Customer Reviews

I'll Scream Later

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I loved this book. I really connected with Marlee. The things she mentions about growing up deaf.. the way she had to have the lyrics written out for her to understand a song... the preference for action or thriller movies and tv shows simply because they are easier to understand.. There was so many simliarities between Marlee and myself it was like a literary looking glass. Of course the similiarities stop there as you will certainly never see me on the cover of a magazine or in a movie! But I felt I could connect with her. I also loved the fact that she doesn't really seem "hollywoodish" or better than everybody else.. She seems "normal" and laid back.

Marlee pretty much holds nothing back in this. She talks about her parents and the tensions she has with her mother. She comes clean about her drug use, sexual abuse at the hands of a babysitter and later, a teacher. She tells all about boyfriends, friends, movies, and also how she has felt attacked by the deaf community at times and why she has done some of the things she did that has set them in such a turmoil. A prime example is when she spoke rather than signed name nominations at an awards ceremony.

There was a bit of jumping back and forth but it's her story and she will tell it the way she wants to. The only thing I did not like was the pages after pages about William Hurt aka Bill. I couldn't stand him and I will never watch a movie that has him in it. I would have preferred more details about her happier relationships and less Bill. I respect he had a major impact on her but their fighting and screaming at each other and his hurting her got frustating to read so much of. Maybe a bit more of Richard Dean Anderson would have improved it.

I know this is a book review and not Facebook or Twitter or whatever them websites are, but I want to take time to thank Marlee Matlin for her amazing work in getting close captioning installed in the televisions in 1993. Life before close captioning was hard. It was impossible to watch tv and understand. Everybody would be laughing and you would feel left out sitting there wondering "what is so funny...???" Closed captioning has made a huge and wonderful impact on the deaf and hearing impaired community. Marlee, thanks. Until I read this I had no idea she was behind it. Wow.

Amazing woman. Amazing story. Amazing actress. An absolute must read for deaf women everywhere. Marlee did it. We can do it too. Deafness does not have to stop anybody from doing what they want to do.

This book didn't flow well. There was some jumping around and it read a lot like a "thank you" and "I'm sorry" letter at times. I wanted more narrative balance and more substance. But hey, it's the story of a life and not high fiction. That said, I enjoyed learning about Marlee's life the friendships she had. And I definitely support her courage for coming out as a survivor of sexual abuse. I just think the editors could have worked more to bring more cohesiveness to the book.

Matlin frankly discusses an interesting life, however, she never shares any of her emotions, even during the worst of her relationship with William Hurt or when winning her Oscar. This lack of emotion makes the book bloodless and at times quite dry; one does continue to wonder what she FELT.

Numerous punctation errors, sentence fragments, and the clunky way in which people being quoted speaking about her say things like, "Marlee did this" instead of "You did this" as it should be in a book written from the first person perspective detract from the flow of the book.

If you can overlook these problems, the book is full of interesting anecdotes and behind-the-scenes stories.

This memoir was nothing more than a chronology of the projects she's been in and the people she's met (all of whom were "great"). I felt this lacked any kind of substance into who she is as a person. I felt she should have delved more into her relationship with William Hurt as well as her relationship with her mother. She could have given us more insofar as how these relationships affected her emotionally and professionally. Also, there was a lot of jumping around - especially in the beginning. The writing was mediocre at best.

I'm a bit disappointed in this book... Although I come away with the feeling that Marlee is a brave, well-rounded, wonderful woman - she definitely takes the chance to capture herself as a real life "Mary Sue." The book seemed a bit self-indulgent: Everyone likes her, she "clicks" with everyone that comes her way, has oodles of fabulous friends, dated gorgeous moviestars, marries a wonderful guy, has amazing children, a perfectly main-streamed life, a career that just sort-of "happened" for her, etc.

