If I Only Knew Then...: Learning from Our Mistakes

by Charles Grodin Narrated by Charles Grodin, Marion Grodin

Overview

Writer, activist, and actor Charles Grodin delivers a fascinating collection of more than eighty intimate and revealing stories from friends and colleagues in the worlds of entertainment, sports, journalism, politics, and business-inspiring, entertaining, and heartfelt accounts of mistakes they've made and the lessons they learned.


Carol Burnett writes about an ill-fated meeting with Cary Grant. Rosie O'Donnell remembers her inability to express her love for a close girlfriend. Senator Orrin Hatch regrets voting against Martin Luther King Day. Goldie Hawn considers her last day on Laugh-In...and that's just the beginning!

Alan Alda overprepares for an interview. Ben Stiller wonders whether he should have stayed in school. Kenneth Cole gets mixed up during an important speech. Lily Tomlin reconsiders a wardrobe choice. And what do Shirley MacLaine and Paul Newman regret? You'll have to read to find out.

If Only I Knew Then... is that rare book that could change your life. We aren't always aware we're making mistakes. These wonderful stories offer insights that could keep us from erring in the future. Don't make the mistake of not reading this book!

All of Mr. Grodin's proceeds from this book will be donated to HELP USA, a not-for-profit organization with a mission to empower the homeless and others in need to become and remain self-reliant.

Editorial Reviews

"If you don't get wiser as you get older, then you just get older." To test his own adage, freewheeling commentator Charles Grodin decided to get a little help from his friends. He asked a surprising assortment of bigwigs to identify their biggest mistakes and what these blunders taught them. The roster of celebrities qualifies as awesome: Paul Newman, Carol Burnett, and Walter Cronkite rub elbows with Rosie O'Donnell, Mikhail Baryshnikov, and Senator Orrin Hatch. And, we should hasten to add, the mistakes are as entertaining as they are instructive.

Publishers Weekly

When actor and TV commentator Grodin (It Would Be So Nice if You Weren't Here) asked Shirley MacLaine about her biggest mistake, she suggested he go ask President Bush about his. Others of the 82 celebrity contributors to this collection who look back at lessons learned the hard way squirmed to evade Grodin's "truth or dare," while many have risen to the challenge with painful memories of nervousness, humiliation, social embarrassments, shame, regret, denial and guilt. Recalling an incident when she was 13, Mary Steenburgen can still "feel my face burn with shame at my own snobbery." After Leonard Nimoy ignored a publisher's warning, fans wrongly interpreted the title of his memoir, I Am Not Spock,to mean he was "rejecting the character and all things connected with Star Trek." Walter Cronkite's "biggest mistake" was retiring too soon. The standout piece is by Pete Hamill, who compresses his entire life into five pages as he reflects on the aftermath of his decision to drop out of high school. (Grodin will donate his royalties to HELP USA, which serves the homeless.) (Nov. 1)

Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information

JUN/JUL 08 - AudioFile

Charles Grodin offers these personal accounts of regret and reminiscence from a large celebrity A-list that includes Ben Stiller, Rosie O'Donnell, and Paul Newman. The stories, each narrated by Grodin himself and his daughter, Marion, a comedian in her own right, are entertaining and original. However, the narration is stagnant, leaving the audience to wonder why the celebrities couldn't narrate their stories themselves. There is a clear disconnect between the narrators and the stories, which causes them to lose some of their impact. However, the intimate material ultimately prevails, keeping the listener engaged. L.B. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940173835840
Publisher:	Hachette Audio
Publication date:	11/01/2007
Edition description:	Unabridged

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