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125 of 136 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent, October 14, 2008
The Brady Bunch was a show that I discovered only in reruns as I was a little young when it first aired. By the time I did watch it, I was in my teens and thought the whole show was a bit of a joke and could not understand its cult following - however, over the years, it somehow kept resurfacing and despite myself, I got to know a little bit about each of the Brady kids. When I saw that Maureen McCormick was publishing her memoirs, I thought it would be interesting to read as I always thought she was the most interesting character on the show - and always felt that there was alot lurking behind the "good girl, hair of gold Brady".
As soon as I started reading, I absolutely fell in love with the pace, the tone and the overall story being told. The first thing I noticed (and was eternally grateful for) was that although Maureen does touch on her childhood, she does not go on and on about it for half the book. She basically gives us the highlights (which includes some surprising facts about her siblings and her parents) and then moves on to her early career. Yes, she does spend some time on her "Brady days" but tends to gloss over some of the key elements that I believe would have been fun to read. She does go into quite alot of detail about the "crushes/kissing/fondling" that happened among the Brady kids, but I would have liked to hear more about the dynamics behind the scene - that did not necessarily relate to the teenage lust that seemed to be rampant. I would have like to find out more about the chemistry of the actors, some funny onset stories would have been nice. There is a minimal amount of this type of thing - it seems as though the Brady kids were all about "teenage lust" which is okay - but I felt there could have been a little bit more substance here. Besides which, somebody is going to have to explain to me why every girl (including Maureen) had a thing for Greg? I mean, the guy is really average looking in my opinion!!!
However, what comes after the Brady years is really where you find the heart and soul of Maureen McCormick. Its going to be hard for me to write this review without giving away any of the spoilers, but I had NO IDEA just how far down she fell before she found the strength to pick herself up. To her credit, she exposes every raw nerve in this memoir and makes a point of saying that SHE alone is responsible for the situation(s) she got herself into. I have to say that she must have had a fairy godmother looking over her - because she really got herself into some horrible situations.
The writing here is exceptional and we get a very clear picture of just how screwed up Maureen was. When she talks about her meeting with her future husband, you can actually feel the tone of the writing change - there is hope and love in the writing.
Maureen McCormick needs to be commended for writing an honest, raw memoir. She could easily have gone the other way and written some bubblegum account of her life. Writing memoirs are always tricky because you can't or won't divulge other people's involvement in your life and Maureen has done an excellent job of keeping the focus on her and not on the "other" celebrities that she talks about in her book.
I read alot of these types of books and I can't encourage you enough to run to the bookstore for this one.
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31 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I LOVED THIS BOOK!, October 16, 2008
I read this book in two days, and I loved every minute of it. I thought it would be interesting to read about Maureen, the actress behind Marcia, to hear stories about the Brady Bunch, and to learn about her life today. What I got was that and so much more.
Maureen let's us in on who she is. Her life, her pitfalls, her triumphs, and writes an inspirational story many of us can relate to. We all have secrets, and Maureen tells them in a way that show us how easy it is to fall in, and better, what it takes to get out. It's nice to get to know Maureen through her book, to know that she's not Marcia, and to know that all of us have tough times, but that together we can get through them.
Bravo Maureen, thank you for writing such a bold book, I have so much respect for you.
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22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Entertaining and interesting, December 12, 2008
I gave this 3 stars because I felt it was a good, quick read, but nothing I'd read over and over again or have a need to own. I was impressed with most of her writing; there was nothing fancy about it but she didn't try to pretend to be some experienced writer and I liked that.
What I really liked is that she gets to the interesting stuff right away. So often, biographies start so far back and take forever to get to the part where things start to get interesting. Instead, McCormick really only spends a short chapter giving a background on her family and then weaves them into the picture throughout the book as necessary, until they become the focus later on.
She's had some of the already-seen struggles of a child celebrity such as bulimia and cocaine addiction. In fact, be forewarned if you're hoping to find Marcia Brady inside Maureen McCormick. The good girl you saw on the small screen is a bad girl off-screen for much of her 20s. Her plain-spoken manner lends itself well to the story, and aside from being a celebrity, she actually comes across as pretty down-to-earth (minus the heavy-duty vices she elaborates on in the book).
Later, though, she talks about challenges of claims of elder abuse by her psychotic brother and her senile father, and it goes into a pitiful account of her struggles with that. Knowing some of her struggles may keep others as interested as I was in my eagerness to keep reading more. Still, she seems powerless in a lot of situations and it's hard to always pick up from her writing just how she got to be that way.
The parts about the Bradys were the best, and if that's what you're looking for, then this is a worthwhile venture. For a die-hard Brady collector, this is a good book to have, and it's certainly deeper than Barry Williams book (although in fairness hers concentrates on a lifetime of celebrity and struggles whereas his book centered specifically on the Bradys). She recounts some juicy details and she didn't waste time getting to them, which was a real plus. Like I said, 3 stars because it was entertaining; I just reserve the higher ratings for something I'd be entertained by reading multiple times and maybe even owning.
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