Home: A Memoir of My Early Years
by Julie Andrews
|
List Price: Our Price: $0.99 You Save: $25.96 (96%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Home: A Memoir of My Early Years
Book Review: June Nolen author of In Reverse Time
Summary: 5 Stars
I share my love and admiration of Julie Andrews with millions. We all loved Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music and Victor Victoria. The music from those movies stays with me and I find myself humming My Favorite Things when I'm scared. Her early years were difficult to say the least but was a great contribution to honing her craft. I listened to her beautiful voice on the radio in 1962, still in high school, while I did the supper dishes. I remember hearing her name but at that time didn't really know who she was. Only that she was from England.
She is so versatile and her precise lovely manners always come across. Watching her in a skit with Carol Burnett brings out a different part of her. One that we all can relate to. Her stories of growing up give us just that. I throughly enjoyed this book, getting to know Ms. Andrews a little better; and even though I may never see her in person, she's a real person to me and not just a character in a film. And that's meant to be a compliment. I wish her the best in anything and everything she wishes.
Book Review: Why We Love Julie
Summary: 5 Stars
After spending two hours in line to get her to autograph my copy of this book, I was hoping it was worth reading. And it was. It only reinforced the reasons I have always admired Julie Andrews. She was honest about her not-so-auspicious childhood and never resorted to "artistic temperment" to defend herself for her failings. She was gracious to all the people she mentioned, including her step-father. She defended him for his contribution to her career without denying the reasons she had for sometimes disliking him.
Her humility, warmth and sensitivity should be a lesson to all those who are in her profession. But sadly, many celebrities revel in their own mediocrity and ego and learn NOTHING about honesty within themselves. Julie Andrews proved that celebrity and talent are gifts to be shared with the public with generosity and humility, NOT an entitlement used to fool and abuse an unsuspecting public. I have admired her for 40 years, and will continue to do so for another 40.
Book Review: A frank and surprising autobiography
Summary: 4 Stars
Julie Andrews will always be associated with the lovely characters she has played, such as Camelot's Queen Guenevere, sprightly nanny Mary Poppins, and the delightful Eliza Doolittle. It is somewhat surprising, therefore, to read this autobiography and learn about the dysfunctional family she grew up in. There was alcoholism, emotional abuse, and infidelity, but somehow Julie Andrews emerged as a lovely, somewhat vulnerable yet strong young woman. Her singing voice, amazingly mature at an early age, catapulted her to fame by the time she was 20 years old. She is very honest about her past and about those with whom she has lived and worked. The book ends with the birth of her first daughter, Emma Katherine, who was born just before Julie departed for the U.S. with her husband Tony Walton to work on Walt Disney's "Mary Poppins". Hopefully she will write another book about the second half of her life which will be just as interesting as her early years.Book Review: Enjoyable but left with questions.
Summary: 4 Stars
I am certainly a Julie Andrews fan and have been since first seeing her in Mary Poppins. This books is quite an accomplishment and must have been quite an undertaking. Congrats Julie! The details are full and explanations are vivid. However, sometimes I felt I got a series of facts and recollections of events but not how they impacted Julie or how they made her be who she is today. There were chapters that left me with more questions. Maybe it is the British way of explaining life circumstances and emotions, or maybe it would have made the book too long or maybe it will be apparent if there is a Part 2. I concluded that the public Julie Andrews we know and love has archtypal qualities that our culture craves and we want to know more. But, as an author she owes us nothing and she can write the book any which way she wants. Thanks for the book Julie. I hope there will be a second one. And someday I would love to have tea with you and ask all those questions.Book Review: Delightful!
Summary: 5 Stars
I very much enjoyed this memoir! I was fascinated by Julie's childhood, especially by her memories during WWII, her amazing relationship with her *true* father, and her intricate vocal training/subsequent concert and theater performances. I loved reading about the progression of her friendship and marriage to Tony and about her experiences throughout her auditions/performances in The Boy Friend, My Fair Lady, the Rogers and Hammerstein's Cinderella television special, Camelot, and her concert specials with Carol Burnett. The two sections of beautiful black and white photos that accompanied the reading were wonderful! Finally, I was so excited by the ending pages, in which she, Tony, and their new baby Emma were off to begin a new journey together with Walt Disney in a film called Mary Poppins. I truly hope that she'll write another book to follow this one, beginning exactly where she left off. This was delightful!