BOOK REVIEW
“HELLO, MOLLY! A MEMOIR”
By Molly Shannon
(Ecco)
Grade: A
NEW YORK — Molly Shannon made a reputation for herself as a standout performer on “Saturday Night Live,” star of the film “Superstar,” that includes her “SNL” character Mary Katherine Gallagher, and taking part in an eager-to-please stage mother within the sitcom “The Other Two.”
But earlier than the skilled successes, Shannon needed to overcome an infinite tragedy she particulars in her new memoir, “Hello, Molly!,” which she wrote with Sean Wilsey.
When she was simply 4, her complete household was concerned in a horrendous automobile accident that killed her mom, youthful sister and cousin. Her father, who survived, was driving after consuming earlier within the day.
“My whole life changed in an instant,” she writes.
Though devastated by the lack of her mom at such a younger age, Shannon discovered solace in performing at school performs and neighborhood exhibits whereas rising up within the Irish-Catholic neighborhood within the Cleveland suburb of Shaker Heights, Ohio. She additionally discovered consolation in a detailed bond along with her sister, Mary, who additionally survived the accident.
She remained shut along with her father, Jim, a charismatic however unstable man who’s haunted by the accident. He encourages her adventurous performer facet, however he will also be suffocating and fly off the deal with right into a rage at a moments’ discover. She later says a lot of her characters are partly primarily based on her larger-than-life father.
Shannon peppers the memoir with inside-showbusiness anecdotes that make the memoir a hard-to-put down web page turner. She recounts ready tables for Jennifer Aniston and Julia Roberts whereas she awaits her massive break and touchdown auditions in Hollywood by calling brokers and pretending to be David Mamet’s assistant. More disturbingly, she recollects an unscrupulous supervisor setting her up with an 18-year-old Gary Coleman, who harasses her.
After a number of years of making an attempt to make it in L.A., she lastly will get her massive break, an audition with Lorne Michaels for “Saturday Night Live.” She’s handed over her first time, however a second audition lands her the gig. She spends six seasons on the present with fellow forged members together with Will Ferrell, Cheri Oteri, Ana Gasteyer and Tracy Morgan.
She left in 2001, not as a result of she had one other job lined up, however as a result of she needed to lastly have time to have a private life. “I wanted to get coffee with friends and start a family,” she says.
She now has two youngsters along with her husband, Fritz — efficiently changing into the mom she all the time dreamed of being.
“Hello, Molly!” paints a portrait of a resilient spirit persevering by way of tragedy and the cutthroat world of fame to construct a satisfying life for herself.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”