Rating: 
Summary: The Weakest Link
Review: Anne Robinson is Irish--at least through ancestry--but beyond that, it's hard to find anything nice to say about her. Her family left Ireland during the famine of the 1840s and became part of the Irish community of Liverpool. With that kind of background, perhaps much should be forgiven, but what can you say about someone who makes her living insulting people?
According to the media, Anne Robinson enjoys the epithets "The Queen of Mean" and "The rudest woman on TV," and she brags about being labeled "The Host from Hell" and about Mike Tyson telling her--"You're one mean woman." Knowing all this, I picked up her recently published autobiography.
In it I learned that the only strong figure in her childhood was the dominating, pretentious, alcoholic mother that Anne wanted to please and emulate. The men in her life are cardboard figures--ineffective at best, abusive at worst--and we hear more than we want to know about the men who pawed her, seduced her, married her, abandoned her. We also read--in page after page of factual recountings--more than we want to know about her divorce and bitterly fought custody battle over her daughter, as well as Anne's own descent into alcoholism.
She becomes a newspaper reporter, and that is perhaps why we get facts instead of feelings. She must like reporting because she keeps going back to it, but we never learn how it feels to be a part of this exciting profession. She is sent to Northern Ireland to cover Bloody Sunday, but we get no idea of how she, an Irish Catholic, feels about The Troubles or of her role, other than her embarrassment at wearing the wrong color coat (emerald green) when interviewing Unionists.
She flirts with feminism after reading The Female Eunuch by Germaine Greer and notices that all the newspaper executives are men, but she comes to the conclusion that "...feminism was never much good at addressing reality."
We must admire her courage in facing her alcoholism and doing something about it. Perhaps it is here that her fighting Irish spirit comes to the fore.
The most sensitive writing in the book is the letter, written to her by daughter Emma on Mother's Day 2001, in which we are assured that she is loved--not just by the "sad men in their fifties" who fantasize about her as a dominatrix with whips...
Anne--the cultural chains forged between the Irish and America are strong and binding, but in this chain, YOU, madam, are the weakest link. Good bye!"
Rating:
Summary: The Weakest Link
Review: Anne Robinson is Irish--at least through ancestry--but beyond that, it's hard to find anything nice to say about her. Her family left Ireland during the famine of the 1840s and became part of the Irish community of Liverpool. With that kind of background, perhaps much should be forgiven, but what can you say about someone who makes her living insulting people?
According to the media, Anne Robinson enjoys the epithets "The Queen of Mean" and "The rudest woman on TV," and she brags about being labeled "The Host from Hell" and about Mike Tyson telling her--"You're one mean woman." Knowing all this, I picked up her recently published autobiography.
In it I learned that the only strong figure in her childhood was the dominating, pretentious, alcoholic mother that Anne wanted to please and emulate. The men in her life are cardboard figures--ineffective at best, abusive at worst--and we hear more than we want to know about the men who pawed her, seduced her, married her, abandoned her. We also read--in page after page of factual recountings--more than we want to know about her divorce and bitterly fought custody battle over her daughter, as well as Anne's own descent into alcoholism.
She becomes a newspaper reporter, and that is perhaps why we get facts instead of feelings. She must like reporting because she keeps going back to it, but we never learn how it feels to be a part of this exciting profession. She is sent to Northern Ireland to cover Bloody Sunday, but we get no idea of how she, an Irish Catholic, feels about The Troubles or of her role, other than her embarrassment at wearing the wrong color coat (emerald green) when interviewing Unionists.
She flirts with feminism after reading The Female Eunuch by Germaine Greer and notices that all the newspaper executives are men, but she comes to the conclusion that "...feminism was never much good at addressing reality."
We must admire her courage in facing her alcoholism and doing something about it. Perhaps it is here that her fighting Irish spirit comes to the fore.
The most sensitive writing in the book is the letter, written to her by daughter Emma on Mother's Day 2001, in which we are assured that she is loved--not just by the "sad men in their fifties" who fantasize about her as a dominatrix with whips...
Anne--the cultural chains forged between the Irish and America are strong and binding, but in this chain, YOU, madam, are the weakest link. Good bye!"
Rating: 
Summary: No, Not The Next Harry Potter Book
Review: Despite the eerie physical resemblance to her equally popular English sorcerer counterpart, this is not a book you may want your young children reading. "Memoirs" chronicles the fascinating (and, at times, brutally honest) life of Anne Robinson from life as a young girl with a bullying career-driven mother through her own rocky personal life but wildly successful professional career. Americans may only know Robinson from television's "The Weakest Link." But Robinson is no overnight success. Here we discover the decades she spent working her way up the ranks of Fleet Street and the BBC. Robinson also offers some many insights on two other famous Britain women of the time, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and the late Princess Diana.The memoir does a lot to dispel Robinson's image as just a nasty, insult-slinging witch. One certainly has sympathy for Robinson's struggles and respect for her ability to ultimately prevail time and time again. Nevertheless, Robinson is one tough lady and, like her game show persona, someone you would want to be on your side. All and all, "Memoirs" offers insights into the undeniable legacy of parents and the incredibly difficult balancing act between family and work - themes that should appeal even to those who are not fans of "The Weakest Link."
