I, Rhoda

by Valerie Harper, Ivy Pochoda

The heartwarming memoir from beloved, award-winning television actress Valerie Harper.Valerie Harper is finally ready to tell her story. In this, her first memoir, the beloved and award-winning television actress reflects on the role that made her famous—Rhoda Morgenstern on the groundbreaking series The Mary Tyler Moore Show and on the spin-off show Rhoda—and the pressures of helming her own sitcom, Valerie. From her childhood in New Jersey and upstate New York to the beginnings of her acting career as a dancer and chorus girl on Broadway—performing alongside stars like Lucille Ball and Jackie Gleason—to her recent battle with lung cancer, Valerie shares the story of her life, both the highs and the lows, in this heartwarming memoir, filled with charming anecdotes about Betty, Lucy, and Mary, to name a few.

Genres: Memoir, Biography, Nonfiction, Autobiography, Biography Memoir, Audiobook, Celebrity

308 pages, Hardcover

First published January 15, 2012

About the author

Valerie Harper was an Emmy and Golden Globe winning American actress. She began her career as a dancer on Broadway. Harper is best remembered for her role as Rhoda Morgenstern on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and its spin-off Rhoda in the 1970s.

Reviews

[Patricia · Rating 1 out of 5]

In a word: boring.
Harper managed to write an autobiography which is almost devoid of any personal information. She shares only the basic facts, where she worked and who she worked with. She doesn't tell any interesting little anecdotes or divulge any secrets.
According to her, her entire life was amazing, she loved everyone and everyone loved her.
She drops lots of names, but then that's it, the name dropping isn't followed by any stories about that person or what she really thought of them, apart from the requisite "she/he was gorgeous/handsome and we became instant life long pals"

If you're looking for interesting stories about her time as Rhoda, or the dirt on why she was sacked from her own TV show, then you'll have to look elsewhere, because none of that is covered here.

She obviously has a giant pair of rose colored glasses that she wears whenever she looks back on her life. In some ways...good for her, but it sure makes for an unbelievable and uninspiring read.

[Mediaman · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a major disappointment this book is--there's nothing to it other than a woman name-dropping her childhood friends (maybe to sell more copies of the book?), skipping through her career with little depth or insight, and, worst of all, preaching her political views to a captive audience wanting to know what's really going on inside her. And she does it all with happiness and joy, ignoring the fact that she once had one of the worst reputations in the TV business.

The Rhoda series, after a first season of big ratings and a gigantic wedding, turned out to be a bit of a disaster, yet she acts like it was all wonderful. She is one of the few people in TV history to be fired from a self-titled show where it went on without her, yet she glosses over it claiming to not know what the problem was! Where are the details about the things we're interested in?

Who cares the names of her roommates in a run-down apartment when she started by dancing in New York City? Who cares that after being raised a Protestant but attending Catholic schools she went all New Age and claims the "est" seminars changed her life? She even thinks we care about what she ate for a lunch and what she was wearing at the restaurant! Sorry, Valerie, we don't! There are too many minor details about nothing and not enough about what was really going on inside her.

There is a little about her start on the Mary Tyler Moore Show--but most of it you can read about in other books. The most surprising thing was to see how little acting experience she had before playing Rhoda. Then when she tells the reader how nervous she was on the first day of rehearsal, she doesn't really tell us how that manifested itself. She does, however, over-praise every co-star on the show ("fabulous," "amazing," "sweet," "warm," "impressive") without giving any real look behind the scenes of what emotions were really like. When it gets to her Rhoda series she uses the same words to describe everyone she worked with--except for David Groh. She simply says he's a professional actor. And nothing more. No surprise he was dumped half way through the series, though she claims (a bit too much) that she had nothing to do with it.

But worst is the tiny section on her Valerie sitcom, where she acts like she had no idea why anyone would have a problem with her. The reports of her diva behavior are famous, and the producers had had incredible runs with other shows (Happy Days, LaVerne & Shirley, Perfect Strangers) while the production company did Dallas and Knots Landing! She claims her only wrong was that she asked to rehearse scenes with actual props. Common, Valerie, get real and address the things others have said about your difficult behavior over the years.

