I listened to Alan Alda’s Never Have Your Dog Stuffed read by Marc Cashman and an odd thing happened. When I think about the words, spoken in a voice not much like Alan Alda’s voice, I hear in my head, Alan Alda’s voice. I’m sure this has something to do with the fact that I have heard Mr Alda speaking just about everyday since 1972. Well, not Alda really, but Hawkeye, which amounts to the same thing. And Hawkeye is always on in a rerun.
I have been a fan of Alan Alda for a long time. I loved Same Time Next Year, in which he played a nice married man that met a nice married woman once a year to have sex- they were married, just not to each other. I also liked him as George Plimpton in Paper Lion. And I thought he was fun and a bit crazy in The Four Seasons. I didn’t think he deserved the Oscar for ten minutes of on screen time in The Aviator, and I guess no one else did either as he didn’t win. But is nice to see him nominated and working.
Never Have Your Dog Stuffed and Other Things I’ve Learned tells the story of Alda’s life. His famous actor father, his insane mother, his bouts with death, and the general kind of silly and serious stuff that make up all lives. Like most people, I guess I know him best as Hawkeye Peirce of the 4077th. And MASH does play a part in this book, but as just another role, albeit one that changed his life forever.
I like the rhythm of Alda’s writing, so much like the way he talks. I get the feeling that if I could sit down and chat with him, I would really like him and he would at least pretend to like me. I enjoyed this book. I liked spending 8 and half hours with the famous actor, who seems to still be surprised that he is famous. I was also shocked by the tale near the end of the book where he almost dies in South America, how did I miss that story? This was a really good book.
Trashionista liked this book as well and so did Kailana on The Written Word.
