It's Always Something

First edition hardcover.

It's Always Something is a biography of Gilda Radner, published in 1989. While it covers some of Radner's childhood and marriage to Gene Wilder, the majority of the book focuses on her discovery and treatment for ovarian cancer.

I first encountered this book shortly after the audio book was released around 1990. My mother rented it on cassette and I listened to portions of it in the car with her. Many years later, my friend Jackie was going to sell her copy to a used book store, but I took it before she could.

Status

I own a first edition hardcover and have read it.

Review

Good

• The book is well-written and interesting.
• Radner is pretty frank about what she sees as her own flaws, and gets pretty detailed about her cancer treatments.

Bad

• The order of events is out of place for a biography. In the beginning, Radner glosses over all of her childhood, teen years, and early work and jumps right into dating Gene Wilder after her second marriage. It isn't until halfway through the book that she delves into her formative years.
• Radner's promotion of sham medicine, crystals, and astrology isn't as disappointing as the fact that she was encouraged to use it by a health care practitioner.

Ugly

• Nothing.

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