There are entire chapters of this book that are unnecessary. Skip the first 80 pages--she grew up wanting to be a ballet dancer, appeared in the chorus of a few Broadway musicals, and then became a member of the Second City troupe in Los Angeles. That's all you need to know before page 80! Avoid the political propaganda like chapter 8, where she pushes her left-wing viewpoints while telling us that she decided to divorce her "best friend" husband for no apparent reason. Right.

Any true emotion or feeling seemed intentionally hidden. Even when she discusses marrying a man with a child she makes the kid sound like her best friend. Or when adopting a four-year-old (who supposedly picked her own name Cristina because the kid watched Cagney & Lacey!) the child is too perfect.

If you like bright, sunshiny books that do nothing other than give an IMDB list of career credits and push liberalism, then this is the book for you. If you want the inside story into Valerie Harper's life and why a couple of the most significant events of 70s and 80s TV history happened to her, you'll be incredibly disappointed. A few chapters that involve Mary Tyler Moore are okay, but the rest reveals that Valerie is vapid and vacuous.

[Kate Woods Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Make no mistake, I once wanted to be Valerie Harper's most famous character, Rhoda Morgenstern. The Mary Richards character of The Mary Tyler Moore Show was supposed to be the go-to role model for those of us who came of age in the 1970s, but I preferred the snap and crackle of the be-scarfed and wisecracking upstairs neighbor. I wanted her job, too. Window dresser! How creative, how off-the-wall, and how unlike the comparatively boring newsroom I eventually wound up in.

So I couldn't wait to dig into the I, Rhoda autobiography. It was good. It was an easy read. It was filled with career and personal detail from the beloved Ms. Harper. But it was also snark-free, as positive as a Mary Richards compliment, and not exactly full of window dressing. It was more like a newsroom, full of facts but devoid of color.

[Herb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully entertaining and informative account of the life of TV's Rhoda. After reading this, I feel that I would like her very much. I recommend this highly.

[Ryan Field · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't hear about the bio I, Rhoda by Valerie Harper through friends or articles or ads anywhere. I actually happened to pass The Jeff Probst talk show one night in January while surfing through channels and saw Jeff interviewing Valerie Harper. It was the first interview I'd seen Harper give in a long time and I was amazed at how young she looked. I was also amazed at how well the interview went and I've become a fan of Jeff Probst's show as a result.

I hadn't planned on reading anymore bios, autobios, or memoirs at that particular time, but as a long time fan of Valerie (and Rhoda) I bought the digital book on Kindle anyway. I know they are advertising this as a memoir, but I thought it was more biography than memoir. I've always thought of memoir as being a certain isolated segment of a person's life. But this book covered Valerie's life from the beginning up until the time she was nominated for a Tony award on Broadway. And that was NOT a disappointment by any means. I'm glad it was more biography because I discovered things about Valerie I never knew...like where she grew up, where she studied, what it was like to work with people like Lucille Ball on Broadway when Ball did the show, Wildcat. So you're getting a lot more with this book than what you might think you are getting from the way it's been promoted in some places.

The beginning of the book seems to build up to a pivotal point in Valerie's life: when she landed the part of Rhoda Morgenstern on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Everything that leads up to this point is well-crafted, moves at a nice pace, and it shows how hard Valerie worked to get there. And it really does show; it doesn't just tell...which made it a much nicer...smoother...read than a lot of non-fiction I see nowadays.

In the sections of the book where Valerie discusses playing Rhoda, she talks about her relationships with other cast members, her relationship with Mary Tyler Moore, her relationships with staff and crew, and also her personal relationships. But there's nothing too dishy or gossipy about any of this. And that's because I have never heard anyone, anywhere, trash anything about The Mary Tyler Moore Show. They were hard working people who loved what they did and didn't spend their free time looking for attention. From everything I've heard and read and seen, the people who were associated with that show did get along, did love every minute of what they did, and they focused on their craft the entire time. This is also a huge part of the book: Valerie's work ethic. She wasn't just a star. She was a working actress, a business woman, a mother, a daughter, a sister, a wife, and an artist. I don't think I saw the word feminism in this book once, but she's a good example of what feminism is all about.

