Customer Reviews

Undiscovered

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Winger has always been a thoughtful, and, in many ways, mercurial actress. There is no question about her onscreen chops as a triple Oscar-nomineee and major star despite a rambling, choosy, relatively sporadic resume.

Then again, Winger's wonderfully versatile choices (and performances) have stood the test of time ('Terms of Endearment,' 'Officer & A Gentleman,' 'Shadowlands,' and 'Urban Cowboy'--even delicious second-tier fare like 'Black Widow'). Perhaps Hollywood's current crop of mediocre talents could take a life-lesson from the gifted Winger, in this regard: scrutinize your destiny, your integrity, choose what lasts.

This book is Winger's very compelling way of doing just that, in essay form. Winger demonstrates that her way with the written word is well nigh as charismatic as her way with a line of film dialogue. Naturally, it helps that she was thrust into myriad adventures by her success in the 80s and 90s (and has something of immediate interest to "play-off of"), but the book works just as convincingly as a document of sometimes aching human self-discovery. Winger is able to recount mood and mayhem with the skill of a charming raconteur and technique of a solid writer.

In fact, I'm pleasantly surprised at how good a writer Winger proves herself to be. The book moves, almost dreamlike, from reflective episode to incisive commentary, and not necessarily with a strict chronological purpose--these are essays from the very soul, after all. Winger is by turns funny and subtly provocative, and, of course, takes time to drop an appropriate number of industry names and anecdotes for those more interested in her career self-perception than with the equally direct assessment of her close family life...a life away from the shackles of fame.

In many ways, this is one of the more rewarding and exceptionally written memoirs to come directly from a major film star in recent memory. Winger infuses the book with wisdom and honesty; apparently she's not only earned it--she's chosen it, and that makes an impact here. The reader comes away with the feeling that one has been given a rare opportunity to glimpse the journey of a genuinely attuned "Traveller" through Hollywood and beyond, rather than a caricature of Hollywood overwhelming a Traveller's voice and personality.

Great collection of memoir-ish essays. She'd be wise to write a screenplay or a stage play, with talent like this. Well done, Ms. Winger.

If you've ever seen Rosanna Arquette's self-indulgent, worshipful 2002 documentary, Searching for Debra Winger, you caught a glimpse of a well-regarded actress whose self-imposed and ultimately short-lived retirement inspired the film's eponymous title. In the film, Winger is trenchantly sardonic about the inherent sexism in Hollywood and proves to be a perceptive non-conformist unwilling to compromise for a youth-oriented industry she doesn't respect. Her new book reflects much of those same qualities, and true to her independent attitude, it is most definitely not a straightforward autobiography. Rather, it's a series of anecdotal essays and poems - sometimes meandering, sometimes emotionally incisive - primarily focused on the past dozen years of her life, a defining period in which she quit the A-List and elected to live her own life on a farm in the Catskills with her family. Winger supplements her personal accounts with drawings of various passageways not by her but by Philippe Petit, an aerialist most famous for walking a tightrope between the twin towers of the World Trade Center in 1974. Although she has not met Petit, it's clear she is making an analogy between his particular talent and the balancing act she has been managing between being an actress and a wife and mother.

Winger does share how she has since returned to acting on an occasional basis these days but more on her terms since she is obviously finding fulfillment elsewhere. Not that it's been a carefree pastoral existence in upstate New York since she had to take care for her dying mother. Winger's passion, so evident in her early 1980's roles like An Officer and a Gentleman and Terms of Endearment, is still very much in evidence in this book as she continues her quest to live life to the fullest regardless of the circumstances. At the same time, she can be unnecessarily cryptic about her motivations and thoughts. It's obvious she is avoiding any hint of a "tell-all" with this book, but the drawback is that we never really get her perspective on her infamously tempestuous reputation in the film industry. Perhaps she has evolved enough from her past to not feel the need to readdress it, but I have to admit I frankly haven't and would have loved to hear her side of things. The actress admits that she would prefer working more these days, and so would we. In the meantime, as Winger puts it, she is "always searching for the next door, the next role, the next change". Perhaps she could include the next book, a more revealing autobiography.

I bought this book as a huge fan of Debra's work and philosophies on life. This book is often incoherent. As an avid reader of books on spirituality and new age topics, I found this book almost unreadable. Debra clearly is tapped into a wonderful spiritual core and negotiates with it daily, like many of us. However, she does not have the skill to articulate this to a reader. It was like someone published things she scrawled out on napkins and something got lost in the translation. I am all for experimental reads, but this really pushed the limits. It is full of ego and it is disrespectful to the reader since it is almost impossible to glean anything from these ramblings. I am glad I got this on the bargain book table. I read this book in about an hour. The publisher must be kicking themselves. I hope Debra writes an autobiography with the help of a ghost writer.

I am sure she would attribute negative reviews of the book to people not being tapped into her and she would shrug it off. However, she needs to understand that this book is not palatable or accessible, and offers little to no depth or insight. For someone who purports to detest ego this book is very classist and ego-driven. It is a complete contradiction.

After having just seen her brilliant work in Rachel Getting Married, I know she still has the chops. I guess I will just watch interviews to get insight into the brilliant Debra Winger.

