Finding My Balance
A Memoir
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3.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
A searingly honesty, entertaining, and deeply moving memoir from a legendary film star with a larger-than-life story told through the lessons and practices of yoga that have kept her grounded.
Mariel Hemingway was the third daughter of Jack Hemingway, Ernest Hemingway’s son, and Byra Whittlesey. Raised in a deeply unstable household—marked by troubled siblings, a volatile mother, and an emotionally distant father—she was pushed early into the role of family stabilizer. As a result, she had little chance at a normal childhood, a loss intensified when her early film roles in her older sister Margaux’s film Lipstick and Woody Allen’s Manhattan abruptly made her a movie star.
Mariel turned to yoga and its meditative practice in an effort to maintain her center when her life threatened to spin out of control. Having experienced family tragedy, sudden stardom, and the continuing challenges of a full and demanding life, Mariel learned through practice how to find her balance in emotionally disorienting situations. Throughout her powerful memoir, Mariel uses her yoga training as a starting point for each chapter, carefully describing a particular position, then letting her mind wander into thoughts of the past and of her tumultuous life.
Mariel Hemingway has weathered some of the worst storms that life can bring. Certainly, she has found her balance. And in this deeply inspiring, thoroughly fascinating memoir, she shares for the first time the story of that journey.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Her grandfather and sister both committed suicide; at times, her parents "seemed not to care enough to parent" her; she was struck with movie star fame at an early age; and she's wrestled with eating disorders and control issues throughout her life. Now 40, Mariel Hemingway says these struggles have shaped who she is today, and presents this memoir as a testament to her own triumph over what some people see as "the curse of the Hemingway family." Hemingway now owns a yoga studio in Sun Valley, Idaho; each chapter of her memoir opens with a description of a yoga pose, segueing into a metaphor for how that pose represents some aspect of her life. So, for example, in the chapter entitled "Mountain Pose," Hemingway writes, "As I reflect on Mountain pose and understand the implications of its name, I can begin to understand my great need for stability and groundness." The youngest of three girls, Hemingway was a tomboy, spending much time alone outdoors. She got her acting start in Lipstick(1976), at age 13, and went on to star in Woody Allen's Manhattan (which featured the "traumatic" scene in which she and Woody made out) and a handful of other films. What makes her book so endearing is her ability to evaluate the actions she's taken over the course of her life including her decision to have breast implants, her bizarre eating habits and her obsessive need to be in complete control of her life and still find stability and peacefulness. Her simple writing lets the funny, honest woman shine through. Photos.