After a great run as Rhoda, both on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and on her own sitcom, Rhoda, Valerie winds down this section of the book with bittersweet comments about how lucky she was to have had this experience and how thankful she was to have been part of something so wonderful. You really feel her gratitude and the love she had for the character of Rhoda. But it doesn't end there, Valerie then moves the reader forward with the rest of her life and talks about how she moves forward as an actress, an artist, and a woman.

I found the section about her experiences with the TV sitcom in the 80's, Valerie, honest and up front. I do remember that show well, and I was a huge fan of it. I'd read a lot about the dispute between Valerie and the producers, but never actually heard Valerie's point of view about what happened and how she wound up leaving a show with her own name on it. And after reading this book I have a better understanding about what happened and how it affected Valerie, too. As a side note, I'd like to add one thing to this that Valerie didn't mention in the book because she's far too nice a person. Whenever there's a hit TV show and producers don't want to pay the star more...or even negotiate for better terms...it never ends well for the TV show itself. Think Delta Burke in Designing Women...or Suzanne Somers in Three's Company. They were all different circumstances, and yet the end result turned out the same for each TV show. Once the main star leaves the show fails. I stopped watching Valerie the moment Valerie Harper wasn't on anymore. The revised show, The Hogan Family, wasn't entertaining. I also stopped watching Designing Women the moment Delta Burke wasn't on anymore. And that's just the way it is. Stars like Valerie Harper have that extra special thing that can't be replaced no matter how hard producers try. Some things in life just can't be replaced or duplicated.

In any event, I was just finishing the book when I learned about Valerie's recent cancer diagnosis. I was right at the part where she had to battle lung cancer in 2009, and I was marveling at how brave she was and how well she handled it. For Valerie to come through that ordeal seemed like such a happy ending for a bio, and then I heard about the most recent brain cancer she's now just beginning to deal with. From what I've read so far, she's dealing with this cancer just like she's handled all the things I read about her life in this book, with strength, pragmatism, honesty, and love. I think that's what I liked most about the book, all the love I read between the lines. It's truly a book about an honorable life well lived and loved, from beginning to end. And I would recommend it to anyone without thinking twice.

[Nikki · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't ever read celebrity biographies. I figure they're mostly name-dropping in some pleasant way combined with one or two bland anecdotes about different aspects of the person's career. But when I was a kid the ONLY character on tv that I identified with was Rhoda. I knew I was supposed to admire Mary, but Rhoda seemed so much more ME. So when I saw this in the library, I had to take it out.

It is as mediocre as you would think. Unless you are keeping a great diary, the average person is never going to be able to imbue good stories with the kind of detail they need to really make it interesting. There is a ton of name dropping, and in many ways it feels like an extended farewell to all these people she has known and acted with. Still, it doesn't make me feel like I know her that much better.

Also, if you are going to pass yourself off as a great civil rights advocate, you really ought to know that August Wilson, not Langston Hughes, wrote *Fences.* (Way harsh, Tai.) (Especially since she seems like such a nice feminist.) (You know, she also does say when she is diagnosed with lung cancer, "Why not me? Better me than someone without resources." Okay, Val, I take it back.)

I wish it had been much more about being and becoming Rhoda. In the end one of the few sentences that earns the "I, Rhoda" title is this: "These friendships, which have withstood a roller coaster of life experiences, are perhaps one of the most vital influences on my portrayal of Rhoda Morgenstern--for Rhoda, above and beyond all else, is a paragon of friendship, whether to Mary or to Brenda or to the millions who rooted for her week after week." And indeed we still do.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a fan of Valerie Harper. Liked her ever since she was "Rhoda" on the Mary Tyler Moore show. Ms. Harper has written a "nice" memoir. meaning she keeps it scandal free. no bad mouthing here. she keeps her memories good or bad, written in a decent non catty way.found this book a good read. Valerie shares her memories about being on the Mary Tyler Moore show. only having good memories and fond things to say about her co-stars.same thing for when she went on to star in her on show Rhoda.
even in the unhappier unfortunate parts of her life she still remains upbeat and careful not to say anything scathing { such as when she was fired from her own show "Valerie"}there was a law suit involved.It was nice to read a book that was NOT a "poor me, not my fault" memoir.{and I have read a few of those}
I like getting a chance to get a view of her life. I just read this book again. My review is still about the same. I wish she had included more pictures. Maybe mentioned what it was like to be in some of the other movies etc she was in. Otherwise my review is the same.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Valerie Harper is the nicest person in show business. This book reads more like a thank-you speech spanning her entire career. Fun to see MTM and Rhoda from her perspective and learn more about her. Not the next great American memoir, but a good read for uber fans.

[Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember when "Mary Tyler Moore" first came out and all our parents loved it. I was unconvinced. Those were the days of cringe-making sitcoms where you knew exactly what would happen from the first five minutes: crisis, development, denouement and all. Mary and her gang created a lot of tropes that I now realise 40 years on, young women tried to imitate. The "ETC" wooden letters on the wall. The plaid furniture (ugh!) with the daisy-loom afghan thrown over it. The lines--oh, the lines! When two friends met after a long time: "Let me look at you! (squealing)Ha-HA!" as they held each other at arms' length. "Oh I wouldn't want to impose" when asked to join a dinner party etc. And when any adults did anything the slightest bit edgy: "Oh come on--who's gonna know!"
Except that "MTM" was set in Minneapolis, and I grew up in Iowa, just south of Minnesota. Trust me, in those days Midwesterners did not talk like that. Not unless, like my much-older sister, they consciously tried to emulate the show. Rhoda, however, I loved. Her clothes, her humour, her brashness contrasting with Mary and the other gals' simpering sweetness. Those were the days of "family TV", and if your folks wanted to watch something you watched it with them, or nothing at all.

Turns out Valerie Harper is not Jewish. She's not even American. She grew up in Canada. Who knew?
I enjoyed the first part, where she talks about her childhood. Like me, she too was cursed with "chubby" clothing. Bad enough to have to go to the "chubby" racks in a store, but if your mother, like mine, made your clothes, the patterns were often labelled "Chubbee." As if somehow the double E made it "cute." It didn't--it made it worse. I now realise that the patternmakers and clothing manufacturers simply didn't have a range for the larger children of the 50s and 60s, so they rushed out larger versions and called them "Chubby" and "Husky"--as if it were somehow our fault for being born too big. I wore that "chubby" label all my youth, and am sure it's partly responsible for both my and Harper's struggle with our weight ever since. If you get labelled "chubby" (ie FAT) from age 5 or so, you believe you are FAT, and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The first half or so of the book is interesting, when she tells stories of starting out in New York, first trying to be a dancer, then an actress. To be fair, there is quite a lot of "acting process" in the book, which interests me. Unlike other reviewers, I don't read actor bios in hopes of getting all the dirt on other people's misbehaviour. But. Like so many theatre luvvies, Harper tries to paint everything oh-so-rosy; I guess all those years in Mary's fantasy Minneapolis had their effect. Everyone's "a doll", a "sweetheart", her best pal. Not even visiting Egypt and Somalia gives Harper a reality check; not one mention of the starving children in Somalia affecting her feelings directly, nor of why there were only women, small children and old men in the camps she visited. Or that in reality a lot of the international hunger relief aid is, and was, regularly diverted into the hands and pockets of the top echelons of society in the countries being "aided." Looks like she missed a few facts on her idealistic "fact finding" tours. Even her discussion of 9/11 sounds more like a 1940s musical in which she refuses to close the theatre she's working in because after all, "The least I can do is get my butt on a Broadway stage and try to make people laugh." Yeah, because you resolved the pain single-handed! So much Pollyanna gets a little repulsive after awhile.

Even her divorce gets the fairy-dust treatment. Funny how those EST seminars made her marriage "happier and more comfortable" and yet the next moment she says, "I'm not sure when exactly our marriage stopped working." Most people, particularly women, are very aware of that moment. Maybe she was so busy being a celebrity activist that she just stopped paying attention to it?

Like so many actors both in the US and Europe, Harper decides that the theatre is the only real acting--when the TV and movie parts stop coming!

Three stars because it was well-presented and she didn't feel the need to subject us to blow-by-blow accounts of her sex life, assign blame or diss on other actors, and she does focus on what goes into actual acting. Not four, because there's quite a lot of fluff--even several pages of quotes from other people as filler, toward the end.

