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Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself | 
| Author: Alan Alda
Publisher: Random House
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy Used: $0.01
You Save: $24.94 (100%)
New (47) Used (131) Collectible (20) from $0.01
Rating:  58 reviews
Sales Rank: 191118
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 224
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.1
ISBN: 1400066174
Dewey Decimal Number: 792.028092
EAN: 9781400066179
ASIN: 1400066174
Publication Date: September 4, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
On the heels of his acclaimed memoir, Never Have Your Dog Stuffed, beloved actor and bestselling author Alan Alda has written Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself, an insightful and funny look at some of the impossible questions he’s asked himself over the years: What do I value? What, exactly, is the good life? (And what does that even mean?)
Picking up where his bestselling memoir left off–having been saved by emergency surgery after nearly dying on a mountaintop in Chile–Alda finds himself not only glad to be alive but searching for a way to squeeze the most juice out of his new life. Looking for a sense of meaning that would make this extra time count, he listens in on things he’s heard himself saying in private and in public at critical points in his life–from the turbulence of the sixties, to his first Broadway show, to the birth of his children, to the ache of September 11, and beyond. Reflecting on the transitions in his life and in all our lives, he notices that “doorways are where the truth is told,” and wonders if there’s one thing–art, activism, family, money, fame–that could lead to a “life of meaning.”
In a book that is candid, wise, and as questioning as it is incisive, Alda amuses and moves us with his unique and hilarious meditations on questions great and small. Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself is another superb Alan Alda performance, as inspiring and entertaining as the man himself.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 53 more reviews...
 Speeches are Best Heard, not Read June 5, 2009
Graceann Macleod (London, UK)
Perhaps I would have enjoyed Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself if I had listened to it, rather than reading it cold. Unfortunately, the book is not what I was expecting. I was hoping to read more anecdotes such as what he presented in Never Have Your Dog Stuffed, but this is a recitation of his various speeches, commencement addresses and eulogies, with some personal information used as set-up for those orations.
The set-ups to the speeches are the best part of the book. The stories of his first daughter when she was an infant; the heartbreaking story of the rabbits; his friendships with Ossie Davis, Peter Jennings and Anne Bancroft. This is the Alan Alda I wanted to read. I wasn't particularly interested in the advice he had for college graduates, scientists, or even other actors. His life as he's lived it is infinitely interesting, and I would have liked to have learned more about it.
It's certainly a worthwhile read for fans of Alan Alda (and I definitely count myself in that number). It is not the compelling read that I was counting on, however, and this is a pity.
 Dear Alan... have I told you lately.... April 14, 2009
Anita R. Somers (Putnam County, NY)
I so respect Alan Alda, that his book, (which happens to be great) could be the worst thing ever
published and I would probably still love it!!! So glad that I don't have to defend my opinion,
everyone I have lent it to loves it also. Just want to make sure I get it back, otherwise I shall have
to buy another copy. Maybe that is not such a bad idea!!!
 Not What I Expected... March 24, 2009
C. S. Anderson (Athens, GA)
I really wanted to like this book because I like what I have seen of Mr. Alda's career. I got to page 62 when the question "What is the point of finishing this" came to mind. A bunch of commentary about becoming a parent or being an activist, or being a activist parent. In part, I began to feel as if I was reading a book on political viewpoints from the 70's and 80's.
I expected the book to be a funny account of life-lessons learned, not a commentary about various public speaking engagements he made. Sadly, I don't recommend this book.
A pleasant cup of tea March 5, 2009
Angela
This is a review of the audio book version. I always had respected him as a person though I was not a M.A.S.H. fan. The stories are not sensational, but humble and honest and more for people willing to be moved by little things in life. There are stories of him as an actor, a celebrity, and even his fascination with the physicist Feynman which I found all interesting. His outlook on life is lovely and the book is not only entertaining but insightful as well.
A Triple in the Gap February 15, 2009
John Galluzzo (Weymouth, Massachusetts)
I'll say it up front. I didn't like it as much as I liked his first book. But that's my only complaint.
No matter how hard he tries, Alan Alda will never escape Hawkeye Pierce's grasp. As a lifelong M*A*S*H fan, I still find myself quoting the character, using his jokes and passing them off as mine. He was a genius, a standout in his time.
I've come to learn, though, after watching years of Scientific American Frontiers and now reading both of his books, that it's Alan Alda holding Hawkeye hostage. The same humor, the same deep reservoir of worldly knowledge that Hawkeye shared with us is still being mined today. Alan Alda is not Hawkeye; Hawkeye is Alan Alda.
This book, a collection of the many lectures and speeches given by Alda, does not flow as easily as his first work, but still gives fantastic windows into both his life and his original way of thinking. If his first book was a home run, this one is at least a triple up the gap, and the author is turning third trying for the inside-the-park job.
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