Call Me Anne

by Anne Heche

This memoir by Anne Heche is as personal as it gets, offering a peek inside the mind of the late Emmy-award winning actress, director and author of the New York Times bestseller Call Me Crazy .

Call Me Anne is the sequel to Heche’s first book, Call Me Crazy . It is a memoir consisting of personal anecdotes of her rise to how Harrison Ford became her on-set mentor, her relationship with Ellen Degeneres, her encounter with Harvey Weinstein, her history of childhood sexual abuse, her relationship with God, her journey to love herself, and more. Part memoir and part self-acceptance workbook, Anne’s personal stories are interwoven with poems, prompts, and exercises that got Anne through tough times. Readers are encouraged to try them as they navigate their own journey to self-love, acceptance, forgiveness, and faith.

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

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 24, 2023

About the author

Anne Celeste Heche was an American actress, director, and screenwriter. She started her career at age 18 on the daytime soap opera Another World, for which she received a Daytime Emmy Award in 1991. Heche gradually obtained supporting roles in feature films such as I Know What You Did Last Summer and Volcano (both 1997). Her first leading role was in Six Days Seven Nights (1998)—which has remained her most high-profile film role to date. That same year, she starred in the critically acclaimed film Return to Paradise, which was her second (and last) leading role in a theatrical film to date. Following a supporting role in John Q. (2002), she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for her performance in the TV movie Gracie's Choice (2004). From 2006 to 2008, she starred in her own TV series, Men in Trees. Her most recent film credits include Spread (2009), The Other Guys (2010), and Cedar Rapids (2011). She had a supporting role in the 2009–2011 HBO cable TV series Hung.

As Heche was beginning to establish herself in films during the late 1990s, her career was negatively affected by her highly publicized same-sex relationship with Ellen DeGeneres, and resulted in Heche losing film offers. In 2001, following her break-up with DeGeneres, Heche married cameraman Coley Laffoon, with whom she has a son. Since their separation in 2007 (they divorced in 2009), she has lived with actor James Tupper, with whom she also has a son.

Reviews

[Laur · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I was listening to this book narrated by Heather, her best friend, it felt like this book was intended as a “love letter” from the late Heche, with a broad message of acceptance, and be kind to yourself and others, love yourself and others. Live your life on your terms.

Ann shared personal, raw, and even embarrassing situations that happened to her, but through it all, she managed to deliver a positive and sometimes humorous message, never taking herself or public persona too serious. She definitely did NOT act like a Diva in real or her professional life. Whether one would agree with her message or not would be a personal thing, but one thing was clear to me….she cared. She cared genuinely. She wanted nobody to suffer the pain she had suffered, and a lot of what she shared was her own survival tools she wanted to share with others. Money, fame, power didn’t impress her - genuine acts of kindness did.

Unfortunately, most of us know how Ann died, but I didn’t really know much about Ann Heche personally before that, although I did appreciate her acting abilities. After reading this book, I have come to understand her, the person, in a better way. I would have liked to meet her - she sounded down to earth.

Heather Duffy did an excellent job of narrating; her deep love and respect for her friend who is no longer here with us, is evident in the closing paragraphs in tribute.
RIP Ann.

You can find this book on hoopla and read/listen to it free. I recommend the audio version.

[Jenny · Rating 1 out of 5]

Omg - this book was for Xtreme fans of Anne only. I happen to be one of them. You have to be obsessed with her (which I am) to make it through this trite, laughable self help book. It was like a self help book written by a third grader only more boring. The one positive of her very dark and fascinating death is that she did not live to see the reviews of this awful book. Instead of read this book, I recommend reading “call me crazy” again. That was a beautiful book and worth another read if you wish to remember her and what we all loved about her.

[Adriana · Rating 1 out of 5]

I liked and admired Anne Heche, and I think she had original ideas worth sharing, but this book should have been better edited or not released at all. Simply put: it's a first draft.

[Felicia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Anne’s second book is a mixture of self-help and memoir. I much preferred reading about her personal experiences as she worked her way up in Hollywood. I tended to glaze over the self-help/lessons from her life and instead, be way more intrigued with her on set interactions with co-stars/writers/directors, etc, snippets from her childhood and call back to her first book, Call Me Crazy.

[Randy Scobey · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want to know who Anne is, what she experienced, what she believed in, and her hope for humanity, this book is it. Alongside her body of work was the myriad of people touched by Anne’s love and joy. This book is a perfect tribute to who she is, the joy she brought into the world, and the love for every human she met and everyone who loved and supported her.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anne Heche’s Call Me Anne offers a fascinating glimpse into her life, mixing personal stories with reflective observations. The book has a unique style, with each chapter blending conversational anecdotes with deeper, self-help-like insights. One of my favorite stories is about her first meeting with Harrison Ford, where she recalls him humorously warning her not to share a story she told him because it made him feel old. That moment— and others like it—showcase her wit and her ability to find humor even in the midst of serious conversations.


As someone who’s been intrigued by Anne Heche since the ‘90s, this book felt like a window into the person behind the headlines. I coincidentally lived directly across the street of one of her homes as an adult, and though I’ve only ever known her through the media and occasionally seeing driving away, I always felt she was more interesting than the tabloid stories let on. Reading this book gave me some insight into who she was beyond the public image. I laughed out loud at a few of her stories and found others genuinely heartwarming. It’s clear she had a way of finding beauty and humor in life, even when it was messy.

[SerenaBeReading · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to this on audio but didn't see the audio edition here so chose paperback.

