Rating: 
Summary: BRAVO!
Review: Thank you, Anne, for sharing with us the most intimate details of your life. The things Anne has been through are amazing and the work she has done on herself is incredible. That someone can grow up in such grotesque surroundings in which any sliver of individuality was completely suppressed and subsequently develop enough strength to face the demons that were left inside them self is amazing! I can't help but be inspired by her strength and by the message she puts forth in the book, that you cannot love or receive love from another person until you love yourself and allow yourself to be who you are. Cliché, yes, but Anne does a beautiful job of showing us how she is working to achieve just that. In this book Anne shares with us the most hideous parts of the abuse she endured as a child and the ugliness she later faced in therapy and in her life. I had to keep reminding myself that this was non-fiction; I just couldn't believe this really happened. Although some parts were tough to get through, upon finishing the book I feel hopeful. As a social worker, I am fully aware of the many forms of abuse that exist within our society. The only people that can stop the cycle of abuse are those stuck in the cycle, the victims of abuse. These people must posses the energy and the courage to face themselves and their beliefs about themselves that have been put in their head by their abuser so as to not perpetuate the abuse. Anne has proven that it is possible. This is a brave piece of work Anne has put together and I am inspired by her courage and strength!
Rating:
Summary: BRAVO!
Review: Thank you, Anne, for sharing with us the most intimate details of your life. The things Anne has been through are amazing and the work she has done on herself is incredible. That someone can grow up in such grotesque surroundings in which any sliver of individuality was completely suppressed and subsequently develop enough strength to face the demons that were left inside them self is amazing! I can't help but be inspired by her strength and by the message she puts forth in the book, that you cannot love or receive love from another person until you love yourself and allow yourself to be who you are. Cliché, yes, but Anne does a beautiful job of showing us how she is working to achieve just that. In this book Anne shares with us the most hideous parts of the abuse she endured as a child and the ugliness she later faced in therapy and in her life. I had to keep reminding myself that this was non-fiction; I just couldn't believe this really happened. Although some parts were tough to get through, upon finishing the book I feel hopeful. As a social worker, I am fully aware of the many forms of abuse that exist within our society. The only people that can stop the cycle of abuse are those stuck in the cycle, the victims of abuse. These people must posses the energy and the courage to face themselves and their beliefs about themselves that have been put in their head by their abuser so as to not perpetuate the abuse. Anne has proven that it is possible. This is a brave piece of work Anne has put together and I am inspired by her courage and strength!
Rating: 
Summary: Yes, I would call her crazy
Review: The best thing about this book is that Anne speaks so highly of her relationship with Ellen. As for the rest of it, she clearly has some very interesting beliefs (especially, the one where she becomes God for a while), and even though she was never 'officially' diagnosed, I would call her crazy. If the facts of her childhood are correct, she did experience some horrific behavior by both her parents, and I do applaud the fact that she has become an accomplished actress. But, she is a mess, and to read her story is to get the inside view of a very disturbed mind. I ended up feeling sorry for her, and hoping that she (somehow) gets her life together. If you like Hollywood gossip and sordid details of sexual abuse and mental disorders, then this book is for you.
Rating:
Summary: Engaging, enlightening, and hopeful
Review: This book tells the real story behind Anne Heche's life and is incredibly compelling. Anne Heche is the movie star best known for dating Ellen DeGeneris for a while and then going "crazy" (i.e., having a psychotic break). At the height of her craziness, she was found one day wandering near a dirt road in Fresno waiting for a space ship to take her to heaven. But behind the madness is a story to explain it all. Heche survived god awful abuse as a child. All the crazy things in her life that happened subsequently make perfect sense in light of her past. For example, her Jesus complex stemmed from the fact that her mother devoted herself entirely to Jesus rather than to her family. (In one telling instance, Anne asked her mother what her mother's purpose in life was, and the mother responded "to serve Jesus and get to heaven," not to love her family or even to love herself. By "becoming" Jesus, Anne tried to finally earn her mother's love and approval.) The book demonstrates well that madness has a psychic basis and that recovery is possible. Plus, it's very readable and engaging. I really enjoyed it.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Solid Book
Review: This is a good "my story" book about DID. Those who suffer from it should draw strength from the book, especially those suffered from sexual abuse. Its well rounded book. I would recommend it. It is not a however a recovery book about DID as I felt some reviewers at Amazon.com thought it should be.
Rating: 
Summary: Intense book!
Review: This memoir was intense, it's hard to beleived that a person can go threw this and survive, Anne is a sensitive, beautiful and talented actresse, it take lots of courage to write that type of book and I think people who said she just want publicity they the one who are truely crazy, come on will someone write these type of things for publicity, I beleive they are narrow, cruel and selfish people who said that. It was a good book but something was missing, the writing maybe is not that good, we tent to want to give up reading but if you are a fan of Anne Heche or just want to know about this wonderful person and how she survive threw her abuse has a child read it.
Rating:
Summary: biography at its rawest yet strongest
Review: This reviewer limits the number of bright light bios because typically they reveal nothing except blaming others for the negative and taking credit for the positive. For the decadent reasons of hearing her side of the alien stories (take your pick), this reviewer decided to see how clever Anne Heche reheats three day old fast food leftovers.Surprisingly Ms. Heche determinedly opens her inner soul to readers revealing an alleged childhood of mostly psychological, but some physical abuse. The actress insists her past led to the tabloid-published accounts of her visiting a stranger ranting that a spaceship was taking her to heaven. Ms. Heche claims her father sexually molested her giving her herpes that went untreated because her mother believed in God's cure not modern medicine. Following years of intense therapy, she now writes insightfully about her downward emotional dive bordering on the other side of lunacy. This includes the romance with Ellen DeGeneres, though that is somewhat rationalized. Still Ms. Heche turns herself inside out providing a deep poignant look filled with anger yet hope for the end product adult to overcome derogatory raising as a child. This is biography at its rawest yet strongest. Harriet Klausner
|
