I spent a lot of time contemplating which of these books on interesting people I wanted to delve into. I looked into several of the more well known biographies, such as Gandhi, MLK Jr., Malcolm X, John Adams, Mark Twain, etc. I was highly considering the Mark Twain biography after going to his boyhood home in Hannibal, Missouri a year ago. Then I saw the page count on it. After committing to the large anthology (880 pages) that I am very very slowly reading I decided that one large book for this challenge was enough.
I went with a biography that falls into one of my passions. I have several passions, baking yummy treats, reading, animals, and M*A*S*H*. The T.V. Series, not the movie or the books. Although they have their place.
My book choice is Never Have Your Dog Stuffed by Alan Alda...
I've loved M*A*S*H* for the last 15 years. I know it was long into syndication by then, but I was not alive while it was originally showing. Just a smidgen too young.
The biography is not a comprehensive account of his life. He touches on the events in his life that he feels shaped him. He writes about his life as a child of an actor/comedian, who as a youngster thought being in a burlesque was just normal. He writes about settling into in a home after an early nomadic life, being bullied in school, going to college, finding himself and his love, making a career, some about parenting and being a suburban adult. He writes all of this in a sharp wit that is characteristically Alan Alda, or Hawkeye if you are a fan of M*A*S*H*. Which just shows the amount of himself that he brought to the character during the series 11 year run.
I read through this book quickly, it was a shorter read and I was interested in what he wrote. I was hoping for more about his M*A*S*H* career. He touches on it. It's not ignored but I'll never get enough of M*A*S*H*. It was a good book. I am glad I read it.
Rating:****
272pp.
