Julie's Home

I've been reading Julie Andrews' autobiography, Home, this week.  The version I actually owned was given to me by my mother, who'd read it.  It was in large type for her, but unfortunately, I can't read large type without hurting my eyes and my head, so I decided to take Ms. Andrews' book out of the library and read it that way.  (I sent the large type book back to my mother, who won't mind reading it again.)

I wasn't sure I would like it (I don't usually go for celebrity autobiographies), but I must say it's pretty good, despite being somewhat episodic in format.  Once in a while I have to skip over parts that are a bit too detailed for my interest (when she's listing the show business pals she had at certain times and places, for instance).  But for the most part I'm involved in her struggles and her successes.  The part about enduring the bombings during WWII is very informative.  Also interesting are her stories about her career.  She doesn't mind recounting her failures and mistakes--I like that about her.  It makes her seem more like a real person.

One thing that has struck me from reading this story is that Julia never had any other work but entertaining.  She grew up in a family of entertainers and just accepted her role in the family business with no complaints; in fact, she was happy with it.  There was no speculating on what she was going to do when she grew up--she was already doing it, from the age of eight or so.  Even as a child she worked hard at learning to sing, dance and act and those efforts helped her to succeed later on.

She counters the professional stories with the stories of her troubled family, mostly her mother and stepfather, who ended up as alcoholics she had to support.  But there were plenty of joys with her family as well, and she makes a point not to criticize her family members too much.  She just matter-of-factly describes what they did and said and how it affected her and others in her family.

Right now I'm at the part where she's making her Broadway debut with The Boyfriend, followed by My Fair Lady.  She's a hit, something that seems to surprise her.  I sometimes wonder if she was as humble as she makes herself out to have been, but I suspect that she was.

I didn't know much about Julie's career before Mary Poppins, so this is all new information to me.  Probably what makes it most interesting, however, is getting to know her, something she makes possible with the way she writes the book.

So, I'll likely finish Home this week.  Then it's on to the next, which I think will be Shakespearean Whodunits, edited by Mike Ashley, which is a collection of mysteries (in two volumes) based in part on Shakespeare's plays.  Each writer starts with a play and then comes up with a mystery that relates to the plot.  It's an interesting premise, but the writers are not well known, so I'm not sure I'm going to like them yet.

But I will let you know, of course, one way or the other.