This Time Together, by Carol Burnett

Fun. Funny. An enjoyable reading experience. (Definitely something that I kinda wanted to read on the tails of yesterday's book! I needed something lighter! It was the perfect follow up.)

These words sum up my feelings about This Time Together, by Carol Burnett.

Now, I have to confess that my exposure to Carol Burnett is limited. I've seen bits and pieces of comedy sketches she has done. My most vivid memory of her is as Miss Hannigan in the movie Annie. She is always spoken so highly of though, and seems to have made the whole world laugh at various points in time that I was very curious to read this book.

This Time Together: Laughter and Reflection is a quick and easy read. The book is a collection of short stories based on Q&A sessions that she has hosted with studio and theater audiences around the country. For anyone familiar with the Carol Burnett Show, she would host Q&A's to warm her audience up and get them ready for the show. Essentially, this book reads as a series of short stories that she would give in answer to people's questions regarding her early career, interactions with other television and movie stars, etc.

I so enjoyed hearing about her relationship Jim Nabors (aka Gomer Pyle), CARY GRANT (my personal favorite), Lucy (of the I Love fame) and many, many others. I laughed over her interchanges with fans and got a kick out of hearing some of her early New York experiences. Carol Burnett has a way of telling a good story and getting a laugh. I've come to realize this through reading this book and have since parked myself in front of Youtube watching various Carol Burnett Show clips. And it's FUNNY! But then, I don't really need to tell that to any long time fan of Carol Burnett!

Most Hollywood memoirs (especially those published more recently) are distasteful and I leave them feeling like I learned more than I wanted to. Not so with Carol Burnett! I thought she was (mostly - as in 95% of the time!) tasteful and simply humorous. Burnett did write a book called One More Time that is memoir about growing up in a "dysfunctional but loving family." This Time Together isn't a life story, so I think it stays light, fluffy and, well, funny. She writes in the introduction:

"This time I'm emphasizing episodes and anecdotes that have brought me to the present time, although I've also included a few stories from childhood that bear repeating.
Originally I began writing this book as a simple series of anecdotes, but as I got into it I found that I went into more detail than I usually do onstage." (Introduction, page 2)

If you like Carol Burnett and her sense of humor, then I can't think as to why you wouldn't like this book. I'm glad to have read it as it made me more interesting in learning more about her. She's not just Miss Hannigan. She's that and so much more!

I keep using this word - but thanks to The Crown Publishing Group for the FUN of this read - for keeping it clean and for making me laugh!