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was already a big fan of Valerie's. I wore scarves and I dressed just like "Rhoda" throughout high school. People had no idea where my style came from. I definitely stood out in a crowd, dressed like I jumped out of the 1970s and into the 1990s! (:
I think Valerie did an excellent job. Her book is well written and a very smooth read for any fan. She's just as witty as the character she created over 40 years ago. I learned a lot about her, things I never knew. Her modesty and humbleness will only make you love her more. If you weren't much of a "Rhoda Rooter" before, give this book a read. I love Val, she made me feel like it was ok to be me! I embraced my uniqueness as a teenager. She is a great woman. I'm likely to pick this book up and read it a few more times. I'm praying for you Val ✟

[David Cerda · Rating 2 out of 5]

So, how can you bad mouth Rhoda? I got this as a gift when I was ill and was surprised that her autobiography made Annette Funicello's seem positively devilish. Looking on the bright side is one thing but why bother writing a book when it could have easily been a series in Readers Digest? Again, I love me some Valerie Harper, just disappointed in the book.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the autobiography of Valerie Harper, starting with her birthday and going to the early 2000’s. She talks about all the plays, Tv Shows, her time on Mary Tyler Moore and Valerie’s family. Several one woman shows and pilots that didn’t get picked up. It also talks about her personal life with her marriages and the adoption of her daughter.

[Thom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Val shares her life story and her journey in show business. Who would have thought that one of television's best loved actresses started her career as a Broadway dancer and chorus kid? Val's novel is very positive and her outlook on life has clearly helped her through tough times. A lovely read.

[Carrie Poppy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful little trick through Valerie’s life. I enjoyed it thoroughly, and loved reliving my favorite show and all the surrounding stories. This is definitely a book for fans, though. If you’re not already into Valerie and her projects, this one isn’t for you.

[Winter Sophia Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny, Warm, Touching & Charming! An Exceptional Read! I Loved It!

[Alvin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Acceptably diverting brain candy, but only of interest to those who love(d) the Mary Tyler Moore Show and/or Rhoda.

[Douglas Gibson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recently finished watching the entire run of The Mary Tyler Moore Show on Hulu (See Television Series Review) and decided it was time to also read these two memoirs. Although these books and stories are very different, I highly recommend them both.
As gentle readers of Arts Journal! know by now, one thing I loathe about memoirs is the opening chapters about the subject’s childhood- I’ll never have the time back I spent reading about Faye Dunaway’s adolescence on the farm. Do actors not read each other’s biographies and notice that absolutely everyone talks about getting their first non-speaking acting role in their grade school’s production of Camelot/Bye Bye Birdie/Grease? Who cares unless you went to middle school with Tom Cruise and you did gay stuff with him in the dressing room?!?
Mary spends a little more time on her childhood in the traditional bio sense, but since she was being raised by a distant father and an alcoholic mother, I found these chapters very interesting. Valarie does more of a brief overview of her preteen years and quickly gets to her early days on Broadway, and can start dropping names because she danced in “Wildcat,” starring Lucille Ball and work extensively with Michael Bennett.
Mary’s book is the more serious of the two when it comes to tone. This comes as no surprise as she is discussing a father whom she never connect with, a mother who was a drunk, the loss of her own child, two failed marriages, and her own battle with nicotine and alcohol addiction. Not a lot of room for laughs. I was also a little disappointed that Mary did not spend a few more chapters discussing her show.
Valarie’s book is much more lighthearted and it’s difficult not to hear Rhoda’s voice doing her shtick in your head while reading. Valarie never misses a chance to tell you about her brief encounters with Jim Morrison, Paul Newman, or Natalie Wood, to name just a few. I couldn’t get enough of her Broadway stories, whether they were from her early days as she tried to break into the business or her post-Rhoda days when she worked there consistently. Valarie also dedicates a few more pages to The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Rhoda. Both women only speak positively about the experience, the cast,and the crew, and each other.
While reading both books it’s clear that these ladies lived amazing lives and both maintained positive outlooks through the difficult times, and although they were taken too soon, they left us two amazing TV series, and two great memoirs.

[Carin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved Rhoda Morgenstern when I was in my early 20s. Initially, I was drawn to Mary Richards, but eventually I came to identify less with Mary's perfect job, perfect hair, perfect boyfriends, and perfect apartment, and more with Rhoda's messy life, okay job, terrible boyfriends, tiny apartment, and weight worries. So I was eager to find out more about Valerie Harper, the actress who embodied her. I listened to this book on audio as Ms. Harper read it herself. It was a little sad that her "Rhoda" Bronx accent was not in evidence, but I got used to it quickly.

