"Raised by unconventional Irish Catholics who knew 'how to drink, how to dance, how to talk, and how to stir up the devil,' Kate Mulgrew grew up with poetry and drama in her bones. But in her mother, a would-be artist burdened by the endless arrival of new babies, young Kate saw the consequences of a dream deferred. Determined to pursue her own no matter the cost, at 18 she left her small Midwestern town for New York, where, studying with the legendary Stella Adler, she learned the lesson that would define her as an actress: 'Use it,' Adler told her. Whatever disappointment, pain, or anger life throws in your path, channel it into the work. It was a lesson she would need. At twenty-two, just as her career was taking off, she became pregnant and gave birth to a daughter. Having already signed the adoption papers, she was allowed only a fleeting glimpse of her child. As her star continued to rise, her life became increasingly demanding and fulfilling, a whirlwind of passionate love affairs, life-saving friendships, and bone-crunching work. Through it all, Mulgrew remained haunted by the loss of her daughter, until, two decades later, she found the courage to face the past and step into the most challenging role of her life, both on and off screen. We know Kate Mulgrew for the strong women she's played--Captain Janeway on Star Trek; the tough-as-nails 'Red' on Orange is the New Black. Now, we meet the most inspiring and memorable character of all: herself. By turns irreverent and soulful, laugh-out-loud funny and heart-piercingly sad, Born With Teeth is the breathtaking memoir of a woman who dares to live life to the fullest, on her own terms"--
Interesting, But Flaky. In this memoir, Kate Mulgrew - known best, depending on age and interest, for 70s era show Ryan's Hope, 90s era show Star Trek: Voyager, or 2010s era show Orange Is The New Black - describes her life from being literally born with teeth up until around the turn of the Millenium, when she was still filming Voyager.
And she does a remarkable job of keeping the reader interested in what happens next. Her prose has the qualities of the poet she once wanted to be.
But she plays with the timeline too much, often skipping around or losing threads entirely, only to pick them up later with no explanation. And what she makes seem in the book as merely days in some cases appears to have actually been years.
But the biggest sin, and the reason this 2015 memoir feels incomplete, is the abrupt ending. Wherein she sets up a particular meeting that had been years in the making... and then ends with a literal closed door, never revealing anything beyond the moment she stepped into that particular room.
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20 October, 2018:
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