In pieces : a memoir

Title:

Author:

Summary:

One of the most celebrated, beloved, and enduring actors of our time, Sally Field has an infectious charm that has captivated the nation for more than five decades, beginning with her first TV role at the age of seventeen. From Gidget's sweet-faced "girl next door" to the dazzling complexity of Sybil to the Academy Award-worthy ferocity and depth of Norma Rae and Mary Todd Lincoln, Field has stunned audiences time and time again with her artistic range and emotional acuity. Yet there is one character who always remained hidden: the shy and anxious little girl within. With raw honesty and the fresh, pitch-perfect prose of a natural-born writer, and with all the humility and authenticity her fans have come to expect, Field brings readers behind-the-scenes for not only the highs and lows of her star-studded early career in Hollywood, but deep into the truth of her lifelong relationships--including her complicated love for her own mother. Powerful and unforgettable, In Pieces is an inspiring and important account of life as a woman in the second half of the twentieth century.

Edition:

First edition.

Contents:

My grandmother's daughter -- Dick -- Jocko -- Libbit -- What goes up -- That summer -- Gidget -- Get thee to a nunnery -- Wired -- Together -- Second season -- Peter -- Transition -- Culpable -- Hungry -- Sybil -- The bandit -- Treading water -- Norma -- The end of the beginning -- Me, my mother, and Mary Todd -- Epilogue.

Physical Description:

viii, 404 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Genre:

Autobiographies.

Personal Subject:

Field, Sally.

Subject Term:

Motion picture actors and actresses -- Biography.

Publisher:

Grand Central Publishing,

Publication Date:

2018

ISBN:

9781538763025

Publication Information:

New York : Grand Central Publishing, 2018.

Call Number:

927 FIELD

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607003287961	Adult Nonfiction	927 FIELD	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

In this intimate, haunting literary memoir and New York Times Notable Book of the year, an American icon tells her own story for the first time -- about a challenging and lonely childhood, the craft that helped her find her voice, and a powerful emotional legacy that shaped her journey as a daughter and a mother.

One of the most celebrated, beloved, and enduring actors of our time, Sally Field has an infectious charm that has captivated the nation for more than five decades, beginning with her first TV role at the age of seventeen. From Gidget 's sweet-faced "girl next door" to the dazzling complexity of Sybil to the Academy Award-worthy ferocity and depth of Norma Rae and Mary Todd Lincoln, Field has stunned audiences time and time again with her artistic range and emotional acuity. Yet there is one character who always remained hidden: the shy and anxious little girl within.
With raw honesty and the fresh, pitch-perfect prose of a natural-born writer, and with all the humility and authenticity her fans have come to expect, Field brings readers behind-the-scenes for not only the highs and lows of her star-studded early career in Hollywood, but deep into the truth of her lifelong relationships--including her complicated love for her own mother. Powerful and unforgettable, In Pieces is an inspiring and important account of life as a woman in the second half of the twentieth century.

Author Notes

Sally Margaret Field was born on November 6, 1946 in California. She is an actress and director who has been recognized for her work with two Academy Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She began her career on television starring in roles such as The Flying Nun and Gidget. Her career took a turn when she portrayed a woman with multiple personality disorder in the miniseries 'Sybil" for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series. Her film career took off in the 1970's when she starred in movies such as "Stay Hungry", "Smokey and the Bandit", and "Hooper". She had continued success in the 1980's when she starred in the film Norma Rae and won an Academy Award for Best Actress.

She continued working in television in the 2000's with a role on the NBC drama ER which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series. As a director, Field is known for the television film The Christmas Tree, an episode of the HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon, as well as the feature film Beautiful. In 2014, she was presented with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Her memoir In Pieces was released in 2018 and immediately made the bestseller list.

(Bowker Author Biography)

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Actress Field's candid memoir exposes her constant loneliness and lifelong struggle to understand herself and her relationships with others. Field writes about her early family life growing up around Los Angeles, which included being sexually abused by her stepfather beginning at age 12, and maintaining an uneasy relationship with her alcoholic mother. She tells of her early acting career and her popular sitcom roles in Gidget and The Flying Nun when she was 17 and 20 respectively, and reveals that she hated the script for The Flying Nun and initially refused the part. Her stepfather bullied her into taking the role, which she disliked throughout its three-year run. At 22 in 1968, Field married her high school boyfriend. The marriage ended six years later, and it was then that Field met Burt Reynolds while filming Smokey and the Bandit. The three-year romantic relationship with Reynolds was unhealthy from the beginning: "Gently, Burt began to housebreak me, teaching me what was allowed and what was not." Field's stories about the earlier years of her career entertain, but the descriptions of her more recent projects feels rushed, as she barely mentions her roles in Steel Magnolias, Mrs. Doubtfire, and Forrest Gump. Ultimately, Fields paints a moving, complex self-portrait. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Library Journal Review

Talented and versatile Academy- and Emmy Award-winning actor Field's credits range from Gidget and Sybil to Norma Rae and Places in the Heart, among many others. Now she reveals the personal side of her story, along with her rise to fame. Reverberating throughout these pages is the impact of sexual abuse by her stepfather and her struggles to work through her relationship with her beloved mother. Field addresses these issues frankly, as she does the complex facets of her marriages and other associations (including her much-publicized relationship with actor Burt Reynolds), as well as various episodes in her behind-the-scenes professional life. Her discussion of building a vibrantly enduring acting career in the midst of turbulence is especially fascinating. There are vivid anecdotes from on and off the set, well-drawn accounts of priceless tutelage by famed Lee Strasberg, and powerful descriptions of how Field crafted major dramatic roles from deep within her emotional reservoir. It is all here and in Field's inimitable words, enhanced by thoughtfully chosen photographs. VERDICT Especially relevant in light of the growing awareness of rape and sexual assault, this engrossing, well-written work will appeal to fans and those previously unfamiliar with Field's work.-Carol J. Binkowski, Bloomfield, NJ © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.