Talking as Fast as I Can by Lauren Graham

Summary from Goodreads:

In this collection of personal essays, the beloved star of Gilmore Girls and Parenthood reveals stories about life, love, and working as a woman in Hollywood—along with behind-the-scenes dispatches from the set of the new Gilmore Girls, where she plays the fast-talking Lorelai Gilmore once again.

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; that’s 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 (“It’s 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, she’s aware that meeting guys at awards shows has its pitfalls (“If you’re meeting someone for the first time after three hours of hair, makeup, and styling, you’ve already set the bar too high”), and she’s 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, and—of course—talking as fast as you can.

Review:

So, this is not a YA book. Not even close. But like, YA, Gilmore Girls has played such an important role in my escapism as a teen and then an adult.

Gilmore Girls helps me get through the good and the bad. It's one of the few shows out there that I never seem to get enough of. I've re-watched every episode at least once every year since it's been on. I own every episode on DVD. The best gift I could have ever hoped for was A Year in the Life. It was like someone asked me what I wanted most in regards to entertainment, and they listened. I never thought I'd get even more of a gift than that. This book was that gift. I have so much love for this actress. It turns out she's a lot like the character she plays: hilarious, witty, intelligent, feminist, and amazing. I wish I knew her in real life, but this makes me feel just a little bit closer.

My wonderful boyfriend, who is now on season 4 of the show with me, gave me this book for Christmas. But, I “patiently” waited until my library could get a hold of the audio book because Graham reads it herself. I highly recommend listening to this one if you can. Though, she does refer to a lot of photographs in the book, and it was nice to have that hard copy/Christmas present as well.

I liked that I started this book, loving this actress. And I finished this book, loving her even more. I learned so much about her. I had no idea she ever lived in Chicago (my home town), and worked in one my all time favorite breakfast places: Anne Sather, selling cinnamon rolls. And in the book world, she works closely with a fave YA author of mine: Jennifer E. Smith.

I connected with her stories about curly hair, not knowing fashion yet loving Project Runway, and her passion for all the cast of Gilmore Girls. Listening to her talk about the show and then about A Year in the Life, was jus perfect. I didn’t want to get out of my car. I could have listened to her talk about it for five more discs.

If you are a Gilmore fan, you must read this. It made me smile. It made me tear up. And most of all, it just gave a tiny bit more closure. So much love. I give this a 10/10.