This wasn't a bad read, it just wasn't all that good. If I were an avid fan of hers then perhaps I would feel differently, but overall I think I learned more about her character than her life. That being said, her life seems almost too good to be true which made me wonder how contrived this book really is, the cynic in me not wanting to believe she really is this normal. Assuming that this really is how she is, I think Susan needs to be acknowledged as a celebrity who is an example of someone being successful in life after a series of good choices. If you are looking for a celebrity memoir packed with crazy stories, gossip, and smut then this isn't it. But if you want to hear about someone who managed to rear two well behaved and talented kids while being married to the same man for decades and found a way to balance it without too much drama, then this is an okay read. It interested me enough to finish it. I started watching All My Children as soon as I was old enough to understand the story lines. My mom had been watching it for a long time and it became a bonding activity we shared until I went to college. I watched it while I was in college (even planning my class schedule around it) and then for a little while after. Eventually, I got busy and the storylines got even more ridiculous so I just stopped watching. But of course I couldn’t resist reading about Susan Lucci, who is famously tightlipped about her private life. I wanted to learn about the “real Erica Kane” and see who was behind such a notorious character.All My Life is a fairly standard memoir, taking the reader though all of Lucci’s major life events – childhood, college, marriage, children/grandchildren, career. While I am pleased to have had the chance to look into the life of Susan Lucci, I kept wondering what the real purpose of the book was. She’s lived a relatively drama-free life and really hasn’t had to overcome and kind of adversity. No drug or sex addiction, no homosexuality to come to terms with, no abusive childhood, no struggle to jump-start her career. In the end, it felt like a memoir was expected of her even though she really had no compelling story to tell.Aside from the purpose of the book being pretty fuzzy, it is extremely poorly written. Lucci weaves in lots of little stories, events, experiences and lessons learned, but rarely goes into depth on any of them and none seem to connect. The pages are filled with redundancies and unnecessary information. She goes off on tangents to explain background stories before getting to the point of the original story, making it extremely hard to follow. There were a few times when I thought parts of my book had to be missing because the story ran in a completely unrelated direction. I even wondered if an editor had ever actually read the book. The fact that she had a co-writer (Laura Morton) means that it should have been much better written.The one refreshing thing about this book is that it is abundantly apparent that there really is a difference between Erica Kane and Susan Lucci. I often wondered how much Lucci was really acting, or if she was more like Erica than we all thought. But it turns out that she’s pretty opposite from her daytime alter-ego. She’s not exactly an amazing actress (it did take her 19 years to win an Emmy), but there must be some talent there. While Lucci and Erica share a love for fashion, that’s about where similarities end. Erica has been married 10 times, yet Lucci has been happily married to one man for more than 40 years. Erica has extremely turbulent relationships with her children, while Lucci is very close with her two children and loves to dote on her grandchildren. Erica Kane is the ultimate diva, while Lucci is very down-to-earth, making a point to maintain as normal a life as possible for her and her family.Despite the books’ unclear purpose and appalling writing, I’m actually glad I took the time to read it. It was a quick read and I loved Lucci’s clear and positive outlook on life. She’s humble and extremely grateful for all she’s accomplished and has built herself a successful career and home life through hard work and dedication.All My Life was published in 2011 by It Books. A paperback edition of this book was published later in 2011 to include an epilogue where Lucci discusses ABC’s cancellation of All My Children. I read the original hardback edition.
What do You think about All My Life: A Memoir (2011)?
I started the book and then began reading other books without finishing it. I'm not sure why.
—irfansalim08
...yeah, thats right. i'm reading this book. i'll admit it, i love susan lucci. deal.
—mess
Very insightful to soap opera actors lives. She's very personable.
—ColaMarie
Wonderful honest biography of the talented Susan Lucci
—123456789
It was like having a conversation with a friend.
—mmengland
