Customer Reviews

What Falls Away: A Memoir

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I read a whole lot. I like biographies especially, but I shied away from this one for a long time, not interested in the over-feted ex Mrs. Previn/ ex Mrs. Sinatra whose boyfriend seduced her own adult daughter and was suspected of molesting their own child. However, as a strong adoption proponent, a TV show on Mia and her many children finally convinced me to give this book a chance.

I really enjoyed it.

The talented Miss Farrow is an effective narrator, recounting her life without fanfare or hyperbole. She admits to her own weaknesses (you should read Eddie Fisher's autobiography for a non-example of THAT!), and she confesses that her movie-baby upbringing skewed her perspective of normalcy that most of us take for granted. She didn't even realize Frank Sinatra was a legend at the time of their marriage, for example.

She bubbles over trials (polio as a youngster, the death of her father, her divorces) with the attitude that negativity deserves no chance to crush the present. However, she spends more time on Allen; her account rings with absolute sincerity as she describes the ongoing perversions of his behavior with their daughter Dylan (and readily confesses her own "wrongness" for not stopping the inappropriateness long before she actually did, earning my respect). She even included, in an appendix, the court decision refusing Allen custody of the three children they shared and the reasons why.

Her anger does appear in defense of Dylan and especially upon discovery of Allen's affair with Soon-Yi, her daughter with Andre Previn. She describes without an iota of rancor or hatred scenes of him attempting to justify himself, but I could not help but want to smack him hard for the damage he foisted on innocent children. Yes, I think Mia should have been smarter in the first place about him. So does she. But he was wrong, evil.

Usually, after I read one biography, I read others about the same person (or about his or her loved ones, if they're famous and have their own books out) to try to avoid a skewed perspective of the truth... but in this case, it'll be quite a while before I would care to touch a Woody Allen ANYTHING, especially a book or film that would put money in his selfish, narcissistic, self-serving pocket.

Her adoption mania struck me as dysfunctional at first, but in context (Mia is, herself, one of seven children... and she always first consulted her present family before introducing a newcomer... many of whom were grown by the time new babies entered the scene), it's not as startling as I imagined. Again, she describes the evolution of her nuclear family without sensationalism, without a "glorify me because I'm so heroic" attitude, just with simple comment that children all deserve families to love them, even children that most "normal" families would find it difficult to love. She has the means, and she has the imperfect though always willing heart to back up her inclinations.

I would definitely recommend this book to read, although you may want to scope it out in a bookstore or library before buying it. It's not light fare.

Ms. Farrow has had--and, I'm sure, continues to have--an amazing life, and she chronicles it fairly completely in this memoir. She writes very well, though at times a bit sententiously and over-dramatically. If what she writes about him is true (and the judge who presided over their custody battle apparently thought it was), then Woody Allen--a genius at making movies--is a true monster in other more important ways. She spells this out clearly and convincingly. However, to balance things out, she also has one significant flaw. Woody Allen--the active pedophile, possibly saved from conviction by Mia's desire to not drag her 7-year old daughter through another ugly court battle--is a failed human being. But what to make of Ms Farrow, who clearly spells out his ongoing cruelty to her children, but never seems to be able to say more to him than "Please don't"? She seems so terribly NEEDY, so helpless, so syrupy that at times in the book I wanted to shake her and shout "Grow up! You're an adult! Stop pleading! Fight back! There IS a life without Frank, or Andre, or Woody!" Each of her major relationships with the men in her life infatuation which moved quickly to marriage (or--with Allen--virtual marriage), a very dependent relationship, and fairly rapid loss of her partner's interest in her as a full human being. Her liaison with Allen was simply this pattern writ large, and her children paid what may be a terrible price for her helplessness and blindness, as she herself admits. But this admission does not, I think, fully-enough take her share of the responsibility for standing by placatingly as Allen almost destroyed her never encountered anyone who loves children as she does (clearly it's an obsession, but I suppose there are "positive obsessions") and wants to save ALL of them, especially those whom few others would want to take on. She tells her remarkable story with what appears to be great honesty and courage and a lovely prose style. I'm fascinated by her, and by my reaction to her, because at the same time that I'm very impatient with her, I also admire and respect her for her spiritual quality, her integrity, her capacity for friendship,. I know I'd really like to have her as a friend...and, it appears clear in her memoir, so too do most of the people who have met and worked with her

This book basically gives a lot of insight into the mentality of Mia Farrow. Her good heart, but her weak character. I don't think it's any secret to any of us that what Woody Allen did would terrify us all, fathers and mothers alike. The court documentation in the book is a nice addition to clarify it. Mia Farrow's behaviour and her twisted relationship with father-figures shows what the illness is with a lot of women today, in which they defer to someone else's judgement about how to live their own lives. It's a book I'd recommend for every woman before she wants to have children.

I am a lover of memoirs, and this is the best one I've read in a long time. Mia's candor is praiseworthy, and I found this to be a very important book with meaningful themes. Mia is a tender woman with a tender heart, and I can't find it within myself to be overly critical of her or of her naivete with regard to relationships with men. I think she knows what her emotional abandon cost her, and cost her children. Still, she is an amazing woman with a generous heart. Others may be critical of her "obsession" with children, but I thank God for people like Mia who dare to love the "unlovable" children of the world --- children who have been tossed away without a care or a thought.

