Being Martha: The Inside Story of Martha Stewart and Her Amazing Life

by Lloyd Allen

Being Martha is a personal-at times a searingly personal-account of Martha's life from the inside, by a friend. It's fascinating-very anecdotal and very emotional. It won't be like anything else you've ever read about her.
-John Small, editor of SaveMartha.com

From Being Martha

""Martha has taught people to do many things and not in the way an ordinary teacher would, but in her own particular way. She taught people about the good things in life-the simple things.""
-Martha Kostyra, Martha's mother

""My mother and I have always been close. We are not closer since the trial and prison-we've always been close. . . . Don't we all want a better life? No matter what they say about my mom, all she ever does is teach the world good things that will help them in life. So what if she shows you the perfect way to do it? Would you want your professor at school to do anything less in any other subject? Her fans know what she's all about.""
-Alexis Stewart, Martha's daughter

""It was all about going and finding a piece of land and living off of it, learning how to get back to nature. Listening to banjos, listening to folk music, discovering Leadbelly and the Mamas and the Papas. We used to have the greatest evenings with a bunch of hospitable people. Martha would make pies and other things for the occasions.""
-George Christiansen, Martha's brother, about the early years

""Martha raised the bar for me and made me think big. . . . We have an alley cat, Ricky, that lives next door at the deli, and he roams in and out of the neighborhood. Ricky has no tail, he's dirty, and he acts like a dog. One morning during the trial, Martha was in the salon wearing a three-thousand-dollar Jil Sander suit. She was sitting on one of the chairs in the back. Ricky came in and jumped on top of her and was all over her, licking her neck and putting paw marks all over her. Martha said, 'Oh my God, this cat is so dirty, this is such a dirty little cat!' But she let him crawl all over her. She just dusted the hair and dirt off. She really has a lot of kindness in her.""
-Eva Scrivo, Martha's friend and hairdresser

Genres: Biography, Audiobook, Nonfiction, Business, Biography Memoir

256 pages, Hardcover

First published June 28, 1905

Reviews

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I LOVE Martha Stewart and was hoping for a more in-depth biography. This book did give me more insight into her life than the haters who constantly write about her, but I still feel like I don’t know much about her as a person after reading it. I hope she writes her own autobiography someday. I’d love to know more about her and how her mind works. She is a remarkable person.

[Darius Murretti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Are you serious ?! 3.35 stars!!

WOW I LOVE this book!!! I had a lump in my throat !!

Look !! I had no clue who Martha Stewart is or was or did but I recognized true love and felt privileged to be reading MS from the point of view of a person who had true love .

It is a spiritual principle that spiritually advanced people(aka loving people ) see the good in others and overlook their faults

So the thing I love MOST about this book is it is written by a person who has LOVE in his heart for his Beloved .

TO quote Mirdad (aka Mikail Niamy) :

"I often hear you say that Love is blind, meaning that it can see no fault in the beloved. That
kind of blindness is the height of seeing.
Would you were always so blind as to behold no fault in anything.
Nay, clear and penetrating is the eye of Love. Therefore, it sees no fault. When Love has
purged your sight, then would you see nothing at all unworthy of your Love. Only a love shorn, faulty eye is ever busy finding faults. Whatever fault it finds are only its own faults. "

The great master baba Sawan Singh Ji said " Beauty is reality seen through the eyes of love"

So when we look at others with love we see the good in them AND THAT IS THE GOD IN THEM -- and God is truth so I have no doubt that I am looking at the true side of MS --the side I want to see--the part that I want to imbibe and whose strengths I want to emulate .

It is also a spiritual principle that those who find fault and criticize are projecting their own faults on the object of their hatred and strengthening those very faults in themselves

I try to look at everyone with love.
I would not be hanging around MS IRL because she's non veg , and party's while Im vegan and always engaged in health , environmental and meditational stuff

I dont know any thing about her but I know this author is writing with true devotion and love and I want to see my own Guru with true love and THAT makes me feel very good . It chokes me up and makes me wish I could love my Guru like this man loves Martha !!!! I pray to be filled with such love !!

[Laurabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Definitely written in defense of Martha towards her critics. The book spends a lot of time defending/downplaying her treatment of her staff while attempting to show her more vulnerable and soft side. You don't really know why she went to jail, just that it was "unfair." Honestly, if I was a family member (or Martha) I would have chosen a more interesting and compelling author for my PR book.

None of this takes away my desire to someday get a tour of Turkey Hill.