Rating:
Summary: No, Not The Next Harry Potter Book
Review: Despite the eerie physical resemblance to her equally popular English sorcerer counterpart, this is not a book you may want your young children reading. "Memoirs" chronicles the fascinating (and, at times, brutally honest) life of Anne Robinson from life as a young girl with a bullying career-driven mother through her own rocky personal life but wildly successful professional career. Americans may only know Robinson from television's "The Weakest Link." But Robinson is no overnight success. Here we discover the decades she spent working her way up the ranks of Fleet Street and the BBC. Robinson also offers some many insights on two other famous Britain women of the time, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and the late Princess Diana. The memoir does a lot to dispel Robinson's image as just a nasty, insult-slinging witch. One certainly has sympathy for Robinson's struggles and respect for her ability to ultimately prevail time and time again. Nevertheless, Robinson is one tough lady and, like her game show persona, someone you would want to be on your side. All and all, "Memoirs" offers insights into the undeniable legacy of parents and the incredibly difficult balancing act between family and work - themes that should appeal even to those who are not fans of "The Weakest Link."
Rating: 
Summary: The Side We Haven't Seen of Anne
Review: I absolutely loved this book. There can be no doubt that I do love the style of Anne Robinson on The Weakest Link. She has captivated me by her presnece and british quick-wit style. Some would take her as "The Queen of Mean", a hostile woman with no feeling, but this book has proven that myth wrong. Though she feels she has given her daughter a poor upbringing, and the guilt of this weighs still on her mind, she has proven herself to be very loving, and very much like your everyday, shop-aholic, hard working mother, daughter, sister, and friend. One could only be very blessed to know her personally. She could only give excitement to your life. I could not put this book down, I had to have it surgically removed from my fingers! :)
I hope she will continue to write, she has an especially wonderful sense of the english language, as being in journalism for over 30 years, and she has all her chairs in place. (As one would need to, to be a journalist, and hostess to The Weakest Link.) As a young woman, I could very much identify with her, and felt I had a friend as I turned each page.
Rating:
Summary: Delightful!
Review: I always watch "The Weakest Link" here in Europe with sort of a fist in my mouth - how can that woman be so horrible to people, and what an utter delight it is when someone gets one up on her. This biography talks not only about the way in which a truly dedicated woman got to the top of her field, but also about the way in which this "unfit mother" really did turn out to be a wonderful mother, with a wonderful daughter and with a wonderful relationship with said daughter. I suppose that Anne Robinson must be feeling sort of like Boris Karloff these days - he wasn't really Frankenstein's monster, and she isn't really the iron-fisted dominatrix of the television show. I read every word with great pleasure, and I recommend the book to everyone. The reason for four instead of five stars is that there are about three paragraphs in the whole book about "The Weakest Link". I really would have wanted to hear a lot more about the author's thoughts about what is a phenomenal show. Other than that, though, it was a great, great read.
Rating:
Summary: Delightful!
Review: I always watch "The Weakest Link" here in Europe with sort of a fist in my mouth - how can that woman be so horrible to people, and what an utter delight it is when someone gets one up on her. This biography talks not only about the way in which a truly dedicated woman got to the top of her field, but also about the way in which this "unfit mother" really did turn out to be a wonderful mother, with a wonderful daughter and with a wonderful relationship with said daughter. I suppose that Anne Robinson must be feeling sort of like Boris Karloff these days - he wasn't really Frankenstein's monster, and she isn't really the iron-fisted dominatrix of the television show. I read every word with great pleasure, and I recommend the book to everyone. The reason for four instead of five stars is that there are about three paragraphs in the whole book about "The Weakest Link". I really would have wanted to hear a lot more about the author's thoughts about what is a phenomenal show. Other than that, though, it was a great, great read.
Rating:
Summary: Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson...
Review: I bought the book yesterday and can already say that I love it. Anne Robinson sheds the "Host from Hell" image and reveals sensitive and touching stories about her roles as daughter, mother, wife, journalist and pop icon. A must-read for all "Weakest Link" fans. Goodbye!
Rating:
Summary: Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson...
Review: I bought the book yesterday and can already say that I love it. Anne Robinson sheds the "Host from Hell" image and reveals sensitive and touching stories about her roles as daughter, mother, wife, journalist and pop icon. A must-read for all "Weakest Link" fans. Goodbye!
Rating:
Summary: Refreshing!
Review: I disagree with the Library Review's comment: "Only die-hard fans of Robinson will find this even mildly interesting." I am not a die-hard fan, but I could not put this book down. It is refreshing and even exhilarating to hear someone being honest about their own faults, especially when everyone nowadays wants to be the victim. Robinson does just that, pointing out that obviously her mother contributed to her life in negative ways as in positive ways, but her mother did not make her a drunk and her mother did not get her dry. Anne got to both of those locations herself, and candidly describes each journey. After reading this book, I HAVE found myself to admire this lady and even want to emulate her in many respects. I believe anyone with an open attitude towards her would have to say the same. Evidently the Library Reviewer was already predisposed to disliking Anne Robinson--a bad predisposition for journalists, in my opinion!
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