Carol Burnett. Just saying her name conjures memories of the comedian whose influence has permeated much of my life. My childhood love of the stage began while watching her in the TV production of Once Upon a Mattress. The humor of The Carol Burnett Show tickled my adolescent funny bone. Her performance in Friendly Fire, as the mother of an Iowa soldier, changed my view of the Viet Nam War. Her role as Miss Hannigan in Annie always teases a smile and a shiver, no matter my mood.
After reading her first memoir, One More Time, my admiration for Burnett grew. No bitterness tinged the recounting of growing up with her eccentric grandmother in a one room flat. Though she didn’t sugar coating the poverty she experienced, the book was both funny and inspiring. So when my sister loaned me her signed copy of Burnett’s new memoir, This Time Together, I was delighted.
However, after finishing the book, I was a little disappointed. Don’t get me wrong. The book was enjoyable, full of funny vignettes about her brushes with the stars. Even after becoming a bonafide star, she grew starstruck around other Hollywood greats. In the presence of Cary Grant, she grew tongue-tied. When Joan Crawford wrote her a fan letter, Burnett didn’t know how to respond. When telling those stories, the comedian is as authentic and approachable as in her first book.
But unlike her first memoir, which told of her everyday life, family relationships, joys and disappointments, this one is mostly a series of chatty stories about Burnett’s public persona. Any references to family difficulties are brief and on the surface. Maybe they are too painful for her to delve into. Maybe she doesn’t want to dwell upon them. Maybe she wants to protect her family.
Those reasons are valid, and I understand them. But This Time Together didn’t live up to my expectations, perhaps because her first book was so good. It was still worth reading, because it’s by Carol Burnett, for Pete’s sake. But, it’s not worth reading again. I’m saving that luxury for One More Time…
I wonder if our library still has it.