[Scott Spotson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I must admit, given that Martha Stewart herself probably approved of the book and probably contributed to it, I feel comfortable reading this knowing it's not a hash job. At the same time the book avoids fawning over this celebrity which makes it well-balanced to read. Doubtlessly the book strives to put her in a positive light but it does so reasonably, explaining why she earns our admiration. One take-away from this book-- this woman sure works hard, and takes over others' work if she's not satisfied. She craves perfection.

Maybe not easy to live with, but I don't have to. I just have to admire her results.

I wanted more insight on how she built her empire, though. Anyone can give catering parties and churn out incredible products, but HOW did she attain the critical mass of a huge empire? How did she sign contracts, fortify staff, and place products on a national scale so that she earned her billions?

[Tara Cignarella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Format Read: Audio free with Audible membership
Review: This was entertaining and well done, but would I simple would prefer if Martha had been the one to write and read her story.
Recommended For: Those who like Martha Stewart

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have had a bit of an obsession with Martha Stewart of late, so I figured this biography by one of Martha's friends would be a fun audiobook, if probably extremely skewed. And it was exactly that. It was a lot more interesting and readable than I expected it to be, but the writing wasn't great (full of cliched phrases like "a pinch of this, a dash of that", and the ubiquitous chapter title of "Martha and Me"). I also thought that the way he wrote about Martha and her daughter could be a little creepily obsessive, calling them "adorable" several times and constantly commenting on their beauty. I trust that the author is a good guy, but I don't think I'd be entirely comfortable with it if I were his wife. However, he did obviously have a very close relationship with Martha, and the stories he tells are enlightening and informative. I thought that he often overly excused her bad behavior because of her genius (come on, even the most brilliant people should be able to be gracious), but I can also understand his point that in order to be as successful as she's been, extreme control tendencies are necessary. The book also wasn't too detailed on her business stuff, which I can find boring, so it was, in all, an entertaining read.

[Crysta · Rating 1 out of 5]

Love love move Martha Stewart but this weiter who is supposedly a friend of Martha's came off more as a fanboy than anything. I was hoping to read about her upbringing and life experiences. I received none. Couldn't wait till the end of this book so I could say DONE!

[Mecinna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Martha fascinates me and this book did the same. She has led such an interesting life and there were many business lessons to be learned from this book and her experiences.

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the Audible version a good listen.

[Craig Amason · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was published in 2006, not long after Martha Stewart finished serving her sentence for insider trading. It was a freebie on Audible and I have always admired Martha Stewart, so I listened to it. Lloyd Allen is a long-time friend of Martha who had worked with and for her for years at the time he wrote this sympathetic, if not hagiographic, biography. He doesn't try to hide his adoration of his subject and offers a disclaimer to that effect in the introduction. In other words, you know what you're getting from the get go.

I liked it. Allen is funny in a Leslie Jordan sort of way. This is not a comprehensive, tell-all biography by any stretch of the imagination; however, the author does attempt to give readers a deeper look at the entrepreneur who built an empire on attention to detail, image, and good taste. By no means does Allen try to convince readers of Martha's sainthood, but he does dispel many of the myths and cliches about her. Allen demonstrates that Stewart is too often dismissed as a b**ch because she is driven, demanding, innovative, and most of all, successful. It's the same old double standard -- women are criticized for the exact same traits for which men are praised.

I always thought Martha Stewart got a raw deal with her conviction and prison sentence (one of the most interesting parts of the book, by the way). The amount of money involved was pennies compared to what some of the fat cats on Wall Street have swindled away. Again, the double standard. Perhaps the most fascinating part of Stewart's career has come after this book was published, so I may consider actually buying a later account of her accomplishments thus far. And she doesn't show any signs of slowing down. She indeed continues to have an amazing life.

[Tânia Sequinho · Rating 5 out of 5]

Foi bastante interessante ficar a saber mais sobre o grande nome que é Martha Stewart. Quando comprei este livro, há muitos anos atrás, sabia que ia aprender algo, mas fui mantendo-o guardado, adiando e adiando a sua leitura. Acho que o li na altura certa e não podia ter devorado mais rápido a segunda metade dele. Martha não é só a figura que conhecemos das revistas, dos programas de televisão, é tanto mais! Adorei conhecer um pouco mais da pessoa, do seu passado e da sua carreira. É impossível não nos sentirmos motivados para trabalhar nos nossos sonhos e realizar o impossível depois de ler este livro. Fiquei uma fã.

