Born With Teeth
Born With Teeth is not at all what I've come to expect from celebrity memoirs. Granted, most of the celebrity memoirs I've read lately have been from comedians. Still, they tended to be light, quick reads. Even the ones that tackled heavier subjects went by pretty fast. This wasn't the case with Kate Mulgrew's memoir, which took me a week to read. And not just because of my pregnancy-induced exhaustion. There's a lot in this book, and it all adds up to Mulgrew being an extraordinary (and distinctly Irish-Catholic) woman.
Mulgrew's memoirs is somewhat less focused on the acting aspect of her life than I expected. She mentions most of the TV shows and plays she acted in, and of course she devotes a chapter to Voyager. But there are also chapters devoted to her relationships and romances, her various adventures around the world, and her family. Even though Mulgrew wanted to be an actress from a very young age and worked incredibly hard to achieve that dream (and then to earn a living as an actress), I was left with the impression that there was so much more to her than acting.
Mulgrew spends time talking about her first pregnancy and the daughter she gave up for adoption, her rape at knife point, her first fiance (who I would classify as abusive), and the tensions between her and her first husband and two sons. She's incredibly unapologetic, which is rare in a woman. Although some of her Catholic guilt seems to seep around the edges, simply in the things that she chooses to confess.
I liked Mulgrew's work as an actress before I read this book. I remember loving Star Trek: Voyager when I was younger, and she's fantastic in the more recent Orange is the New Black. I was surprised by how expansive her career has been, and how little of it I've seen. But mostly I came away from this book with a deep admiration for her as a woman and a person. I hope she continues to act for many years to come.
Mulgrew's memoirs is somewhat less focused on the acting aspect of her life than I expected. She mentions most of the TV shows and plays she acted in, and of course she devotes a chapter to Voyager. But there are also chapters devoted to her relationships and romances, her various adventures around the world, and her family. Even though Mulgrew wanted to be an actress from a very young age and worked incredibly hard to achieve that dream (and then to earn a living as an actress), I was left with the impression that there was so much more to her than acting.
Mulgrew spends time talking about her first pregnancy and the daughter she gave up for adoption, her rape at knife point, her first fiance (who I would classify as abusive), and the tensions between her and her first husband and two sons. She's incredibly unapologetic, which is rare in a woman. Although some of her Catholic guilt seems to seep around the edges, simply in the things that she chooses to confess.
I liked Mulgrew's work as an actress before I read this book. I remember loving Star Trek: Voyager when I was younger, and she's fantastic in the more recent Orange is the New Black. I was surprised by how expansive her career has been, and how little of it I've seen. But mostly I came away from this book with a deep admiration for her as a woman and a person. I hope she continues to act for many years to come.
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