Talking as Fast as I Can

I wasn’t originally going to review this book. The reasons being, to quote Chandler Bing, “are threefold”: a. I love, love, love Lauren Graham; b. the book has some weird tangents that I can’t in good conscience avoid mentioning c. I would never be able to bring myself to publicly critique this woman, who is an absolute genius, if I had truly negative things to say about the book (after all, I could never compromise my “reviewer’s integrity”).

Talking as Fast as I Can starts off extremely strongly, particularly if you listen to the audio (which highlights her acting abilities, including her singing…an added treat). The story begins as a memoir, discussing her upbringing and her jaunt into the wonderful world of acting. So far, so good. Lauren is self-deprecatingly hilarious and an extremely talented all-around artist, which includes a strong aptitude for writing. (Say what you will about the subject matter of the book, but Graham can write). Through the first section, about her early days as an actress in graduate school and then in a theater troupe, I was pleasantly engaged, with two thumbs up.

At that point, one of my thumbs started to waiver. The book, admittedly, takes some unexpected turns in the content department as it teeters between advice column, anecdotal essays, and personal stories, mostly out of chronological order. While it’s fine to jump around in time – and it’s fine to have a mixture of styles – the combination of styles and time periods is somewhat chaotic here. While I found the writing interesting and fun to hear, I was leaning towards not reviewing the book at this point… lest I not be able to give my girl, Lorelai, five well-earned stars.

Where Lauren starts to draw me back in is around the section that she discusses the importance of women lifting each other up and goes into a tale that focuses on giving advice to a younger generation. I will admit that, again, I wished I was reading more of a memoir, but her authenticity in this portion of the book is palpable. Lauren was twice a guest in the final season of “The Rosie O’Donnell Show,” and she struck me then, in 2002 – as she did Rosie and later Ellen – as a true, down-to-earth, funny, kick-butt kind of gal (or something that sounds cooler than that but equally awesome). From those days forward (though I didn’t get into Gilmore Girls and obviously Parenthood until much later), I knew I was a fan of Graham. Towards the back-half of the book, I started to recall that feeling: that she was my pal, decoupaging in the craft corner with Rosie.

When I knew, definitively, that I could give this book five stars (and mean it) is in the final section when Lauren discusses the Gilmore Girls revival. She is such a “real” person, and her account is so personal and touching. For fans of the show, this section alone makes Talking as Fast as I Can a must-have. Lauren is gracious and humble with an unbelievable work ethic and a positive attitude. Her stories might be slightly disjointed, but they’re uplifting; they’re positive; they’re the kinds of life affirmations that so many of us need right now. Lauren is confident, self-aware, and legitimately nice… with a large dose of humor thrown in… and she’s exactly the kind of role model – a person focused on the work before the glitz, glamour, fame, or fortune – that we should all be looking to for advice in today’s world… a world filled with reality shows and Caviar dreams.

Sure, maybe her book is a little quirky. I like quirky. Quirky is a good thing.

So thank you Lauren for giving us a slice of your life and for pouring your heart into your characters that have touched so many of us over so many years. Thank you for being appreciative of your audience and for offering us guidance, taking us under your wing through this writing in a way that only you can.

Copperboom.

“Talking as Fast as I can” is now on my absolute favorites list of books because Lauren truly is a Lorelai in real life, minus the whole single mother aspect. As you read this book you will notice how much of Lauren as a person is put into Lorelai as a character. Lauren is funny, and bluntly honest about the role acting has played in her life. She makes a point of talking about being a female and how sexism in hollywood. She has a chapter where she points out that we as females can be happy about being single. She also has a beautiful tribute to the Late Ms Carrie Fisher and her life as an amazing writer. She talks about the ending cliffhanger to Gilmore Girls revival without mentioning the last four words. She just really observes and gives her best opinions about life, while being so funny.

