Apparently There Were Complaints

July 1, 2021

A composer, conductor, and pianist, MacArthur Fellow Aucoin helps us better understand opera--The Impossible Art--by chronicling the creation of his opera Eurydice from its beginnings to its premiere at New York's Metropolitan Opera. Son of celebrated bandleader Eddy Duchin and a famed bandleader himself, Duchin decided after enduring both a stroke and a case of COVID-19 to Face the Music and relate not just his glamorous life but the sorrow of never getting to know his busy father and the mother who died when he was six days old. Two-time Emmy Award winner Gless recounts her five decades in Hollywood in Apparently There Were Complaints (75,000-copy first printing). Former Knopf and New Yorker editor Gottlieb's Garbo offers not just a biography of the iconic movie star but a study of her far-reaching impact on film and culture (25,000-copy first printing).

Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 20, 2021
Emmy Award–winning actor Gless debuts with a no-holds-barred look at her long and storied career. One of Universal’s last contract players, signed in 1972, Gless made guest appearances on TV dramas including Emergency and Ironside before catapulting to international fame as NYPD Det. Christine Cagney on the popular ’80s series Cagney and Lacey (a role she was offered three times and declined twice). She followed that up with star turns as diverse as the brash Debbie Novotny on 2000’s Queer as Folk and Burn Notice’s fiery Madeline Westen. As she reflects on her ascendance through Hollywood, her signature wit and bold personality take the stage in entertaining stories such as going on a date with Steven Spielberg (“I had no idea who was”), sharing a flight with Betty White, and most poignantly, being one of the first female actors to address alcoholism on prime-time TV—a reality Gless was wrestling with off camera, and about which she is bluntly candid. Written by a masterful storyteller, this smart account boldly reveals both the grit and the glamour of Gless’s life, candidly contending with her substance abuse, various affairs, and the fact that writing her memoir took almost seven years. Fans will be delighted.

November 1, 2021

Fans of the 1980s TV show Cagney & Lacey who have wondered about the lives of its stars before and after the hit police procedural will be pleased by Gless's moving memoir. Gless was the Cagney to Tyne Daly's Lacey and often played the straight woman (quieter, more reserved) of the duo. But here Gless takes center stage, starting with her childhood growing up as a fifth-generation Angeleno in the shadow of celebrity (her grandfather was an attorney for the rich and famous). Readers may assume that was an automatic entr�e to show business, but not so. Gless describes toiling away at unrelated jobs until she took acting lessons; she eventually got a contract at Universal and played various small TV roles until finally finding her place on Cagney and Lacey, which broke ground as a program centering on two strong women. Gless won two Emmys for her work on the program and also struggled with alcohol addiction. She continued to act when Cagney and Lacey ended in 1988, though she never enjoyed quite the same success. But this is not a sad story--at 78, Gless writes that she is grateful for her life and hangs tough, just like the detective she's most famous for portraying. VERDICT Cagney and Lacey fans and celebrity memoir mavens alike will enjoy Gless's candid and heartfelt book, which is full of insider tidbits about the famous.--Rosellen Brewer, Sno-Isle Libs., Marysville, WA

Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from October 15, 2021
A good Hollywood memoir is a little bit dishy, a little bit honest, and a lot like sitting down for a candid conversation with an old friend, and Gless shares all the dirty details of her unlikely journey to stardom with a wry chuckle. Whether discussing her early family life, her struggles with her weight and addiction, or her career and love life, Gless gets right to the point, skipping the mundane moments and heading right for the meaty highlights--like the time she went on a ""date"" with Steven Spielberg who, when the night was over, asked to use her phone to booty call another woman, or when she pranked her party guests by staging a fight with Vanessa Redgrave. Look for plenty of name-dropping and insider secrets as Gless looks back at her life and reflects on the people she's met who most influenced her. Celebrity memoir fans will find lots to enjoy here, as well as anyone with fond memories of Cagney & Lacey or Queer as Folk. Discussions of mental health, alcoholism, and relationships, and a connected Hollywood family bring strong comparisons to Carrie Fisher's Wishful Drinking (2008). A perfect book to get lost in this winter.

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