The Book: When actress Diane Ladd developed a life threatening illness the doctors said that she could possibly prolong her life by increasing her lung capacity with long walks. Her daughter, actress Laura Dern, set up a regimen of walks which Diane resisted at first. But Laura would distract her mom by asking her mom questions about her life and career, including her divorce from Laura's dad Bruce Dern and the death of their first child. Then Diane turned the tables on Laura and asked her questions about her life, children and career including her divorce. The conversations are fun to listen to especially when they intensely disagree about their memories. They were determined to leave nothing unsaid. And they even include a few recipes for favorite foods they discuss.
The Author: Laura Dern and Diane Ladd
Genre: Non-Fiction (memoir)
Length: 8 hours on audiobook
One good thing: The book is written as a transcription of their talks but since this is an audiobook and they are reading their own "parts" it is especially effective because they recreate their actual conversations and each of them, being an actress, is very good at that. Even their arguments sound like they are occurring in the moment. I highly recommend listening to the audiobook for this book.
One not-so-great thing: If you listen to the audiobook version you apparently miss out on the photos that are included in the hard book.
