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An Improvised Life

A Memoir

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An Improvised Life

By: Alan Arkin
Narrated by: Alan Arkin
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About this listen

In this insightful memoir, Oscar-winning actor Alan Arkin reflects back on finding his place as an actor and what theater—specifically the improvisational sort—has taught him about the craft and life.

Alan Arkin knew he was going to be an actor from the age of five. From this early age, he recognized that “every film I saw, every play, every piece of music fed an unquenchable need to turn myself into something other than what I was.”

An Improvised Life is Arkin’s wise and unpretentious recollection of the process, artistic and personal, of becoming an actor and a revealing look into the creative mind of one of the best practitioners on the stage and screen. Arkin, in a manner that is direct, down-to-earth, accessible, and articulate, reveals not just insights about himself but truths for the rest of us about our sense of self, our work, and our relationships with others.

©2011 Alan Arkin (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
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Critic reviews

“[A] wealth of wisdom.” ( New York Post)
All stars
Most relevant
I love Alan’s voice so this was always going to be a pleasant listen but I’m always hoping for some take away wisdom which I didn’t really get much of in this book. Alan talks about his time with improv in different contexts

A pleasant listen

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