AUGUST 2014 - AudioFile
Lee Grant—actress, McCarthy blacklist survivor, and Academy Award winner—provides a somewhat labored narration of the introduction and final sections of this audiobook. The rest of her stream-of-consciousness memoir is narrated by Orlagh Cassidy in a soft, warm, and well-emoted manner. She provides an excellent match for the author’s personal, moody, and candid reflections on a life fully lived. Cassidy teases out every possible nuance of Grant’s regrets and insecurities as she evolved from actress to documentary filmmaker. Together, author and narrator provide a perfect blend of intimacy and forthrightness. W.A.G. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
05/26/2014
In this wonderful memoir, actor Grant charts her life from a childhood in New York City through her performance in Shampoo and beyond. In short vignettes (some chapters are only two pages long), Grant tells a story filled with innumerable twists and turns—from her wayward adolescence as Lyova Haskell Rosenthal to her early successes in the theaters of 1950s New York; her 12-year battle on Hollywood’s blacklist; to the reclamation of her career in the 1970s, while living in Malibu. Whether recalling the traumas of her first marriage to screenwriter Arnold Manoff or sharing entertaining memories of her famous friends—Marlon Brando, Mia Farrow, and Warren Beatty among them—Grant does so with a with a lively, approachable tone. Though famous for her achievements as a multi-award winning actor, director, and documentarian, Grant reveals herself to be woman unafraid of continual self-reinvention. These pages tell a gripping story full of drama, humor, and hardship, offering an intimate look into the singular life of one indefatigable protagonist. (July)
From the Publisher
The elegant theater and screen actress bares all of her insecurities and regrets…But there’s also an intimacy and directness in how she shares—including numerous dishy, behind-the-glam anecdotes….Grant has lived a long, full life. While she may prefer to be coy about precisely how long it’s lasted so far, I Said Yes to Everything serves as evidence that it’s been long enough to give her a meaty, multifaceted and compelling story to tell.”—Jen Chaney, The Washington Post
“No-holds-barred…Grant doesn’t make us read between the lines here; it’s all right there, on the page. When she was jubilant after winning an Oscar for her supporting role in Shampoo, we know it; when she was disgusted, as when a television network canceled her series without telling her, we know it, too; and, of course, when she was dismayed and bewildered and depressed when she couldn’t find work during her 12-year blacklisting, we know it for sure….An excellent show-business autobiography."—Booklist, STARRED review
“In this wonderful memoir, actor Grant charts her life from a childhood in New York City through her performance in Shampoo and beyond…Whether recalling the traumas of her first marriage to screenwriter Arnold Manoff or sharing entertaining memories of her famous friends, Grant does so with a with a lively, approachable tone. Though famous for her achievements as a multi-award winning actor, director, and documentarian, Grant reveals herself to be woman unafraid of continual self-reinvention. These pages tell a gripping story full of drama, humor, and hardship, offering an intimate look into the singular life of one indefatigable protagonist.”—Publishers Weekly
“[T]he resilience of [Lee Grant’s] career outlasted the 12-year period when she was blacklisted by HUAC for her political affiliations…she became one of the most respected actresses of her generation….Rife with appearances from some of Hollywood’s biggest names, including an unsuccessful date with Marlon Brando, Grant’s career proves that the elusive and oft-sought-after second chance can not only be had, it can be triumphantly redeeming. An insightful, sharp Hollywood memoir that will appeal to fans and newcomers alike.”—Kirkus
“Lee Grant's blacklist memoir is deliciously indiscreet. She has written the definitive tell-all about life on the blacklist and no one who cares at all about those dark days can afford not to read it.”
