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Liked It2 of 2 members found this review helpful “Penny Marshall for may of us will always be Laverne De Fazio from the hugely popular show Laverne and Shirley. However, as this biography shows Penny Marshall had already gained prominence in tv for her work on The Odd Couple where she played Oscar's secretary Myrna Turner, and after Laverne and...” see full review » see other reviews » |
Didn’t Like It “Funny, not riveting but fun to relive those times with Penny. Swears too much for MS kids to read.” see full review » see other reviews » |
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“Entertaining and low key.”
londonpenguin wrote this review Friday, April 12, 2013. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“"Try hard, play by the rules, help your friends, don't get too crazy, and have fun." So goes Marshal's philosophy of life. Enjoyable book, fast read especially by the Director of good films such as Jumpin' Jack Flash, Awakenings and A League of Their Own. Sister to Garry Marshal, she breaks into show business through her brother. Married twice/divorced, one daughter and 3 grandchildren. She shares human foibles along the way. The life style is hectic and demanding. She recounts her fight with brain and lung cancer and her love of sports. Good book, worth your time.”
RT wrote this review Sunday, March 31, 2013. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“I enjoyed learning about Penny Marshall's early life and how it inspired her success later on. I did not enjoy however, the incessant name dropping throughout the book. I realize some of the names were necessary to allow her to tell her story, but I thought a lot of them became filler and made the story less understandable.”
Shay W wrote this review Tuesday, March 26, 2013. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“Interesting autobiography of Penny Marshall. She was certainly successful considering that she seems to have drifted through life.”
Sue Plaisance wrote this review Tuesday, February 19, 2013. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“Penny Marshall shares her life stories with her reader. She does not sugarcoat the stories she tells. She simple says this is who I am and these are some of the things that happened to me.”
Marianne C wrote this review Thursday, February 14, 2013. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“It was interesting to read this book right after her brother's book. Since Garry is 8 years older, he left for college when Penny was young. When they tell the same stories, they are quite similar. But Garry strikes me as a more likable, glass half full kind of person. I enjoyed Penny's stories. But near the end, the book seemed to bog down with details of directing a movie and name dropping.”
Julie E wrote this review Monday, February 4, 2013. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“This was free on the amazon kindle prime lending library and being a fan of Laverne and Shirley, and because I was in the mood for something less onerous, I opened it up. I really enjoyed it and it is not as fluffy as I thought. Turns out that Penny Marshall was part of a pack of Hollywood comedians and actors early on that turned out to be extremely influential. It is a good read and full of Hollywood history.”
Beth Hecht wrote this review Thursday, January 24, 2013. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“Funny, not riveting but fun to relive those times with Penny. Swears too much for MS kids to read. ”
Anita Laabs wrote this review Sunday, January 13, 2013. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“8.5 hrs - borrowed from dunlap library - "My mother said, 'One day you're going to jump off the roof of a building.' So, that gave me something to look forward to." — Penny Marshall At the age of twenty-six, Penny Marshall was a divorced mother of one living in the Bronx. One year later she starred in a Head & Shoulders commercial (she was the one with the dandruff) with Farah Fawcett. So began the unlikely career of one of Hollywood's most accomplished directors. My Mother Was Nuts tells the story of Marshall's incredible life, from her starring role on the classic sitcom Laverne and Shirley to her trailblazing moment as the first woman to direct a movie grossing more than $100 million at the box office. The book is a behind-the-scenes look at Hollywood life, exploring her friendships with John Belushi, Lorne Michaels, Art Garfunkel, and Carrie Fisher, her marriage and eventual divorce from Rob Reiner, and her experiences working with Tom Hanks, Robert DeNiro, Robin Williams, Geena Davis, Denzel Washington, and Drew Barrymore. This is a book about Hollywood, womanhood, and the power of Spanx.”
Catherine E wrote this review Saturday, January 12, 2013. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“This is a really good book. Penny Marshall is just as funny in print as she is on screen. I just finished it and enjoyed it and would definitely recommend it. I liked reading about the ins and outs of the TV world. I loved reading about her relationship with brother, Garry. I am not really sure how she got the title for her book in that she touched on what it was like living with her mother, however that was not the major focus of the book. It was definitely more a memoir about Penny's life. The title was catchy enough for me to want to pick it up and read it though. Now it makes me want to go and watch "Laverne and Shirley" reruns.”
Martha T wrote this review Friday, January 4, 2013. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No