[Sidney · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book reads like a high school project in terms of quality. It is also caddy and vain, which is a bit entertaining but cheapens the writing. One thing it does well is give specific examples of Martha. This book is more of a rough draft; with the addition of a great author, editor, makeover (including the cover) and including many many more things (like starting her deal with KMART, buying her various ventures to create MSLO, modeling for Coco Chanel, and bringing her business back to profitability after prison) this could become a good biography.

[Jennifer Jank · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was hoping the book would provide a bit more insight into Martha's career success, but I did get a sense of some of the traits that she brought to her company. Obviously she has vision, but also very high standards and a willingness to work her tail off.

The book itself veers into "he doth protest too much" territory on a number of occasions, but the author admits up front that he's a friend and admirer, so that is to be expected.

[Caryn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not much of an inside story and not much of an amazing life here. It was very self-serving for the author. Whether you are a fan of Martha Stewart or not, she has to be a lot more interesting then this old friend made her out to be. There was very little detail about her personal life or her business life -- I felt like the author wasn't really as good a friend as he claimed and that he was merely capitalizing on what friendship they had.

[Kerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I felt that this book left something to be desired and it felt like the author was an obsessed fan, I did enjoy the facts that were told in this book. The interviews with the people in her life were interesting to read. I was only 14 when Martha went to jail so I wasn't aware of most of the things that happened in this book leading up to that. I did enjoy reading about her life. I think if Martha were to write her own book, I would be able to give it 5 stars.

[Heidi Foster · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have long admired Matha Stewart. Yes, her faults have been discussed to where everyone knows them. I however admire her. I find her to be an inspiration. This book came just at a time when I needed a little inspiration. Thank you Martha for always striving and showing us a better way, may you have peace and joy in your life. I am sure that you are still working hard.

[Melissa B · Rating 3 out of 5]

🎧 I am glad I listened to this book and didn’t read the book because I don’t think I would finish. I thought it would have been more of a in-depth look into her life. I felt the author collected stories from employees, families, friends, etc., and not Martha herself. It felt more of a book of Martha stories.

[Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written by a close family friend of Martha Stewart this book shares some never before told stories behind the scenes of Martha’s life. I really like Martha, warts and all. This book made me like her even more.

[Amanda Dicicco · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t like her as a person but she’s not as bad as I thought. I do want to get some of ber cookbooks and use her recipes. I also want to go to her vineyard. And I never knew she was in the slammer.

[Anthony Messina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audiobook: mostly stories from family and friends rather than a true biography

[Lucinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Listened to this book

[Ashley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Save your time. You'll learn more from her wiki.

[Sally Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read

[Elim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read… you get to know more about her from an outside perspective. Although the author is a friend, he shows her humanness. A formidable woman.

[Tracy Champion · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was so boring. It is totally opposite of the Netflix documentary that was just released.

[Madeline Wanlass]

🎧 I think could write a better autobiography than this… felt like a PR stunt that was poorly executed

[Jessica Rodebush · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Queen herself. This was fun because it gave glimpses into her life from the point of view of one of her close friends.

[Lecy Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is hailed as being a personal account of Martha Stewart's life and I was hoping for that to be so, but most of what I read could be found on her Wikipedia page. Disappointed because I would love to read a true biography of this domestic and business goddess.

[Barbara Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just am in awe at the amazing energy, and successful endeavors that Martha Stewart has accomplished. An inspiring woman figure to many young people, starting out in careers, and a very very good story.

[K · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Martha's longtime friend and former neighbor Lloyd Allen heard those negative stories, he hardly recognized the generous, fun-loving, and down-to-earth woman he's known and loved for years, and after she was indicted, he told Martha he was going to write this book. With Being Martha, Allen introduces you to the flesh-and-blood woman behind the glamorous public image. Drawing on hundreds of hours of exclusive interviews with Martha; her family, including her mother, her daughter, Alexis, her sister Laura, and her brother George; and many of her closest friends and colleagues over the years, the author at last shows us the real Martha: an enormously talented, passionate, determined, and hard-working woman who has achieved phenomenal success by inspiring and enriching the lives of millions." "Lloyd Allen weaves together never-before-told stories and details from Martha's early years as a model, stockbroker, and caterer, telling the true story of how an always-busy Connecticut homemaker broke through big-time to become the world's most successful businesswoman at the helm of the company that bears her name, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.