | Publisher: Ballantine Books |
Blurb
In this collection of personal essays, the beloved star of Gilmore Girls and Parenthood reveals stories about life, love, and working as a woman in Hollywood—along with behind-the-scenes dispatches from the set of the new Gilmore Girls, where she plays the fast-talking Lorelai Gilmore once again.
In Talking as Fast as I Can, Lauren Graham hits pause for a moment and looks back on her life, sharing laugh-out-loud stories about growing up, starting out as an actress, and, years later, sitting in her trailer on the Parenthood set and asking herself, “Did you, um, make it?” She opens up about the challenges of being single in Hollywood (“Strangers were worried about me; that’s how long I was single!”), the time she was asked to audition her butt for a role, and her experience being a judge on Project Runway (“It’s like I had a fashion-induced blackout”).
In “What It Was Like, Part One,” Graham sits down for an epic Gilmore Girls marathon and reflects on being cast as the fast-talking Lorelai Gilmore. The essay “What It Was Like, Part Two” reveals how it felt to pick up the role again nine years later, and what doing so has meant to her.
Some more things you will learn about Lauren: She once tried to go vegan just to bond with Ellen DeGeneres, she’s aware that meeting guys at awards shows has its pitfalls (“If you’re meeting someone for the first time after three hours of hair, makeup, and styling, you’ve already set the bar too high”), and she’s a card-carrying REI shopper (“My bungee cords now earn points!”).
Including photos and excerpts from the diary Graham kept during the filming of the recent Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, this book is like a cozy night in, catching up with your best friend, laughing and swapping stories, and—of course—talking as fast as you can.
Quote of the Book
“But life doesn’t often spell things out for you or give you what you want exactly when you want it, otherwise it wouldn’t be called life, it would be called vending machine.”
Song of the Book
Honestly, this was a no brainer. The original version of the Gilmore Girls theme song, Where You Lead by Carole King.
Review
I don’t often read memoirs or collection of essays or whatever Talking as Fast as I Can is and I don’t have the faintest idea where to start this review, so bear with me.
I’m a big fan of Gilmore Girls, I’ve seen all of the episodes and the revival, Year in the Life too on Netflix when it was released. I always was on the opinion that Rory and Jess should have been together (like in real life at the time they played lovers on screen). And yes, I had a crush on Milo Ventimiglia. Anyway, it’s been a couple of years and I haven’t seen any of the episodes for a while now, though I always stay to watch when I catch it on tv. I have many fond memories of this series, so I was curious how Lauren Graham, who played Lorelai thinks back at those times. And generally just what kind of person she is outside her role. She is a successful actress now, but she is that kind of person who keeps her private life as such – private. And I always admired that about her. So I was curious how much she lets us see into her life in Talking as Fast as I Can.
Through the essays collected in this book, Lauren shares moment from her life from her childhood through schools, her first job, Gilmore Girls, Parenthood to get back to Gilmore Girls again. She shares her thoughts about her life as an actress, about writing and how incredible people helped to shape her life. But she also kinda keeps us at arms length only sharing as much about her personal life as she must in order for us understand her world.
“I still find that, in general, having a plan is, well, a good plan. But when my carefully laid plan laughed at me, rather than clutch at it too tightly I just made a new one, even if it was one that didn’t immediately make sense. In blindly trying a different path, I accidentally found one that worked better.”
Talking as Fast as I Can is an intriguing read if you’d like to get a glimpse into the life of an actress whose career is not about scandal and fame. It’s not as funny as the blurb lets you believe, but I couldn’t help thinking how perfect of a choice Lauren was to play Lorelai. They sure have a similar voice. I think what’s the most endearing about Lauren is that despite being a successful actress, she remained a down to earth kind of person. She kept working and doing what she loves best. And that shines through every page along with her personality.
Talking as Fast as I Can brings back nostalgic feelings toward Gilmore Girls. It gives a glimpse into the hardships of being an actress, but it lacks the depth I was hoping for.
Our Judgement
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