Heard this using Amazon audible. Viola provided the narration for her memoir & later received a Grammy award for it. Powerful & thought-provoking.
VioHeard this using Amazon audible. Viola provided the narration for her memoir & later received a Grammy award for it. Powerful & thought-provoking.
Viola Davis won many acting awards. EGOT= Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, 2 Tonys. Less than 20 artists in the US have achieved EGOT status.
Viola caught my attention from the jump. She was the 5th offspring of 6 to father Daniel & mother Mae who respectively had a 5th grade and 8th grade education. Alcoholic Daniel groomed horses at a racetrack & Mom did some factory work. So many of their arguments resulted in him beating her. Viola averaged about 2 hrs. of sleep at night, she was prepared to spring into action if Mom needed her. Viola was bullied because of her race and (perceived) looks and called hateful names.
The Davis family most of the time had food shortages. They had substandard housing in Rhode Island ie poor wiring, lack of heat, electric or when the pipes froze: there went the water supply. They also had rats. Rats ate any food they could find & the faces off the dolls the daughters owned. Landlords for the most part, did not fix things or provide an apt up to code. Many states started tenant-landlord laws in the 1970s. I'm unclear if Rhode Island had one on the books or selectively enforced it?
Viola noted the perception of the invisible Davis family because of their poverty and their dark skin. Viola, & her older sisters Diane and Delores became overachievers as a consequence. They protected the youngest, Danielle, when conflict arose or when their sire raged. Yrs later Daniel mellowed and helped raise his grandchildren. Viola's only brother John Henry subjected his sisters to incest: fondling & he raped 2 sisters.
When they could not afford a bus or train, they walked. The Davis siblings received a new outfit once a year at Easter. They relied on St. Vincent de Paul for used clothes & home items.
This was difficult to hear her experiences at times. But Viola showed her core strength. She praised her friends & mentors in school & those who trained actors. Upward Bound helped her catch the acting bug. She graduated from Rhode Island College & 4 yrs later from Julliard. She described herself as shy. She didn't realize Julliard expected those who auditioned for their school to devote 3 days to the process. She asked faculty "am I in or out?" as she needed to take a train & be on time for her Broadway role. She learned the hard way that Julliard forbade ethnic material. Sorry, I thought artists and administrators and writers more inclusive.
A fellow actor asked why was she single? Vi replied she was quirky and most considered her 'not pretty enough.' By her own admission, she prayed for a man even though she no longer went to church. She asked for a big, athletic, black Southern man, who had kids already, and felt accountable to God. Julius fit this ideal man criteria & so much more.
Viola met her future husband Julius in California, when she auditioned for "City of Angels" TV show. He "saw" her & treated her well. He had a genuine concern for her safety and hopes and dreams. I liked this aspect of the book, best. They gladly and proudly adopted their daughter Genesis.
George Clooney offered Viola & Julius to be the only occupants of his Italian villa for their honeymoon. The staff saw to their every need and gave them plenty of privacy. They cooked whatever the newly- weds wanted. Viola was intrigued by food, & trying new food, after her formative years without it.
Viola dispelled the myth that acting pays well. She offered these stats: actors have a 95% unemployment rate, 1% of actors make $50 K or > a year, only 4% of those belonging to SAG-AFRA make at least $20K a yr & then qualify for medical insurance!
Adam's father was raised on a farm, had a business degree, worked in a shipyard, for the American HeartNon-fiction, memoir, audio edition. 3.5 stars.
Adam's father was raised on a farm, had a business degree, worked in a shipyard, for the American Heart Assoc, and for clothing outlets which benefitted a faith-based homeless shelter. He also did fund- raising. His mom was a 3rd grade teacher. Adam was 1 of 3 kids.
Adam & family attended an independent fundament- alist Baptist (IFB) church. which taught, no : smoking, drinking, dancing, no: listening to secular music or movies, & mom did not work outside the home. All were taught to be reserved. And show no interest in politics. The Kinzingers didn't strictly adhere to these rules.
Adam discussed his high school and college years and his Air Force career of nearly 20 years. He served as an AF fighter-pilot in Iraq. He also transported wounded military to hospitals. One man who needed medical attn, had blood in his eyes. A haunting image.
While still in the AF, outside of a Milwaukee bar, Adam saw a woman with a stab wound in her neck, who called out for help. Adam subdued the perp and took the knife, till police arrived. Adam received several hero awards: Red Cross, Air Force National Guard award & AF Airmen Medal (latter seldom awarded). Recounted in chap. 3.
Adam showed an interest in politics from age 6 onward. He assisted his sire to run for an Illinois state lawmaker opening. Dad, perceived as "too honest," by voters, lost.
The author ran/ won a US Congress seat to represent his district in Illinois. He learned quickly that the GOP intertwined politics+ religion & they failed at times to live up to their own lofty standards. The GOP's agenda was, by design, opposite of the Democrat's agenda.
I can't agree w/ the author's perception of Pres. Obama, Dick Chaney, Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio. He seemed 'right on the money' describing how Kevin McCarthy physically intimidated his Congressional colleagues. McCarthy put his political ambition to be Speaker ahead of the truth about events leading up to and including MAGA, Oath Keeper etc followers on Jan. 6th storming of the US Capitol. He and I also agreed on the negativity/ alleged unethical breaches, etc. of Jim Jordan, & George Santos. And Matt Gaetz.
The majority of GOP Congressional lawmakers of both houses acted as lemmings/ enablers for Trump's alleged unethical/ Unconstitutional/ and criminal behaviors. (Other books indicated Trump admired Mobsters.) The author, Liz Cheney, Jeff Flake and a few others proved the exception to the rule. IMO history will not be kind to Pres. #45 & his Congressional minions.
Liz and Adam participated on the Jan. 6th US House committee. I learned atty John Eastman at 1st informed Trump that VP Mike Pence had no legal standing to question the electoral vote counts certified by each state. Nor did Pence have the authority to accept alternate electors for several key states. Eastman changed his mind.
The author admitted some mistakes in his personal and public lives. An interesting book....more