I'm hard-of-hearing myself, and I only bought this book because I was truly interested in reading about the trials and tribulations of another person who has struggled (at times) with being deaf. I was looking to empathize with her, to find a bit of myself in the story of her life - maybe learn something that could help me to cope. But there was very little emphasis on her deafness. Where were the descriptions of what it's like to be deaf? The struggles? The embarrassments that are sure to happen along the way? Although I appreciated her ability to accept herself for who she is and live her life to the fullest - she outlines her life in a way that eludes her biggest audience: other deaf people.

If you are looking to read the story of her life from a standpoint of deafness - save your money. It's just another Hollywood autobiography, complete with drugs, glitter, and gorgeous moviestar boyfriends. Oh, and a woman that just happens to be deaf.

In my eagerness to read this book by Marlee Matlin, I searched all over NYC before ordering "I'll Scream Later" from Amazon.com. The first couple of chapters helped me to understand her earlier years and how she overcome the many obstacles. But, I lost interest once I got to the William "Bill" Hurt chapter's and the name dropping of Hollywood actors/friends. I understand this was part of her "recovery", it was way too much and jumped all over the place! I laid it down 3 weeks ago and still have not finished it.

I am glad I read this book after I saw Miss Matlin on "Dancing with The Stars" and "Celebrity Apprentice". She was awesome in both, and I have much respect for her and her work, not as a Deaf Actress, but a unique, kind, talented human being.

I plan on enrolling in ASL classes next month. This is very important to me.

Hollywood memoirs are all too often glossed over press releases about things we already knew about or weren't that interested in in the first place. Not so, I'LL SCREAM LATER. Marlee Matlin has an amazing hourney and she seems to live her life the way she danced on TV--with passion, with integrity and confidence. I was blown away by her amazing stories of triumph and tragedy, and happy that her ending is a happy one--she deserves it.

Like a few of the other reviews I found the book was all over the place. When talking about what others thoughts of Marlee were it was all very weirdly written.. Plus the "over-use" of name dropping "B" grade Hollywood nobodies who she met or knew was painful & embarassing to say the least... Not a book I'd recommend to anyone.. just plain awful & over-the-top crud... urgh sorry Marlee didn't like it one bit... suggest you seek out alternative editors next time as whoever helped edit this book was disgraceful...

I really enjoyed this book. I admire Marlee Matlin as it had to have been tough growing up deaf. I admire how she made the best of it and became such a successful actress. She has managed to live in a hearing world with much success and has been very blessed in life. She also has had many downs in her life of which she overcame them all. I found this book very interesting, refreshing and honest. I hadn't realized all the consistent and variety of acting she has accomplished til I read her book. It is a fast and easy read with great pictures. I wish she had disclosed what all the arguments with William Hurt were about. It seemed like all they did was fight and argue. I had to laugh when she wrote about her friendship "with benefits" with actor Rob Lowe. Is there anyone Rob Lowe missed bedding in Hollywood before he married lol? I caught her on Dancing With The Stars a few years back and was amazed at how great she looked and how superb she danced to music she couldn't even hear! She is a wonderful icon for the deaf community and has certainly proved it in all her endeavors. I recommend this book highly. You won't be disappointed and will end up quite impressed with this talented and wonderful woman!

It isn't easy trying to succeed as a Deaf person in the arts. I work in the business/legal side of the theatrical trade, so it's been a different road for me. But I know some amazingly talented actors, writers, dancers, filmmakers, etc that are unfortunately starting out at a disadvantage simply because they're Deaf.

I start off my review with this because I feel it's important to point out. Marlee Matlin "made it", but her book clearly shows that it wasn't easy. She has faced opposition from both the hearing and Deaf communities. Yet she has continued to work on her craft.

There were a few parts of the book that were a little clunky and didn't flow into beautifully lyrical prose, but that made the book more real to me. As if Ms. Matlin had a hand in writing the book rather than simply leaving it fully to a ghost-writer. That's just my opinion and I'm sticking to it.

I really enjoyed that the Kindle edition included all the pictures (albeit at the end of the book rather than interspersed throughout).