My Mother Was Nuts

A Memoir

By: Penny Marshall

Narrated by: Penny Marshall

Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

Most people know Penny Marshall as the director of Big and A League of Their Own. What they don’t know is her trailblazing career was a happy accident. In this funny and intimate memoir, Penny takes us from the stage of The Jackie Gleason Show in 1955 to Hollywood’s star-studded sets, offering up some hilarious detours along the way.

My Mother Was Nuts is an intimate backstage pass to Penny’s personal life, her breakout role on The Odd Couple, her exploits with Cindy Williams and John Belushi, and her travels across Europe with Art Garfunkel on the back of a motorcycle. We see Penny get married. And divorced. And married again (the second time to Rob Reiner). We meet a young Carrie Fisher, whose close friendship with Penny has spanned decades. And we see Penny at work with Tom Hanks, Mark Wahlberg, Whoopi Goldberg, Robert De Niro, and Whitney Houston.

Throughout it all, from her childhood spent tap dancing in the Bronx, to her rise as the star of Laverne & Shirley, Penny lived by simple rules: “try hard, help your friends, don’t get too crazy, and have fun.” With humor and heart, My Mother Was Nuts reveals there’s no one else quite like Penny Marshall.

©2012 Penny Marshall (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“There's as much practical, hard-won advice here as there is Hollywood gossip, and Marshall's boundless energy and no-nonsense attitude make for a fun read.” (Publishers Weekly)

“Hollywood aficionados will get a kick out of Marshall’s anecdotes about her circle of friends, including Albert Brooks, John Belushi, and Carrie Fisher, all told in a funny, down-to-earth manner.” (Booklist)

“Penny Marshall is a fascinating woman who has lived a life few of us could survive. Did you know she gave me two of the best jobs I’ve ever had? Of course not, because when she talks she is barely comprehensible. Read her memoir and you’ll come to love her as much as I do.” (Tom Hanks)

GO PEE BEFORE YOU START THIS BOOK!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

YES YES YES! So much fun really i almost peed myself. that was on the first chapter.

What did you like best about this story?

How everyone is crazy in the most magical kind of way.

Which scene was your favorite?

Every chapter it would be imposable to pick just one. I do want to be one of her friends who come to visit and stay for years at a time.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

GO PEE BEFORE YO SEE THIS MOVIE!!

Any additional comments?

I love this book!

I want to be friends with Penny Marshall

Would you consider the audio edition of My Mother Was Nuts to be better than the print version?

The audio version threw me at first, because let's face it, Penny's voice isn't the easiest to listen to. By the second chapter I was hooked though. To hear her story in her own voice was a wonderful experience and I don't think it would have been the same to read the print version with the voice in my head. Hearing how she speaks, her rough voice, her inflection, it made the stories she tells come to life!

What other book might you compare My Mother Was Nuts to and why?

Penny is just a funny but not as raunchy as Chelsea Handler.

What does Penny Marshall bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

As I explained about the audio version, just hearing her jagged smoker voice and her unusual pauses and inflection as she tells the story makes you feel like you are sitting in the room with her.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I nearly did listen to it all in one sitting! I started it on a flight, and I'll warn you, you will laugh out loud and get strange looks from fellow passengers. I continued to listen from the rental car and was tempted to keep driving past my destination just to finish it off. I've listened to some of the chapters a 2nd and 3rd time since finishing the book too!

Any additional comments?

After hearing her tell her stories, I want to be friends with Penny Marshall. I am young enough to only have vague memories of Laverne and Shirley, so I had no idea that she was involved with so many things in Hollywood. The book gave such a personal insight that I really just want to take her out for a beer!

The glories of growing up Bronx

Penny Marshall has a great ear and remembers the uniqueness of growing up in the fifties, of the West Bronx.

Women of a certain age will enjoy...

Penny and I were born the same year and so we share a common experience of history.
Her Bronx accent enhances her story and contributes to the humor in her personal and professional observations. Behind the scenes stories always entertain and this memoir works well for anyone familiar with her work in front of and behind the camera. One can't help but love her style...not a scintilla of manipulation.

Great book but just a little too much language for me!

This is my second memoir this year and I really enjoyed it.

My only complaint is the language, especially in the second half of the book which seems to have had more than the first half. I took off one star for that.

I loved hearing about the life and career of one of my favorite actresses and directors. I did have some trouble with her heavy accent in the beginning but I quickly adjusted to it.

Fantastic!!!!

So much I did not know about her!!! Laughed all the way through the book!

Loved it. Penny was hysterically funny.

I felt like I lost my best friend when I finished it. I am from Brooklyn so her accent was like coming home.

Meh

Starts off interesting, about her life
Then becomes a lot of about the making of specific movies which was more boring

Awesome book

Hearing Penny read this book was delightful. I hung off every word. So real and unfiltered.

Poignant , irreverent and touching

I enjoyed listening to Penny reminisce about growing up in the Bronx. Her stories are heartwarming and she obviously loves her family and friends .