Don't Look Back, We're Not Going That Way

by Marcia Wallace

Don't Look Back, We're Not Going That Way! is a book for anyone who has felt unloved and unattractive, been broke, experienced failure, been fat and thin and fat again, had a fire, had cancer and/or a nervous breakdown, or been widowed. This is also a book for anyone who has found love in midlife, experienced success, adopted a child, had a spiritual awakening, flourished from the love of family and friends, or started all over again after losing a spouse. It is told by a woman who can still count her lucky chickens, a woman who makes you laugh out loud, and a woman you feel like you've known your entire life.

Genres: Biography, Tv, Nonfiction

226 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2004

Reviews

[Bill Krieger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marcia Wallace of the Bob Newhart Show ("Hi Bob") recently passed away, so I grabbed the Kindle version of her autobiography off Amazon. It was outstanding!

The striking thing about this book - I've never read a more honest memoir. Marcia Wallace is very open about her chaotic life and brutal upbringing. She was a victim of child abuse, and this pretty much defined her. It spawned the insecurity and mania that she needed to move to NYNY and then Hollywood to be a comedic actress. Her writing "voice" still reflects this need to be funny and "on" to divert her from the difficult issues of her past. Almost all her humor is self-deprecating. I almost had the feeling that the style of the writing was as revealing as the stories within the book.

The book is really funny. I laughed out loud a few times. I admire how Marcia Wallace battled and overcame both her childhood and the crap that life threw at her. Her life was incredibly chaotic and stressful and difficult, but I think that Marcia Wallace won. Her spirit always battled and never gave up. That was her essence.

This is a 4+ book. I dinged half a star because Marcia Wallace's universe is so different than mine (female, Hollywood, child abuse, chaotic) that it was tough to empathize at times. This is especially true on the female front. I'll bet tons of 50-something women would give this book 5 stars.

QOTD

I have been surrounded this summer by younger people (I hate that phrase, "young people") who have never heard of anyone I have ever mentioned, living or dead. There I was, talking to a group about Esther Williams, and they all just stared at me. After I began to shake visibly at the very thought that I was among people who will never see Ether do the backstroke, one of them, whom I now refer to as Miss Congeniality, said, "Listen, don't feel bad. We didn't know who you were, either."

- Marcia Wallace, Don't Look Back

Marcia Wallace coined herself "Paprika the Gypsy Trollop" in book when she dated and "flipped her dress over her head" on the road. Ha!

Good read!

[Ann-Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I only knew of her from her voicework for Edna Krabappel on The Simpsons and was made aware of Wallace's autobiography only after her recent death. She tells the story of a life rife with hardships that would make most people buckle. There is a lightness or joviality with which she relates many of these awful events that speaks of a strength of spirit, even when it seemed ridiculous or futile.

"Rational? Of course not. Reasonable? No, but then I have never felt the need to be reasonable."

The book is theatrical, open-hearted and honest, which might be a bit much for some readers, but I wonder if it was just an accurate portrayal of who she was as a person, which to me seems fitting for an autobiography.

[Yvonne Hunt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book because her cleverness and wittiness did not come off as forced or uncomfortable. It was as natural as she is in real life. Her self-deprecation and awareness were appreciated in the stories that she told from her childhood. You can see that her troubled childhood really impacted her humor and the way that she managed difficulties later in life.

[Elizabeth A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Touching & hilariously funny

Even without an Audible version, I could hear Wallace’s voice and self-deprecating tone. I laughed aloud and and cried with compassion. A treasure.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Marcia Wallace died earlier this year from complications of breast cancer first diagnosed 30 years earlier I learned that she had written an autobiography. Although I have never seen one episode of the Bob Newhart Show and I stopped watching the Simpson's when my children left home, I remembered Marcia from The Match Game. I watched that show ever day after school as a child. I decided to pick up this memoir and find out what happened to her in all those years after her game show celebrity.

She grew up in the Midwest--one state north of my own. She ventured out to New York City(must be every Midwestern girl's dream) to change her life. And in New York her passion for acting and making people laugh certainly flourished.

If you live long enough, life certainly serves an uneven share of ups and downs. In this book, Marcia uses her sense of humor and optimism and honesty to tell her life story. She discovers love, loss, parenthood and tragedy but never despair. Her recounting her grief experience at mid-life is the most realistic I have read. It should be recommended for anyone who has suffered the loss of someone loved.

Her description of her 60th birthday is hilarious.

It is an inspiring read--I am using the title for my own self-talk when my UP's may not be has high as they used to be and the slide into a DOWN seems inevitable. I am sorry that Marcia died before she wrote another book.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marcia Wallace was the smart mouthed receptionist on the Bob Newhart Show and voiced Bart's teacher, Edna Krabappel on the Simpsons. I met her at an autograph collector show intending to just get a picture, but also walked away with an autographed copy of her autobiography. She accomplished this by telling me that the only reason she attended those shows was to promote her book, which she wrote to reach out to other people who could learn from her life story. From an eating disorder, to the adoption of her son, to the untimely death of her husband, she has survived a variety of hardships. Yet she writes with such humour that only a self-deprecating comedienne could muster. A year or two later, I saw her again at yet another autograph show. I told her how much I had enjoyed her book, how well I thought it was written, and how her story not only touched me but helped me to understand a few things. She responded by giving me a warm hug. I will never forget her.

[Pamela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally a celeb memoir worth reading! Marcia Wallace, actress on The Bob Newhart Show, The Simpsons, etc. has experienced just about everything. Her autobiography is at times poignant, hysterical and incredibly inspirational. She shares stories about her tough midwestern childhood, her many acting gigs, love life giggles and heartbreaks. She tells what it's like to survive cancer, become a young widow, raise a child by herself and even have her house burn down. Marcia is smart, funny and I totally love her book. I'm thrilled it's now available on Kindle Nook and so reasonably priced at $3.99.

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read and like the author a bit overblown at times. An innocuous little book with some funny moments. She grew up in the Midwest during the same time I was growing up in NYC so there were some parallels I could appreciate. Not sure anyone unfamiliar with the Newhart Show or younger than we would get anything from this " autobiography." Glad I borrowed it rather than spent any money on it.

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing writing.

Autobiographies are sometimes perhaps not right on. This is the exception. It is so heartfelt. I can see the progression of how a few or many bad happening can lead to the best thing that could ever happen. At the time going through the bad, one can never imagine how much good can come out of it. An intriguing read.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really liked it.She talks about her life, the bad and good times without anger.Marcia is someone I could learn from on how not to be bitter.Such a great lady.Wish I would have read it while she had still been living.Good book.

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok.

[Gr8serenity · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. I think I really enjoyed it because she spoke in my kind of mid west scattered story telling language.