Rating: Summary: May I add . . . Review: --that this book is also of value even if you care nothing about bipolar conditions, for Kenneth Turan really convinced Patty Duke to put all her cards out on the table, and the result is more than just a medical textbook as some of the other reviewers would like you to believe. It is, among other things, the inside story of the most remarkable child actress of her day, and of a strange career that included Broadway stardom and the Academy Award for THE MIRACLE WORKER, as well as the punishing, grueling TV treadmill called THE PATTY DUKE SHOW, in which she played two lookalike cousins with such consummate verve that many children who watched the show thought there were actually two different actresses playing the parts, and of course the divine dreck of BILLIE, "Funny Little Butterflies," and VALLEY OF THE DOLLS.
Indeed it's a book that has everything, everything, including the details of her feud with Lucille Ball and her days counting her fingers to figure out if John Astin or Desi Jr was the father of her baby.
Her star has sunk in later years but she is still one of the incandescent acting personalities of our time.
Rating: Summary: An Easy and Interesting Read Review: Anna Marie Duke aka Patty Duke wrote her autobiography because her mother told her to tell her story...and that she did. Ms. Duke had a very troubled and difficult childhood. She was basically thrown into the hands of managers who stripped her of her personality, her self-esteem and, perhaps worst of all, her identity all together. She moved through the world and devoured everything she could get a hold of. She became the youngest person to ever win an Academy Award.This book shows you everything from her manager's forcing of in-depth study of dialects and hours of burdensome focus on details to her none-too-soon diagnosis with Manic Depression (aslso known as Bipolar Disorder and at one time known as Manic-Depressive Psychosis) and the Lithium that "saved her life." This is a wonderful book for anyone interested in her condition, show business in general, and psychology. Highly recommended! :v)
Rating: Summary: Thanks alot Review: Definitely read it. It's interesting. But this book is detrimental to public perception of manic depression, no matter how well Ms Duke meant by writing this book and then allowing the movie version. Yes, bipolar causes us (yeah, I have it too) to do some pretty dramatic things that look great and dramatic in books and movies. It gets attention and craziness sells. But as a person living responsibly with controlled bipolar, I can't appreciate this book or the film that followed it. The insurance company that refused to cover me must have seen it too.
Rating: Summary: A look at Bipolar or Manic Depressive Illness. Review: I found this book extremely informative. I could see the problems that a person dealing with this illness lives with as well as what family and friends must survive through.
Rating: Summary: A Must Read for anyone with Manic Depression, Bi-Polar & ADD Review: I read this book about 10 years ago, and it began a healingprocess in my own life. I have ADD but had been diagnosed ManicDepressed and Bi-Polar for 20 years due to the sub-characteristic symptoms that ADD/ADHD has...they are the same as a manic depressed person but not to the severity. It is an exceptional book of insight into this disorder, and an incredible biography of an incredible peer of the baby boomer generation! And a MUST after reading Patty Duke's (Anna) autobiography is to read her sequel which gives even more encouragement that those of us with any mental disorder are "not freaks" but can live healthy, functional lives and be of great help to our whole society. The sequel is "A Brilliant Madness" also by Patty Duke and Gloria Hochman, originally published by Bantam books.
Rating: Summary: Inspirational! Review: I read this book after watching the TV movie and because I liked the movie so much I just knew I had to read the book. I know someone who has Bi-Polar disorder and this book helped me understand it more and I must say that a lot of reviews here have been positive but I have read some nasty reviews by ignorant people who obviously do not understand the illness and their comments that Ms Duke was just a spoiled tempermental actress among other comments just prove that these people obviously need to get educated about Bi-Polar Disorder and they also need to take a sensitivity class as well!
Rating: Summary: A sigh of relief Review: I read this book years ago....and it changed my life. I had struggled with depression since I was a teenager, but fought the idea of taking medication. In my day, emotional problems were a sign of "weakmindedness"...and something I kept well hidden. Anna's story took away the shame. I appreciate the work Patty Duke has done to take away the sigma of this illness. Reading this book almost 15 years ago gave me a sense of relief....I finally decided to try medication and my life has never been the same. The most profound statement....when people ask me how it feels to be on mind altering drugs...I say....I feel just like you.....I have good and bad days, but I am living a normal life now....not floating in a chemical high (as I thought the drugs would do....) be living a normal life....and thrilled to be alive. THANK YOU PATTY DUKE. P.S. Read her other book...I think it is called "A Brilliant Madness"...GREAT READ!
Rating: Summary: A sigh of relief Review: I read this book years ago....and it changed my life. I had struggled with depression since I was a teenager, but fought the idea of taking medication. In my day, emotional problems were a sign of "weakmindedness"...and something I kept well hidden. Anna's story took away the shame. I appreciate the work Patty Duke has done to take away the sigma of this illness. Reading this book almost 15 years ago gave me a sense of relief....I finally decided to try medication and my life has never been the same. The most profound statement....when people ask me how it feels to be on mind altering drugs...I say....I feel just like you.....I have good and bad days, but I am living a normal life now....not floating in a chemical high (as I thought the drugs would do....) be living a normal life....and thrilled to be alive. THANK YOU PATTY DUKE. P.S. Read her other book...I think it is called "A Brilliant Madness"...GREAT READ!
Rating: Summary: Excellent Review: I really appreciate this book. Patty Duke tells her story well and I applaud her for having the courage to let the whole world know about her private adversities, especially her struggle with illness. Since learning more about Patty Duke, I also highly recommend a little book by Taro Gold called "Open Your Mind, Open Your Life" which contains many inspirational thoughts based on the Buddhism that Patty Duke practices. Excellent.
Rating: Summary: Interesting, fairly well-written memoir Review: In this memoir, Patty (nee Anna Marie) Duke recounts her life from young childhood to the age of her early forties. It is difficult to discern what did or did not really happen in most of the anecdotes Ms. Duke presents for our perusal, due to the emotional overlay and foul language she attaches to her accounts. (One supposes she is not always so sure what happened herself!). The book is generally interesting, and one believes Ms. Duke honestly wishes to help others by telling her story. One wishes for an end to the histrionics, however, after a while. This is, after all, the story of an entertainer's life, not that of someone who perhaps has made more of a contribution to society.
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