Managing Expectations: A Memoir in Essays

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Ms. Driver writes with disarming charm and candor about her bohemian upbringing between England and Barbados; her post-university travails and triumphs--from being the only student in her acting school not taken on by an agent to being discovered at a rave in a muddy field in the English countryside; shooting to fame in one of the most influential films of the 1990s and being nominated for an Academy Award; and finding the true light of her life, her son. She chronicles her unconventional career path, including the time she gave up on acting to sell jeans in Uruguay, her journey as a single parent, and the heartbreaking loss of her mother. In two cases the adult stories are fleshed out a bit more. After only hinting at other men in her life, the first is her dating Matt Damon. It is an abnormal revelation that is obviously meant to skewer the famous actor who dumped her without notice. Minnie, all these years later, is still miffed and upset, and Damon looks like a real bad guy. Fans are more emotional when they see an actor trying NOT to cry then when they are actually crying. Just before the release of her first book, Driver spoke to W over the phone, calling from her home in Malibu after a morning of surfing in the Pacific Ocean. She got into her writing process, her favorite authors, and whether or not she’ll write some more books in the future. Like Lena Dunham in Not That Kind of Girl, Gabrielle Union in We’re Going to Need More Wine and Patti Smith in Just Kids, Driver writes with razor-sharp humor and grace as she explores navigating the depths of failure, fighting for success, discovering the unmatched wonder and challenge of motherhood, and wading through immeasurable grief. Effortlessly charming, deeply funny, personal, and honest, Managing Expectations reminds us of the way life works out—even when it doesn’t. Critical Praise

The structure of the book is particularly interesting. Driver makes no effort to connect all the dots of her life; instead, the reader gets a series of stories, all representative in their way. It’s Driver’s top ten of the really important stuff, ending with her mother’s death. In this intimate, beautifully crafted collection, Driver writes with disarming charm and candor about her bohemian upbringing between England and Barbados; her post-university travails and triumphs—from being the only student in her acting school not taken on by an agent to being discovered at a rave in a muddy field in the English countryside; shooting to fame in one of the most influential films of the 1990s and being nominated for an Academy Award; and finding the true light of her life, her son. She chronicles her unconventional career path, including the time she gave up on acting to sell jeans in Uruguay, her journey as a single parent, and the heartbreaking loss of her mother.A MARIE CLAIRE BEST MEMOIR OF THE YEAR • A USA TODAY MUST READ BOOK • A W MAGAZINE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK • A SHEREADS BEST MEMOIR OF THE SUMMER I feel a rising anger that there is yet another byproduct of this punishment: making the familiar unfamiliar. Making it unsafe. Could all the good things in my life with the removal of a few key elements all become ghosts?

Everybody wants it to be more than it just being a journey, Min, But that’s what it is. Death. Life. That’s the meaning of life, it’s a journey. We stay encircled by each other’s arms, a closed loop of comfort. No one tells you how birth and death are so closely aligned. Here, lying in the dark, I see it. Pain, a journey that goes towards only one thing, and the deep need to have someone with you to hold onto. A dazzling 'tell-most' memoir: poignant and laugh-out-loud funny scenes from the life of actor Minnie Driver. In this intimate, beautifully crafted collection, Driver writes with disarming charm and candor about her bohemian upbringing between England and Barbados; her post-university travails and triumphs--from being the only student in her acting school not taken on by an agent to being discovered at a rave in a muddy field in the English countryside; shooting to fame in one of the most influential films of the 1990s and being nominated for an Academy Award; and finding the true light of her life, her son. She chronicles her unconventional career path, including the time she gave up on acting to sell jeans in Uruguay, her journey as a single parent, and the heartbreaking loss of her mother.

Summary

Thank you so much. I definitely will write more. I’d really love to write a novel. I’ve broken the seal on this.