Are You Hungry, Dear?: Life, Laughs, and Lasagna [Paperback]

Doris Roberts (Author), Danelle Morton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2004

Get to know Doris Roberts-and catch her wit, style, and zest for life in this candid autobiography. She plays the ultimate mother who smothers on top-rated sitcom "Everybody Loves Raymond," but her Emmy Award winning role is just part of Doris Roberts' story. In this delightful book, Doris reveals everything: from how she got her start in the world of Broadway to the choices she made that built a career and plunged her into a tough but satisfying life. Doris is thoroughly honest about life, about motherhood, about marriage, and about working in and out of the spotlight.

Doris is warm, she's real, and she's funny. Every page of this book sparkles with her personality, her opinions and her passions-including her passion for food. Each chapter is spiked with a wonderful recipe, chosen from the many she's collected over the years.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Roberts, who plays Marie Barone on the sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, uses her TV character's preoccupation with food to underscore her own needs in this memoir. Her autobiography isn't a sexy tell-all, but it's honest and life-affirming. Roberts was desperate for love and attention. What she got was a hardscrabble childhood, two tough marriages and a career she adored. She repeats her mantra-"I am a survivor"-throughout the book, along with her recipes. These delectable treats-lasagna, chicken crepes, flourless chocolate cake-match moods or milestones in her life. It's a cute, though not innovative, way of breaking up her tale. Roberts's dad left at her birth, her indifferent grandparents raised her in the Bronx, and her mother never paid her a compliment. Still, by age 11, she decided to be an actress, and she got some terrific breaks, due as much to talent as tenacity. That she pursued her dreams while raising a son is laudable, especially with little help from her family. A hardworking actress fond of peppering her prose with homilies (e.g., "If you want life to surprise you, you've got to be open to it rather than defending against it"), Roberts saves the best part of her saga-the early years, the struggle, the triumphs-for the last third of the book. Still, readers will applaud her victories, even if the recounting is less than stellar.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Actress Roberts weaves together recipes from her own kitchen with anecdotes from her life in show business to construct this effusive memoir. The Emmy-winning actress who plays the mother-in-law from hell, Marie Barone, on the hit television show Everybody Loves Raymond, tells stories from her life, along with lessons she has learned during her 40-year career, two marriages, various love affairs, and struggle to raise her son while building a successful acting career. Fans of the show will know that the character of Marie Barone is quite feisty; Roberts takes on that persona as narrator of this book, and she delivers spirited and amusing opinions on motherhood, ageism in Hollywood, seniors' sex lives, other people's cooking, and more. Her sure-to-be-in-demand memoir includes complete recipes for several Italian dishes. Casual readers, who know Roberts only from seeing her here and there on various TV shows and in supporting roles in movies, will enjoy the book, certainly, but Roberts' fans (and fans of the show) will get the most out of it. Kathleen Hughes
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (May 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031231227X
• ISBN-13: 978-0312312275
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,077,591 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A feisty dame tells funny tales of her long road to stardom, May 8, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Are You Hungry, Dear?: Life, Laughs, and Lasagna (Hardcover)

I don't watch "Raymond" regularly. I'm not fond of celebrity bios. But this book caught my eye and then I couldn't put it down.

Doris Roberts's journey from sad "Little Doris" to a full-blown diva in her 70s made me laugh: she had a varied career, and learned a lot about life as she learned about acting. Roberts even has her very own actress climbing-out-the-boardinghouse-window story! There's some pathos - handled graciously -- but most of the book reflects a courage and humor I admire. Even some of the recipes are funny!

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining, even if Marie Barone rubs you the wrong way, May 10, 2003

By 

Corinne H. Smith (Athol, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Are You Hungry, Dear?: Life, Laughs, and Lasagna (Hardcover)

Why do we read celebrity bios, anyway, if not to search for connections between the actor and his/her character? That's easy enough to do with Doris Roberts' life story, where shades of Marie Barone surface from time to time. By the end of the book, the reader has learned about Roberts' unusual Bronx childhood, her two marriages, her relationship with her son, her career move from New York to California, and some of the offscreen antics of the cast and crew of _Everybody Loves Raymond_ . There are enough facts to chew on without getting into too many intrusive personal details. Her extensive stage background is reflected in the structure of the book itself, for each chapter feels as though we're viewing a scene from her life. The presentation makes perfect sense even though the overall progression isn't chronological. The curtain call of each chapter is a recipe from Roberts' own files, a technique which has the effect of not only sharing a part of herself but also tying her even closer to her onscreen character. And who knows? Maybe she'll start a fad of throwing holiday Greed Parties! A natural sequel to Patricia Heaton's _Motherhood and Hollywood_. _Raymond_ fans will not be disappointed.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hearty and Heart-Felt, December 28, 2003

By 

Duke Marine (Newbury Park, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Are You Hungry, Dear?: Life, Laughs, and Lasagna (Hardcover)

Doris Roberts seems to be a very hearty, generally happy woman at least that's what the book conveys. A fabulous collection of her very personal memoirs and stories and advice, it's almost like having a conversation with the archetypical grandmother. But far from old-fashioned and foppish, Miss Doris is downright hilarious at times and speaks with the energy and zeal of somebody less than half her age (in fact, she puts most young people to shame when it comes to fully embracing and enjoying life). Her stories, taking place everywhere from New York theatre to Los Angeles tv to her bedroom, are all colorful and more entertaining than fiction ever could be. You can't make this stuff up! She opens herself up admirably, sharing her personal struggles and her darkest times as well as her triumphs and good days. Throughout, the conversational style of her and Danelle Morton's writing makes you feel more like you are spending time with a friend than reading a book. If you want advice from somebody who has been there before, or colorful tales from the world of entertainment, or a touching autobiography, or an endless source of laughter, or just some fabulous recipes (which the book is peppered with) then this book is for you!