Born With Teeth by Kate Mulgrew – 8 discs
Audio Version
Book Blurb:
Raised by unconventional Irish Catholics who knew “how to drink, how to dance, how to talk, and how to stir up the devil,” Kate Mulgrew grew up with poetry and drama in her bones. But in her mother, a would-be artist burdened by the endless arrival of new babies, young Kate saw the consequences of a dream deferred. Determined to pursue her own no matter the cost, at 18 she left her small Midwestern town for New York, where, studying with the legendary Stella Adler, she learned the lesson that would define her as an actress: “Use it,” Adler told her. Whatever disappointment, pain, or anger life throws in your path, channel it into the work. It was a lesson she would need. At twenty-two, just as her career was taking off, she became pregnant and gave birth to a daughter. Having already signed the adoption papers, she was allowed only a fleeting glimpse of her child. As her star continued to rise, her life became increasingly demanding and fulfilling, a whirlwind of passionate love affairs, life-saving friendships, and bone-crunching work. Through it all, Mulgrew remained haunted by the loss of her daughter, until, two decades later, she found the courage to face the past and step into the most challenging role of her life, both on and off screen.
My Review: 4 stars
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Born With Teeth was an excellent audio book! I can’t know for certain if reading the book would be the same because listening to Kate Mulgrew talk is a gift in itself. Her voice is so beautiful, thick with emotion while deep, expressive and utterly feminine. If you know her from Ryan’s Hope, Star Trek Voyager or Orange Is The New Black, you certainly know what I’m referring to. I seriously felt like I was in the car with her and she was telling me her life story.
Born into a large Irish family and growing up in a small town in Iowa, this woman has plenty of laugh out loud moments to share that are equally foiled with some tragic ones. Her acting, both on TV and in the theater, became her salvation. She loves hard, plays by the rules, works like a demon and mothers like a ferocious mama bear. Haunted by the baby she gave up for adoption and the choices she made both in love and haste, you’ll certainly enjoy getting to know this remarkable woman who tells her story with skill and a writer’s heart.
Quotes I liked:
I’m always looking for my mother and, frankly, Kitten, it’s becoming exhausting, so I thought I’d ask you if you would be my mother.”
-“It’s hard to know what’s in a person’s heart when she never says good-bye.”
-“Shopping isn’t really my thing. Not when there are bookstores to be plundered and tombs to be explored.”
-“It was curious to me then, as now, the power of the performer over an audience when, in fact, the gift itself springs from the writer’s pen.”
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