Her childhood was great for a child wanting a life on the stage. Her parents were unusually supportive, including allowing Valerie to stay in New York at a housing facility for "working girls" (working in the entertainment industry, not prostitutes!) when her mother and siblings moved back to the West Coast. She was always a dancer and after years of performing in everything from Broadway shows to Radio City Music Hall to industry shows, she and her husband moved to California and a casting director saw her in a play and wanted her to come read for Mary Tyler Moore's new show. Playing Rhoda was her very first role in TV or movies, and the cast and crew and producers were so supportive and familial, it was a dream job. But the dream came to a jarring end years later when starring in her own show, "Valerie," she discovered what life was like when the producers and writers did not even talk to the cast, let alone get along with them. She ended up getting fired, and suing to get her name back. She then divorced, remarried, acted in a lot of made-for-TV-movies, and got back into stage plays, eventually starring in a couple of one-woman shows and playing Golda Meir and Tallulah Bankhead and being nominated for a Tony. Eventually she, like her mother and step-mother, was diagnosed with lung cancer despite never smoking, but she battled that too with her characteristic positive attitude.

I could have skipped the part about EST and their end hunger campaign. Although I liked the parts about when she was fighting for the ERA, so maybe the political parts I didn't like were the ones I disagreed with or wasn't interested in. But that was my only real quibble in the book. Valerie was very positive throughout, talking about her love of her new step-mother, the joys of step-parenting herself, the congenial divorce from her first husband with no drama, and how she adopted her daughter. She has a lot of life-long friends and while there certainly was some name-dropping, that's inevitable for a book on someone in the entertainment industry. (My favorite was when a young man came to do some carpentry work for Valerie, and after he injured himself, she advised him to focus on his acting. Yep, it was Harrison Ford.)

Overall the book was sweet and nice. Not a tearjerker, not a gossip, not much drama or trauma (and this from a woman currently suffering from incurable brain cancer! Although that diagnosis came after the book was released.) It was just a good story well told about a woman who lived an interesting life and met some interesting people along the way. If you're a fan, you'll enjoy it.

[Sue Seligman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very interesing memoir by Valerie Harper, an actress who made her mark on Broadway, in the movies, and on TV. She is most widely known for her portrayal as Mary Tyler Moore's best friend, Rhoda Morgenstern on the grounde breaking TV show of the 1970s. This book chronicles her life and her experiences in the entertainment world. I enjoyed reading about Valerie's experiences and her friendships with the well known performers of stage, screen, and TV. The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and later, Rhoda were two of my favorite programs in the 1970s, and I loved getting a behind the scenes glimpse into the making of these shows. I also never realized that Valerie was such an involved person in the important issues of the late 1900s...women's rights, hunger, etc. She also enjoyed portraying such important historical personalities as Pearl Buck and Golda Meir on the stage and in film. She is a warm and caring individual, and her memoir is a must read for anyone who grew up admiring her work.

[David · Rating 1 out of 5]

good actress who was on one of the best shows I've ever seen (Mary Tyler Moore) in the '70's and had a long successful career in plays, TV movies, dance, etc. before and since.

On this reading she appears also to be a nice person -- says positive things about her first (now ex-) husband and everybody else as well, with the exception of unnamed execs at the production company from her short-lived eponymous spinoff series.

Unfortunately, there's not much of an edge to the book. People are as you might have guessed -- MTM is a lovely, generous person; Ed Asner was gruff but kind underneath it all; Betty White is hilarious...........

aside from the 70's TV stardom, it's just mainly a breezy account of her days in NYC or LA, working on shows or plays, having lunch with people, running into Rock Hudson, Jim Morrison, Demi Moore, Christopher Walken, etc. etc. etc. There are about 5 well-known people mentioned per page, and they are all wonderfully talented and neat folks per the author. Good to hear but.........ZZZZZZZZZZZ

[Kerry Reis · Rating 4 out of 5]

