Never Have Your Dog Stuffed: And Other Things I've Learned

Very insightful, .. thought provoking. I really enjoyed reading this book. He is a fascinating character. I highly recommend it to future readers.

Wonderful read, Alda is as wonderful an author as he is an actor.

As a big fan of Alda, and especially M*A*S*H, this is the first of his books to describe the pain behind the pain. And by pain, I mean Hawkeye, surely the pain driven behind his compassion. I don't think the two characters, real and imagined, can be separated. And the book's title tells you everything.

To tell the truth, I am not all that familiar with Alan Alda's career as an actor. I know that he was on M*A*S*H* but I was too young for the series and never watched it in syndication. He's a recognizable figure but wasn't a person of interest for me. However, I love memoirs and this one was promoted in a year-end sale, so I picked it up and was not at all disappointed. Alda has lived an amazing life, growing up as a young child in the wings of vaudeville stages and the family's journey to Hollywood where his father landed a few choice roles. Overall through the book is the running theme of his mother, who was an undiagnosed schizophrenic that made life extremely difficult for the family and her declining health and abilities in her elder years (as his career was coming in to full bloom) continued to burden Alda who did not know how to care for her and had such difficult emotional ties to her. Although it is a wide-open subject in the book, the story overall is actually pretty uplifting. Alda is a true "bootstrapper" and has worked his way from being the son of a vaudeville comedian to the respected actor that he is today all on his own.I was really intrigued to read about his bout with polio and the treatments for it which sounded horrible (and from a hindsight perspective, most likely totally ineffective). He also clearly has a gift with numbers and formulas -- he describes his well-researched theory into winning at the horsetrack (Key take-away: you need to lose a lot of money in order to make a lot of money) which was really interesting to read. He also has made some notable impressions as a speaker on Feminism and along the way made an assortment of interesting and influential friends.If you're looking for a celebrity kiss-and-tell, you won't find it here. He does recount some of the memories of working on M*A*S*H* and the impact that the show made on him as well as America (according to reports, the city of New York had water pressure issues during the broadcast of the series finale which were blamed on the gigantic numbers of people who were simultaneously watching the show; thus using the restroom at the same time during commercial breaks).

Alan Alda is one of the most respected actors, not only because of his long and successful career, but also because he has escaped the taint of Hollywood scandal. After reading his autobiography you know why - he has been married to the same woman for over 50 years, and grew up around actors and never wanted to do anything other than act and entertain people. Through a series of anecdotes, Alda describes his youth with an actor father who he adored and a mother who became more and more insane over the years. He met Arlene, the love of his life, when he was only 20 and they raised 3 daughters together. They had some very lean years, but he never gave up his commitment to act, though he took a few other menial jobs along the way to pay the rent.He writes about some important life lessons, including why you shouldn't stuff your dog: "It's... what happens when you hold on to any living moment longer than it wants you to. Memory can be a kind of mental taxidermy, trying to hold on to the present after it's become the past." He writes with great poignancy about his mother's mental illness: "...always, mixed in with the spring of her laughter were the dead leaves of the winter of her madness."He also writes with a degree of humor about the potentially fatal illness that he contracted while on assignment in Chile. However, and this is my only disappointment after reading the book, his humor didn't come across strongly in this autobiography. Some moments that could have come across humorously just sort of fell flat. And for a man that his spent his life entertaining, that's a shame.Nevertheless, Alda's autobiography is very informative and entertaining - two things he has strived to do his whole life.

He is now over 80 and has had an accomplished career as an actor. He has won many Emmys but he does not mention these in his memoir. His book is on his life journey. There is a lot more to him than his famous TV role in "M.A.S.H" the 1970s playing the wise-cracking army surgeon, Hawkeye, during the American-Korean war in the 1950s.He is a husband, father, grandfather and family man and married just the once which makes him unique in Hollywood but he has lived or based himself in the East coast of the US far from Hollywood and has maintained his integrity as a person and actor. He is one of the good guys in life. He recently, in 2018, set up a foundation to educate scientists in how to communicate science and their research better to the public. He used to present a long running American TV series on all aspects of science in the 1980s and 1990s and always had a keen interest in the subject. A man for all seasons.

Having watched M*A*S*H as a family growing up I bought this as a gift for my dad, who enjoyed it and then I borrowed it. Thoroughly enjoyable. It is an autobiography. Great to get a glimpse into Alan Alda's life, I was impressed by his humility and ability to reflect on his own attitudes. Obviously it covers M*A*S*H but despite being a significant stage in his career this doesn't dominate the book. The gentle way that he talks about other people in his life is really refreshing. Not sure it was what I expected, but really enjoyed it.

If you're looking for the standard show-biz autobiography you'll be disappointed. If you're looking for the life-journey of a curious mind who settled for acting, you're in for a treat. This is a 'what I learned and how I learned it' full of gems; worth the price simply for his definition of listening - only if you're prepared to change as a result of what you've heard can you call it listening (he puts it better) - and there's more, much more.Being UK-based, I didn't know that he'd presented a show based on interviews etc. with scientists, but it all made sense; who else could play Richard Feynman? This book is far more profound than those written by people who hail from more 'serious' professions; reflective, searching, pattern-seeking, independent, honourable ... of course I'd love the blow-by-blow account of what it was like to create MASH, and maybe we'll get that some time, but this is a treat of a different and remarkably nourishing order.

Well written and never boring journey through the world of acting. From a humble and somewhat unusual upbringing as a child in a travelling Burlesque troupe, a mother with mental health issues that were poorly understood or spoken about at the time, through to a struggling actor trying to keep body, soul and family together before career success, are dealt with in a humorous, self depreciating, thought provoking fashion.

This book is one of the best reads out there! It's full of character, warm and you hear Alan's voice in your head as you read! He skips on the glamorous "luvvie" lifestyle, in favour of family, real acting, writing, directing and feminism. His passion for these aspects of his life are really what's at the heart of this book. The book is witty, warm and hard to put down.