This Much is True


While watching Miriam and Alan Lost in Scotland I was quite taken by Miriam Margolyes and when I found out she had written an autobiography, I had to read it.

I would give this five stars, except that it is written for a British audience.  She tells her entire professional history, naming perhaps hundreds of people with whom she has worked, but even though I am a theater person, I only recognized the names of a handful of them, until she got to the USA and started making movies.  There is also a lot about her feelings about British politics that it's difficult to follow.

That said, this is an otherwise delightful book and it got me checking out movies she has made (James and the Giant Peach is just plain weird!) and the wonderful 3 part documentary she made to learn about Australia, after she became a citizen of that country.  (I was disappointed that she never went to Western Australia and in 3 hours of material, we never see one single kangaroo!)

As I said, I would give this five stars if I were British, but perhaps 4-plus stars because of the content and how it made me curious about a person I never knew anything about before.

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