In January 2000, I was in the middle of overseeing a very busy electronic junket schedule for ABC TV programming at the Winter Press Tour, which included interviews for the upcoming television reunion movie, Mary & Rhoda, when Valerie Harper expressed her concern for my inability to stop and have something to eat for lunch. She fussed over me for several minutes instead of concerning herself with the press interviews she was in the middle of doing for the promotion of the movie which revisited her most famous character, Rhoda Morgenstern, reuniting with her friend, Mary Richards. It was this same voice of concern and idealistic optimism that I recognized while reading this touching and positive memoir. This is not a gossipy tell-all, but rather a celebratory relating of a positive life and career with a lot of appreciation for the friends who supported her along the way. Enjoyable and easy to read.

[Melanie Greene · Rating 3 out of 5]

http://dakimel.blogspot.com/2014/04/n...

Harper is Rhoda Morgenstern from The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Rhoda. (Also shows I didn't really follow, though I did watch Valerie sometimes.) She delves a little more into her childhood (parents unhappy with each other but very supportive of her love of dancing and performing) before her acting journey takes off. Harper is a little more self-deprecating and humble than Jones, and her story is more inwardly focused. I had a lot more fun with this story - not as many salacious stories and more stories about work and loss and love and strife. It's not full of all the drama in the world, but Harper is nice to get to know.

She's also a grand narrator. She speaks with a lot of compassion and humor and a little too much nose for my taste, but hey, she's got the New York thing going on. She kept me interested in every step of her story.

[Keith Cornell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed learning more about Valerie Harper and her career. This book is a great quick read and Valerie details her road to becoming Rhoda Morgenstern. The book is full of stories of family, friends and the love she has for them all. She goes into her cancer scare and treatments for overcoming this illness. Only after the book was released did the world learn of her new challenge with the disease.

You will enjoy her warmhearted stories of her TV family and her real life family. You will understand better her side of the bitter battle over NBC's unfounded reasons for firing her from her hit TV show VALERIE before it's third season. You will enjoy this very much if you are a true Harper fan. What's not to love?

[Mayda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This memoir is a mixed bag. Some parts were really interesting while others could have been benefitted from some serious editing. If you’ve ever wandered about a family party, you know you can get snatches of stories that you find fascinating like when Granddad snuck out of the house unbeknownst to his parents, but when Great Aunt Harriet starts talking about when she was a kid taking piano lessons, you know it’s time to go to the kitchen to refresh your drink. This memoir was a little like that. The audio version with Valerie herself reading was worth listening to, especially if you grew up watching the Mary Tyler Moore Show and Rhoda, and are interested in Harper’s life, but if you happened to leave the room to get a drink, well, you won’t miss much.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have always been a fan of Valerie Harper, and reading her memoir has not dampened my feelings. It is a sheer delight. I only wish her the strength to face her recently announced battle with cancer. Her kindness and certainly her love of life shine through when reading her words. Brava Rhoda, and bravissima Ms. Harper.

[Jeanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were many interesting facts I learned about Valerie Harper: she wanted to be a dancer and her early years were spent dancing. It was interesting to learn how she chose her projects following Rhoda Morgenstern. It is an enjoyable book but at times I found myself annoyed about the effusive praise she has for practically every person she encounters in her life as indicated in the book.

[Shannon Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not bad. Not much meat in this one. It's reads like a diary of an actress chronicalling all of her accomplishments. Everyone is either wonderful, beautiful or incredibly talented - or all three. You won't find any juicy gossip or anything remotely exciting. Valerie Harper has led a charmed life! I have always been a fan of hers but I could have skipped this sleeper!

[Kelley Plane · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved the Mary Tyler More show when I was a kid. And of course Rhoda was the character I wanted to be! With her bohemian clothes and her cool job as a window dresser. This book was informative but lacked any thing personal. I know what she has done with her life but not how she felt! It is not a biography I would recommend. I was disappointed.

[Dot · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started this book looking for Rhoda and found Mary Poppins. When everybody and every experience is the best, it begins to ring false. Valerie Harper is a remarkable and likeable person, but I found her book difficult to read because it wasn't true to life.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I, Rhoda ... A must read

I grew up watching her in the 70's.. It was a fun book to read. She has written with a beautiful style...flowing to keep the reader interested. An amazing woman.....