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True Stories from an Unreliable Eyewitness
True Stories from an Unreliable Eyewitness: A Feminist Coming of Age | Christine Lahti
6 posts | 1 read | 1 reading | 8 to read
A fiercely intelligent, hilarious, and deeply feminist collection of interrelated personal stories from Academy, Emmy, and Golden Globe Awardwinning actress and director Christine Lahti. For decades, actress and director Christine Lahti has captivated the hearts and minds of her audience through iconic roles in Chicago Hope, Running on Empty, Housekeeping, And Justice for All, Swing Shift, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, God of Carnage, and The Blacklist. Now, in True Stories from an Unreliable Eyewitness, this acclaimed performer channels her creativity inward to share her own story for the first time on the page. In this poignant essay collection, Lahti focuses on three major periods of her life: her childhood, her early journey as an actress and activist, and the realities of her life as a middle-aged woman in Hollywood today. Lahtis comical and self-deprecating voice shines through in stories such as "Kidnapped" and "Shit Happens," and she takes a boldly honest look at the painful fissures in her family in pieces such as "Mama Mia" and "Running on Empty." Taken together, the collection illuminates watershed moments in Lahtis life, revealing her struggle to maintain integrity, fight her need for perfection, and remain true to her feminist inclinations. Lahtis wisdom and candid insights are reminiscent of Nora Ephrons I Feel Bad About My Neck and Joan Riverss I Hate Everyoneand yet her experiences are not exclusive to one generation. The soul of her writing can be seen as a spiritual mother to feminist actresses and comedic voices whose works are inspiring todays young women, including Amy Schumer, Lena Dunham, Amy Poehler, Caitlin Moran, and Jenny Lawson. Her stories reveal a stumbling journey toward agency and empowerment as a womana journey thats still very much a work in progress. True Stories from an Unreliable Eyewitness is about the power of storytelling to affirm and reframe the bedrock of who we are, revealing that were all unreliable eyewitnesses when it comes to our deeply personal memories. Told in a wildly fresh, unique voice, and with the unshakable ability to laugh at herself time and again, this is Christine Lahtis best performance yet.
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DebinHawaii
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#SchoolSpirit

There are many more but here are three books of #Essays that I particularly enjoyed & made me think.

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Perfect 🙌🏻📚 3mo
kspenmoll Love Solnit! (edited) 3mo
Eggs Great choices 👏🏻 3mo
Lesliereadsalot Try to listen to Chicago Humanities Tapes, the podcast with the interview with Roxanne Gay. That‘s my daughter‘s show! 3mo
40 likes4 comments
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DebinHawaii
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#ReadingResolutions #memoirmonday
I ❤️a good memoir. These are the last six memoirs that I've read or listened to. True, Jenna Fischer's is more of a guide for new actors-but there are enough of her personal stories that it leans to memoir. So we have award-winning feminist actress, astronaut, teenage true crime witness, teenage true crime witness/cult member, chef & television star/comedic actress. A pretty good assortment & I enjoyed them all.

JenReadsAlot Pretty sure I will add all of those to my TBR. 7y
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DebinHawaii
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Pickpick

A fan of her acting, now I'm a fan of Christine Lahti's writing. This book of personal essays about her childhood, beginning a career & her life & career today, looked at through a feminist lens, is smart, honest, funny & touching. The 4-ingredient Cacio e Pepe is inspired by Lahti's advice on getting through a romantic scene with a co-star you can't stand-think of something you love like your dog or favorite pasta dish...😍Review/recipe link👇🏻

TricksyTails That looks yummy! Thank you for sharing the recipe! 7y
Laalaleighh Totally making the this week and laughing about you skipping meat recipes, I do that too! 7y
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MinDea I LOVE cacio e pepe! We make that all the time! @DebinHawaii So yummy! 7y
hermyknee Mmmmm 7y
RealLifeReading I just had breakfast but now I want pasta for lunch! 7y
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DebinHawaii
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#Aprella #HighForThis ?Eating diner (leftover vegan ramen) while starting this book I'm reviewing next week, I was contemplating what to use for today's prompt & I thought--actress, came of age in the late 60s-70s, describes herself as a "hippie-feminist"-she must have gotten high. I flipped through some of the essays & bingo!--I found a passage where she sets out to lose her virginity in college & 'smoked a joint' beforehand. My work is done! ?

BiblioLitten 😀 7y
LauraBeth 😂😂 7y
Mdargusch Haha! Good job! 7y
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Cinfhen Wow, Deb....fact checking!!! So diligent 😘😘😘 7y
emilyhaldi Lol! Perfect thinking 😆😉 7y
Reviewsbylola 🤣🤣🤣 it‘s funny how the prompts can be applied in places unexpected! 7y
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DebinHawaii
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#MarchIntoOz #SoundsOfThen??Playing catch up with this photo challenge. This #ARC of personal stories by Christine Lahti is #bookmail for an April book tour review. Whenever I see Lahti, I can't help but think of 1988's "Running on Empty" movie where she played River Phoenix's mom. The family is on the run from the parents' involvement in a protest bombing & sing "Fire and Rain in the film & when I hear the song, it sounds of then.❤️#nostalgia

BookishJess02 Just when I think I'm over JACK & BOBBY (she played their mom) cancelled after one season, I see this photo. Nope. Still too soon. 😭😄 7y
DebinHawaii @WhovianNerd Sorry for the sad thoughts. 😆 That's on my list to watch. Is the one season worth it? 7y
BookishJess02 I liked it though it's be years since I've seen it, so I can't honestly say if I remember it fondly due to nostalgia or quality. I think it was well-received when it cam out. 7y
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MicheleinPhilly I have a huge soft spot for a movie she did with Matthew Modine called Gross Anatomy. I used to watch it over and over when I was a teen. 7y
DebinHawaii @WhovianNerd Good to know. I missed it for some reason when it came out. 7y
DebinHawaii @MicheleinPhilly I liked that movie too! 😀👍 7y
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DebinHawaii
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A Twitter notification popped up on my phone that the actress Christine Lahti is now following me. Cool!-I'm a fan (Swing Shift, Running On Empty...) But it did take me a few minutes (and a look at her Twitter feed) to figure out why she'd follow me--I'm on a book tour to review her soon-to-be-published collection of essays in April. And yes, I followed her back! 😆👍

Jess7 That‘s cool. Are we friends on Twitter? My handle is: www.twitter.com/greeneyedreader 7y
DebinHawaii @Jess7 I just followed you. I'm www.twitter.com/DebinHawaii 7y
Jess7 Followed you back 🤗 if you‘re on Instagram I‘m there too - www.instagram.com/thegreeneyedreader 7y
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Jess7 I also just started a brand new blog! thegreeneyedreader.wordpress.com 7y
DebinHawaii @Jess7 Followed you there too. I'm the usual www.instagram.com/debinhawaii 7y
DebinHawaii And cool on the blog! I'll take a look! 😀👍 7y
Jess7 Great! Followed you back 🤗🤗 7y
MemoirsForMe How cool is that! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 7y
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