13 January, 2017

REVIEW: TALKING AS FAST AS I CAN by Lauren Graham

Title: Talking as fast as I can
Author: Lauren Graham
Series: -
Genres: Nonfiction, Biography
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Release: 2016
Source: Audiobook
Pages: 224

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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.


Okay so I love Gilmore Girls and I enjoyed Parenthood and so when Lauren Graham released her biography and it was even voiced by her I just had to get it.


Now of course as it is a nonfiction and actually an autobiography this review is not going to follow any defined topics. Instead I just really wanted to fangirl about Gilmore Girls and Lauren herself. This book is not all about Gilmore Girls please be aware, it actually talks about her life, her time in Parenthood and her acting career. If I didn't love Lauren before I picked up this book I sure do now. But I did already love her and this book made me just love her even more, at this point I would just watch anything with her, she is an amazing actress.

But let's talk about the topics covered in her book. So first she talks about her career and how show business in Hollywood is. Now I have an actual university degree in Film Studies so I am familiar with the things she is talking about but for some of you who don't really know much about how Hollywood works this might be a shocker. But I agree with Lauren, you either have to really really want it or find a 'normal' job. Hollywood is full of beautiful talented people after all.

Lauren also talks about her other book, something she wrote as a side project just for fun and how it ended up published. Again she does not sugar coat it and reflects really well how celeb's books are published. Frankly, I have never heard of her fiction book before and listening her talk about it I am now really interested to pick it up.

She also talks about her time on Gilmore Girls and Parenthood set. Both times I was grinning like an idiot. Especially when it came to Gilmore Girls. I did erwache whole 7 seasons in preparation for Revival so my memory was very fresh and it was amazing listening her comments on things that happened. If you are Gilmore Girls fan you just must read Lauren's book, there is so much inside! But do it after you watched revival because she talks about it too. And about the final cliff hanger. Frankly, lately there has been rumours that Netflix might do more of Gilmore Girls but it is because of Lauren I do not believe them. The way she wrapped it I think it will always be a rumour. Tho who really knows, actors for sure find out last after all.

And then came Parenthood, I watched it all too and it wraped up a few years ago. I actually did not know all these insides and hearing Lauren talk about it was just so great! Again if you are a fan of Parenthood you must read this book! For example, did you know that these evenings at parents were not scripted? Or that they actually did feel like a family? I didn't. It was a nice surprise.

What else I should comment on? Frankly there is just so much of joy in this book, maybe because I am a fan of Lauren or maybe because she is just that talented. But one way or another she is an amazing actor and an amazing woman and just yeah...I am tearing up here a little bit. I guess I will leave you with a push towards reading this book, it is really really worth it, trust me! After all, we are all Gilmore Girls ain't we?


What do you guys think about TALKING AS FAST AS I CAN?