The cover photo is stunning and essentially what drew me to the book.

I love Debra Winger. I've enjoyed the interviews I've seen with her. She tends to be an introvert, like myself, and I did a special order for an autographed copy of this book when it came out.
I read it in about two hours, with a few breaks during that time. Not much in the way of length. But that's not the main problem. The worst part of this book is the rambling way she thinks and writes. You'll be reading about one subject and then suddenly switch to something non-related, then another. Made me wonder what the publisher was smoking. I would have sent this back and said, "Have you even read this? Were you on drugs when you wrote it?"
It could have been good. But it wasn't.
In the middle of this mess, she says a few brilliant snippets, a few of which I wrote down to keep. But you really have to fish to find them.

I always liked Debra Winger as an actress, but was never much interested in her as a person until I saw Rosanna Arquette's movie, Searching for Debra Winger. She seemed down to earth, and genuine in her love of acting but dislike for the business. Lots of actresses say they "hate" the business, yet there they are on the red carpet smiling for the cameras. Winger really left to settle in upstate New York.

I thought the book would be like the movie. More of her being very opinionated about why Hollywood sucks and how the life she chose away from there has served her better.

However, it is a series of journal entries and poems. Some insights, some poignant moments, some "What? Huh? What is she talking about?" moments.

If you or I wanted to publish our musings and ramblings we'd be laughed out of the publisher's offices. Funny, how someone who shuns celebrity, used hers to get her musings and ramblings turned into a 23 dollar book.

I wanted to know more about this (what I thought was a) forthright woman. She is still undiscovered to me.

If you have nothing concrete to say, perhaps reconsider accepting that book contract. Or rather - clearly state this is a book full of vague meanderings from a difficult star who somehow manages to convey that she is both grounded in the every day and yet removed from it all in a sort of superior, unaffected way. Oh and also in a self-absorbed way.
Ahh actresses. I know Ms. Winger is talented in front of the camera and I look forward to all of her performances but after reading this, it confirms my belief that actors who reach a level of success (and even many who do not) cannot help but also achieve a level of pretension that comes from not really having to worry about anything more important than what they think.

I loved Debra Winger as an actress and respected her decision to leave Hollywood to follow her bliss. She undoubtedly has many stories to tell about her film career, her marriages to two actors, and her subsequent life with her children. The problem is, this book doesn't give us anything besides her random musings about planting flowers on her farm.

To me, this book is what happens when a publishing company gives a book contract to a celebrity who has absolutely nothing to say. For those of us who expected more of a biography, or some insight about Debra's choices, it was a huge letdown.

I finally had to stop reading 3/4 of the way through this nonsense. I love autobiographies and biographies. I mistakenly thought this was the former. It is not. It is simply random thoughts, most of which are of no import. I cannot imagine anything in this book to be of interest to anyone other than Ms. Winger, herself. There is no continuity and Ms. Winger exposes absolutely nothing about herself - beyond proving that she has nothing interesting to say, that she has zero talent for writing and that she has carried her obvious obsession with self reflection to the point of the ridiculous.

Thanks to the reviews here, I already knew what to expect. As others have said, it's not an autobiography. I can't even call it a memoir. Frankly, I don't even know if she wrote the entire book in a traditional way. What I mean is, it seems like she's kept a journal her entire life and has picked which journal entries to include in the book.

I couldn't read this in one sitting. After sixty pages or so, it would get tedious and I'd have to put it down. You really get the "journal" vibe towards the second half of the book.

Personally, I think Winger should have gone a different route. I think she should have written an in depth biography like Jane Fonda did. That would have been much more fulfilling. However, it seems as if Debra is a very guarded person so it was interesting to at least get a small glimpse into her life.

I didn't expect this book to be as well written as it is. In fact, I started to read it fully expecting to hate it. I find that books written by Hollywood actors, when I bother to read them, they make me cringe a little. Until I shut them a few pages in and take them back to the library.

I like Debra Winger. I never expected to write that. Because I've never really enjoyed her acting or her movies. But I picked up the book because I liked the cover. She, if it is her, looks gorgeous from behind and standing on the liminal point of a threshhold in a doorway in the fall of her life, well, it won me over. Love the metaphor :).

Yes, the book is fragment and poetic and won't appeal to those looking for Hollywood gossip. In it you will find essays in a journal form written by a still youngish woman finding her fit in a upside-down world. She has been lucky enough to have an insightfulness (by accident, upbringing, good DNA or hard psychological introspection, or a combination) and the ability to articulate it.

Some people are reporters of the secret things they've been privy to know through suffering and triumphs. They have the ability to see and tell about them without senitment or an underlying detection of privilege, but as observers. They write them down to tell others who are paying attention.

I didn't expect it but it's one of the books I will read again, and also, happily recommend.

PS. She wrote about something, about the scene while on the "bull" in Urban Cowboy. The scene that some found simply sensual and titallating. And she wrote about the significance of that scene in regard to what a person would do, to try to reach out to someone they love/to be loved. I just thought that might be something the unsatisfied reader would pay attention to while reading this book. In my mind, it's sort of the theme.