—Victor S. Navasky, author of National Book Award-winning Naming Names
“Lee Grant came to know herself as a child, as an actress, as a woman and as a thinker. I have come to know her intimately in reading her book, and am so grateful for the experience.”—Vanessa Redgrave
“Having had the privilege to work with Lee Grant on the motion picture screen was truly a delight. Now, out of nowhere, she has written a most wonderful book about her family and herself. It’s warm, it’s touching and it’s a book that speaks of the human experience—the wonders of it, the magic of it, the difficulties of it, the history of a life’s unfolding, beautifully and brilliantly with purpose and with guts.”—Sidney Poitier
“Read this book—every juicy page! Lee has lived her life and practiced her craft with reckless abandon, bravery, honesty and ultimately brutal clarity. You will want to be her friend, lover, child or student, and you will finish the final pages her ardent admirer. A ferocious and fragile woman who unapologetically states: For better or for worse, I'm right here!”—Frank Langella
"If there is any adventure, from love to politics, that you feel you've missed in life, Lee Grant has had it for you—and describes it here with wit, honesty and all five senses. No one, but no one, has better explained, say, the difference between the theater and Hollywood, between love and romance, or between families born and chosen. Go ahead, live a little. Say yes to Lee Grant."—Gloria Steinem
“Lee Grant’s I Said Yes to Everything is heart-stopping. More than just a show business memoir or chronicle of the Hollywood blacklist era, it is a terrifying account of a gifted artist’s tumultuous journey—both personal and professional. You will feel every jolt of terror that Grant endured, wondering if you would have been as brave. Her triumph becomes our own. Readers of this gripping book will surely reach the final page shouting a victorious ‘Yes!’ to everything that is Lee Grant.”—Marlo Thomas
“Lee Grant—I have worked with her—is a great actress. Lee Grant is also my friend—a great conversationalist. I never knew about her writing talent. She has written a wonderful book. It made me laugh, it made me cry. Read it!"—Kirk Douglas
“Lee knows how to tell a good story with passion, honesty and a good sense of humor.”—Michael Douglas
“It's so easy to say ‘Yes’! I loved Lee Grant's memoir—everything about it! She is direct, honest, witty and compelling!”—Dyan Cannon
“The minute I looked at the new memoir [by] actress Lee Grant, I knew I wouldn't be able to resist I Said Yes To Everything….I'm afraid I pretty much abandoned everything else until I read it. Lee Grant is one of America’s greatest actors, most heroic survivors, a contradictory enigma one minute, a sympathetic victim the next….who keeps turning it all around into triumph.”—Liz Smith
"Lee Grant's I Said Yes to Everything is a fantastic read. Beautifully written and brutally honest, she takes us through the highs and lows of her brilliant career and incredibly interesting personal life. I loved every page of it.”—Joy Behar
AUGUST 2014 - AudioFile
Lee Grant—actress, McCarthy blacklist survivor, and Academy Award winner—provides a somewhat labored narration of the introduction and final sections of this audiobook. The rest of her stream-of-consciousness memoir is narrated by Orlagh Cassidy in a soft, warm, and well-emoted manner. She provides an excellent match for the author’s personal, moody, and candid reflections on a life fully lived. Cassidy teases out every possible nuance of Grant’s regrets and insecurities as she evolved from actress to documentary filmmaker. Together, author and narrator provide a perfect blend of intimacy and forthrightness. W.A.G. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2014-05-29
Academy Award–winning actress Grant recounts the ups and downs of her professional and personal lives.Grant (born Lyova Haskell Rosenthal) was practically raised on the stage. Beginning at the Metropolitan Opera House, 4-year-old Grant was chosen to play a kidnapped child inL’Oracolo, but she broke scene during the opera’s climax as the star tenor was killed onstage. Grant’s precocious and heartwarmingly earnest attempt to warn the actor that he was about to be stabbed in the back won the affection of the audience. The author’s misstep, however, proved that she had a natural stage presence and that she was fearless and headlong, even if, as in this instance, it was foolhardy. After an unsuccessful attempt at a singing career, Grant truly found her footing at the Neighborhood Playhouse, where she learned method acting from Herbert Berghof, a student of Sanford Meisner. She even did a stint at the famed Actors Studio. Though Grant may not be a household name today, the resilience of her career outlasted the 12-year period when she was blacklisted by HUAC for her political affiliations (her first husband, playwright Arnold Manoff, was a registered communist), and she became one of the most respected actresses of her generation. Among her most well-known roles were inValley of the Dolls,In the Heat of the Night,Portnoy’s ComplaintandShampoo, which earned her an Oscar for best supporting actress, though she’d previously been nominated for her motion picture debut,Detective Story, in 1951. Rife with appearances from some of Hollywood’s biggest names, including an unsuccessful date with Marlon Brando, Grant’s career proves that the elusive and oft-sought-after second chance can not only be had, it can be triumphantly redeeming.An insightful, sharp Hollywood memoir that will appeal to fans and newcomers alike.
