Friday Reads: Have I Told You This Already?

This week's Friday Reads is a Friday Listen! Kelly has been listening to the audiobook of Lauren Graham's Have I Told You This Already?: Stories I Don't Want to Forget to Remember, which is read by the fast-talking author.

Most people would probably recognize Lauren Graham, though where they know her from may depend on how old they are. Some people would recognize her as one of Jerry's many brief girlfriends from Seinfeld; others know her best from Parenthood. She's been in a few movies and currently stars in The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers on Disney+. I, personally, will always think of her as Lorelai Gilmore.

Before she hit the small and silver screens, Graham majored in English, and it shows in her writing. (She also has an MFA in acting.) She's written both a novel and a previous book of memoir-ish essays. For the first 45 minutes or so of this audiobook, I couldn't help comparing this installment unfavorably to Talking as Fast as I Can, but it has now definitely hit its stride. Graham tells us more stories of how she worked her way up through small theatre productions, commercial gigs, and bit parts to achieve her current semi-celebrity status.

Because the sense you get from this book is that she is a "semi-celebrity." She shops and dines in the same places as Gwen Stefani and Ryan Reynolds, but she never loses her sense of wonder that she is there. She is also happy to be our informant "on the inside," spilling secrets about awards-shows arrival times and Hollywood hierarchies. She may not move in the same circles as the A-listers, but she's an old hand in the industry and seems to genuinely enjoy her job -- and to view it as just that, a job, though one with unusual and often really cool benefits.

I'd recommend reading or listening to her first book of essays, Talking as Fast as I Can, before this one. Each can stand alone, but Have I Told You This Already often assumes that the reader is familiar with stories and bits from the first book.