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Title details for Let's Face It by Kirk Douglas - Available

Let's Face It

90 Years of Living, Loving and Learning

by Kirk Douglas
Jason Alexander
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available

Kirk Douglas has been one of the brightest stars in Hollywood, a hard-charging actor whose intensity on the screen has been mirrored in his personal life. In this poignant and inspiring memoir, Douglas contemplates what life is all about, weighing current events from his present frame of mind while summoning the passions of his younger days.

Kirk Douglas is a born storyteller, and throughout Let's Face It he offers wonderful tales, favorite jokes, and hard-won insights. He explores the mixed blessings of growing older and looks back at his childhood, his young adulthood, and his storied, glamorous, and colorful life and career in Hollywood. He tells delightful stories of the making of such films as Spartacus, Lust for Life, Champion, The Bad and the Beautiful, and many others, and he includes anecdotes about such friends as Frank Sinatra, Burt Lancaster, Lauren Bacall, Ronald Reagan, Ava Gardner, Henry Kissinger, Fred Astaire, Yul Brynner, John Wayne, and Johnny Cash. He reveals the secrets that have kept him and his wife, Anne, happily married for more than five decades and talks fondly and movingly of times spent with his sons and grandchildren. He also reflects upon his Jewish faith and offers strong opinions on everything from racism to corporate greed to the war in Iraq and the situation in Israel.

A must-read for every fan, this engrossing memoir provides an indelible self-portrait of one of America's screen icons—while sharing the wit and wisdom Kirk Douglas has accumulated over a lifetime.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    February 18, 2008

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781481551182
      • File size: 171995 KB
      • Duration: 05:58:19

  • Languages

    • English

  • Levels

    • Text Difficulty: 9-12

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Ninety-year-old Kirk Douglas makes another splendid foray into his life (THE RAGMAN'S SON, MY STROKE OF LUCK), and Jason Alexander excels in its narration. Alexander's voice is friendly and inclusive, and his speech patterns are well suited for Douglas's many remembrances. His Yiddish pronunciations are perfect, and he tells a Borscht-belt joke with panache. Douglas's writing is appealing and conversational, offering a series of personal anecdotes, letters, poetry he's written, and poetry by the masters. He expresses deep concern about the kind of world we're leaving our children and shares his hard-learned philosophy, reflecting on his mistakes, his successes, his joys, his griefs, and his treasured friends and family. Alexander transforms the iconic movie star into the decent, humane man fans never knew--'til now. S.J.H. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      March 3, 2008
      Jason Alexander, though certainly a multifaceted actor with a wide array of stage and screen accomplishments, remains inextricably linked to playing George Costanza on Seinfeld. Narrating Douglas's latest memoir, Alexander walks a delicate tightrope. He speaks in a sage-like tone and pitch that capture the spirit and essence of Douglas without falling into the trap of mimicry. Some of the most delightful passages involve Douglas's recollections of witty exchanges among his show business contemporaries, almost all of whom the 91-year-old Douglas has outlived. Like many leading men of his era, Douglas was forced to downplay his ethnic heritage on the way to mainstream stardom, so his memories of Yiddish culture are especially poignant. Alexander treats the material with grace and dignity. He also delivers an especially memorable portrayal of Douglas's devoted wife Anne. Granted, some of the musings about contemporary politics and pop culture may seem random, but fans looking to savor a connection with a living legend will not be disappointed. A Wiley hardcover (reviewed online).

    • Publisher's Weekly

      February 26, 2007
      At 90 years old, recovered from a stroke and a near-fatal helicopter crash, acting legend Douglas is in a reflective mood: "now is the time to have an audit of my life," he writes, and he does not disappoint. Douglas recalls his childhood and his own children, 50-plus years of marriage to wife Anne and the deaths of his son and many of his famous friends. He tackles a wide range of topics, with chapter names like, "Three Thoughts About Two Races," "I Love Dogs" and "Does God Laugh?" He's also unafraid to take a few swings at the young 'uns, most notably at Mel Gibson, Michael Moore and even the whippersnappers at NASA. Douglas's assessment of his life is honest, wise and not always flattering; when he heard, in a recent documentary, what some family members had to say about him, he notes, "It's difficult to see ourselves as others see us." Nevertheless, Douglas is upbeat, engaging and full of sharp observations, such as his simple epitaph, "I tried, dammit, I tried."

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • Text Difficulty:9-12

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