The story of Mia's marriage to Frank Sinatra, Andre Previn, and her long-term relationship with Woody Allen comprises most of the book. Through these relationships, she comes to terms with her own vulnerability, neediness and deep desire for intimacy. I don't think she's very different from a lot of women; different, perhaps, in how she chooses to go about attaining meaning in relationships. And certainly she is more passive than many women would have been in similar circumstances. At points during the book, I found myself angry with her for not just up and walking out, calling the police, getting a restraining order --- SOMETHING!! Instead, the lines I read were something to the effect of, "he wouldn't leave. I kept asking him, but he wouldn't leave, so I just let it go." Even after she was suspicious of Woody's (possible sexual) behavior toward their adopted daughter, Dylan, she was actually OVERJOYED when Woody encouraged her to adopt another girl, seen only in the photos of a boy she was trying to adopt!! I couldn't believe it...I thought she'd really flipped at that point. But throughout the book, I am reminded just how human Ms. Farrow is, and I am reminded of the humanity in us all --- the stupidity we knowingly walk in because it temporarily satisfies something in us, the deep desire for intimacy and love we itch and crave and long for, the desire to hope for good, hope for absolute good in people. We have all fallen in similar ways, I'm sure, perhaps, though, with different consequences. Unfortunately, Ms. Farrow's children had to pay the ultimate price for her lack of sound judgment. Unlike other memoirs I've read, she does, however, take responsibility for her wrong doing, and I appreciated that. She and her children have suffered greatly, have experienced a terrible loss, from which they may never fully recover. I do wonder about Soon-yi, though. If she was young and naive when Woody first persuaded her, why did she continue? Did she not appreciate the devastation and pain her relationship with Woody caused her mother and all of her brothers and sisters? Perhaps these questions and others may never be answered -- not for the reader, and possibly not for Ms. Farrow and her family. Still, the book is more than worth the time. An excellent read.

Mia Farrow has been someone I have always watched from afar. I knew vaguely about her problems with Woody Allen and I was aware of her large of family of children, being the adoptive mother of six myself, and the mother of three natural born children. So..I was curious to read her book. I think any mother reading this book will understand Mia and her basic instinct to keep her family intact no matter what. Her compassion for her family that said to her that just because someone does something wrong doesn't mean we turn our backs on them. She tried all the right steps in order to "fix" the situation with Woody and her children. In this book we hear the anguish of a mother, the unconditional love of a mother...the words of a human being who believes in committment. Any mother who has been in a relationship with an abusive man will identify with this book and find strength from it. Mia had the added hardship of living in the public eye..all her dirty laundry became public domain. I think every reader will agree that she didn't deserve it..and will find inspiration in a woman who shared her good luck, who returned what she had been given, with children who otherwise might not even be alive today.

Ms. Farrow is not only a talented actress, she is also a surprisingly good writer. She takes us behind the scenes of "Old Hollywood" in her memoir WHAT FALLS AWAY, and shares some of the pains and joys of growing up in an atmosphere where the motto seemed to be "Show the World how well you're doing even if you don't have a dime!" Mia bravely talks about her own mistakes which are so much a part of living and growing up. Behind the tall gates, idols and icons become real people with ordinary struggles.

This is not your run-of-the-mill Hollywood memoir. This is an excellent book which happens to be well written. {It should be noted that Mia is also a well recognized humanitarian who has helped and/or adopted numerous children with various challenges.}

I have always loved Mia Farrow. Her acting roles are some of the best that any actress has ever had, and now with her autobiography, Mia proves she is a first-rate writer and storyteller.
"What Falls Away" was originally published in 1997 and was a long-awaited book by many of Mia's fans, for we wanted to know more about her life, career, and relationships. Never one to be on the pages of the tabloids, Mia suddenly found herself on the top of the list of celebrities on the ragsheets when her relationship with Woody Allen came to a crashing hault. Her discovery that Allen was having an affair with one of her adopted children was like a time bomb going off in her life. It is this particular event that Mia writes about with delicacy, timidness, and forcefulness, as I am sure she knew that this tragic event in her life would be the hardest to discuss.
Mia also talks about her early childhood bout with polio, her friendship with Liza Minelli, her early role on TV's "Peyton Place", and her eventual movie stardom due to "Rosemary's Baby". She also recounts her affair and ultimate marriage to Frank Sinatra, and that fateful day on the set of "Rosemary's Baby" when Sinatra served her with divorce papers.
Mia is many things: a daughter, an actress, a philanthropist, great wife and partner, but most of all she is a fabulous mother. After reading her book one realizes out of all her accomplishments Mia is most proud of being a mom, for she herself delivered multiple children as well as adopted several infants.
"What Falls Away" is a must read that also contains several photos from Mia's own personal album.

This was written from the heart, Mia's pain seeps through the ink. Loved reading her story.

I usually love to read a good mystery. I decided to try this one out and loved it! Mia is so honest about her life's ups and downs. I recommend this!

Mia leaves her soul bare in this retelling of her brief life, it reads as if she were always the same age, having had to grow up quickly in large Hollywood family, coping with her parents' fame, her father's womanizing and his sudden death. As for her remembrances of her marriages to Sinatra and composer Andre Previn, she is gentle and appears to have no ill will; she lets the reader know each man will always have a piece of her, and that must make Sinatra's death all the more painful to her.

The chapters regarding her life with Woody Allen are not for the squeamish -- Mia writes frankly of Woody's disregard for her children (including the son they shared) and his unnatural relationships with daughters Dylan and Soon-Yi. Any instance of child abuse, regardless of whether or not the abuser is a celebrity, is enough to make me sick, and despite what I think of Woody Allen since reading this book, a part of me still wonders why it took so long for Mia to finally discover what was happening to her children. Read What Falls Away and decide for yourself if you want to see another Woody Allen film again.