This isn't quite what I was expecting but I still enjoyed it. Sadly Anne Heche is no longer here and in this memoir she talks about working in Hollywood, of course her time with Ellen, a bit about her childhood and gives you nice life lessons sprinkled throughout. There is a part in this that involves Alec Baldwin and I hollered listening to it. OMG.

This was narrated by Heather Duffy who I just learned had a podcast with Anne. She did a great job. Anne will be missed.

[Sali · Rating 2 out of 5]

More life stories, please

My disappointment is because I wanted more of Anne's story, not her philosophy. Her outlook on life was open and positive. I'm sure it got her through many hardships and will help others. I, however, wanted to learn about her life in the midst of making the movies I so love. I found her entertaining and admired her craft. I wanted to learn what was going on in her life underlying each movie. Her life was blessed in so many ways. She remained unique and positive throughout.

[Jodell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I will have to go and read the first book to know more. But no one knows the why of what she did when she passed away. Can you imagine hitting a house and it catching on fire along with your car and you're on fire to and it takes them 40 agonizing minutes to get you out and your still alive? It's awful. In the end she did die and left two young children. The autopsy showed no drugs in her system in the end except Marijuana that had not been smoked that day but in previous days before she died. A very sad story that no one will be able to say why she did what she did.

[Elizabeth Rowe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t know what to expect coming into this book but definitely didn’t realize it was a workbook of sorts, with problem solving . Anne told stories and then shared positive solutions for how to deal with these situations. It’s heartbreaking that she really wanted to help people find their peace and truth in their own stories but lost her life so tragically . It was hard for me to connect with the work book being that it was an audiobook.

[Natalie Westbrook · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel bad giving bad reviews since she is deceased, so I’ll go with 3 stars…. I think I was expecting a tell all of Hollywood and more of the film that she was working on when she died I think it is called silenced children. It is about sex trafficking. This book was okay. There were a couple of personal stories about her adventures on set, but not many. Most of the passages were supposed to be motivational and inspirational. It didn’t resonate with me, but rest in peace Ann.

[Storhmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Soft Words for Hard Moments

Call Me Anne is a gentle, uplifting, and comforting collection of affirmations and reflections rooted in real-life experience and released after Anne’s passing. With warmth and honesty, her words feel like a reassuring voice, offering simple reminders to keep going and guiding readers through life’s ups and downs with hope, resilience, and self-compassion.

[James Biser · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic memoir. Anne shares her journey and how she chooses to be who she is. She tells the story of where and who she comes from and her history of abuse and love and performance. Each reader who is gay, straight, sad, happy, old and/or young will fall in love with Anne Heche and her honest, open voice.

[Katie Niegos · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an intriguing and very quick read. It was part memoir, part self help book with a smattering of poems. There was little groundbreaking revelations as most of those came in her first book, Call Me Crazy, but her words were poignant and gave actionable advice based on her anecdotes that a reader could easily apply to their own life.

[Amanda Iman · Rating 1 out of 5]

I very rarely DNF a book, but this is just not for me. I despise self help books, and that's what this is; disguised as Anne's posthumously published memoir.

Heather Duffy's narration of the audiobook also does not help. There's barely any voice inflection and it's hard to follow when the chapters switch from anecdote to something else.

[Melissa Snow · Rating 1 out of 5]

Was so excited to read this book. Was always a big fan but I could not finish it. There just wasn't much to it. There was a lot of "self help" talk and I just couldn't make myself continue. Wish I had saved that dollar.

[Robyn Obermeyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I geuss I am a true fANNE of Ann! I appreciate her honesty, her joy, her attitude ,her looks, her ability to write and be heard, her wanting to help people , her career ,her children! Its a real shame she is gone from this earth,I most certainly hope the spaceship came and took her to a place much nicer than here.

[Joan Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book as I also read her first book! This book was sad to me because she seemed so real as she us a deep thinker and draws you in and taught me a lot, but she passed away recently at age 53 and it bothered me as
I read ! She was a talented actress and writer,and so full of life!

[Johnnysbookreviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a quick listen. I listened to the audiobook, and I didn't know much about Anne until now.

The end made me ball my eyes out. Anne didn't see this book published as she died shortly before in a car crash. 🥲 I didn't know that until the end.

[Anna-Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was not what I was expecting. I thought this would be a memoir, but there was a heavy cliche’-rich self-help approach to the book. I skimmed most of the book (which was thankfully a short book) however I would have abandoned the book early on otherwise.

[BxerMom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Your abuse doesn’t define you. Anne couldn’t have said it better. I wasn’t aware of the abuse and pain that was her life. She definitely overcame some crap. I always liked her as an actress. The book definitely revealed some interesting things.

[Tambra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book and story its not a big book but a interesting read. I will Miss Anne huge fan of her work. She is a great writer.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable and very motivational. I like her way of thinking.

[Missy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

[Thomas · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like 'Call Me Crazy' than this one.

[Jacinta · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to hear her story, but her preachy style put me off.

[Tracy Schillemore · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part self help, part memoir.

[Anke Zweel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I personally did not like enjoy this book in total. it was a short fast read.

[Vania EM · Rating 3 out of 5]

Felt unfinished so i guess she never had time to add the missing parts before passing away. A full life!

[Shannon Rochester · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since I read her first book and really enjoyed it, I knew I had to read her last one as well. This one was much shorter and not quite as dark but it was just as good. I wish I could have met her because she was one very interesting person...I feel like we could have sat for hours pondering the Universe and out place in it. I am not sure why it has so many bad reviews but then again, we don't all have to like the same things...life would be pretty boring if we did.