When I first heard about this book, I thought oh Lauren Graham has written her autobiography and it will be a great read because I am a fan. I put her in the fan bias category, that I would say most autobiographies by famous people achieved. You know the category of I will love this because I am already a fan of theirs.But after reading this book, thats not the category for it anymore. I rated this book five out of five stars because I will reread this book over and over again to learn more from Lauren and the lessons of life she has laid out for us. This is that kind of book where today you might feel one way but if you read it five years from now you might understand something she wrote better or differently, and for that reason I love this book. It is positively well written, very short for only 204 pages long. I can’t say enough about how much I love and would recommend this book to anyone

In Talking as Fast as I Can, Lauren Graham hits pause for a moment and looks back on her life, sharing laugh-out-loud stories about growing up, starting out as an actress, and, years later, sitting in her trailer on the Parenthood set and asking herself, Did you, um, make it? She opens up about the challenges of being single in Hollywood (Strangers were worried about me; thats how long I was single!), the time she was asked to audition her butt for a role, and her experience being a judge on Project Runway (Its like I had a fashion-induced blackout).

In What It Was Like, Part One, Graham sits down for an epic Gilmore Girls marathon and reflects on being cast as the fast-talking Lorelai Gilmore. The essay What It Was Like, Part Two reveals how it felt to pick up the role again nine years later, and what doing so has meant to her.

Some more things you will learn about Lauren: She once tried to go vegan just to bond with Ellen DeGeneres, shes aware that meeting guys at awards shows has its pitfalls (If youre meeting someone for the first time after three hours of hair, makeup, and styling, youve already set the bar too high), and shes a card-carrying REI shopper (My bungee cords now earn points!).

Including photos and excerpts from the diary Graham kept during the filming of the recent Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, this book is like a cozy night in, catching up with your best friend, laughing and swapping stories, andof coursetalking as fast as you can.

My Thoughts: I was probably one of the last people to come to the Gilmore Girls party, but once I discovered the show on Netflix, I couldnt stop watching. The term binge watching completely describes my experience.

Before I found myself a real fan of this show, I had already discovered Lauren Graham in movies and on Parenthood.

Now, in

Talking as Fast as I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls (and Everything in Between)

, I liked discovering her personal take on her movies, TV shows, and relationships. Her self-deprecating voice kept me smiling, even as I felt like someone who was having a conversation with her.

I liked learning how she came to start writing, and enjoyed her descriptions of her writing process, which included tidbits from someone whose process became part of her writing style.

But my favorite moments were the peeks behind the scenes on the sets, especially the ones related to the Gilmore Girls reboot. Special moments involved the connections with the cast who felt like family, and the emotions they experienced as they wrapped up the show. As a reader, I felt like I was part of it all. 4.5 stars.

Talking as fast as I can is an insightful look in to Laurens life, including an insightful look in to diets and the tricks to losing weight … spoiler alert there isn’t one. She gives us a frank discussion on botox and cosmetic surgery and why shes likely to never have either. She touches on the medias obsession with her love life (or lack of one) and the disbelief from many that she may actually be writing a book, all by herself.

But for me, the best part was her recap of all 7 seasons of Gilmore Girls. I even managed to feel a little teary as she talked about the show being cancelled after season 7 and the uncertainty that meant they never really had a chance to celebrate the shows success or say goodbye.

If you are one of the few who haven’t yet seen Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life you may want to skip the last chapter as it does contain spoilers. However, it doesn’t spoil the last four words.

I’ve seen a few interviews with Lauren, and its safe to say that she has managed to capture her personality between the pages.

I first started watching Gilmore Girls earlier this year on Netflix, not having heard of it before, and I have to say it is a truly marvelous series. I was so disappointed when it finished. But took great delight in watching the Revival. So I was intrigued to find out what Lauren Graham (“Lorelai”) had to say in her book and I have to say I was not disappointed. The way she writes is, in a way, the way she talks, so very funny from the beginning of her telling us how she started out, her ups and downs of trying to “make it”. She regrets not keeping diaries of the first series which you can only imagine would be an hilarious insight but she did manage to backtrack by watching some of the episodes. But she did keep journals of the Revival and it shows how much she and the rest of the cast really loved making the whole series and how well everyone got on….and still keep in touch. Her special relationship with Alexis and Kelly is very evident; also that with Melissa McCarthy and the rest of the cast. Also her time on Parenthood (which I haven’t seen yet). All in all it was a really, really excellent read and in fact, although I only had the books for a few weeks, I have read it twice.

I would recommend to anyone.

I finished the book in no time at all and it was that good I am reading it again.

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