Review: In Pieces, by Sally Field

In Pieces by Sally Field
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've loved Sally Field ever since I saw the film Sybil, about someone with DID (Dissociative Identify Disorder), which was an intense film. And I still remember the expression on her face and noise she would make when the character changed personalities. I also adored her portrayal of a Manic Depressive mother in ER and then the head of the family in Brothers and Sister. When I saw she had a memoir out I snatched it up and I wasn't disappointed.

Like many of her characters, it conveyed someone who was tangled and complicated, but was expressed with such depth and emotion that the reader is swept away. I found myself living vicariously through her words, feeling and imagining her life as she grew up in a less than glamorous showbiz world, constantly moving, constantly changing, constantly experiencing harsh (abusive) realities of life.

Sally goes into detail about her acting career depicting the true world behind the scenes of Hollywood TV shows and films. I adored the glimpse into the Actor's Studio, and how they worked with each other having watched the series and myself having studied drama. It was like revisiting a piece of my own life - and heart - and I got lost in the description of what it was like to take on another character and the practise involved, although in a far more professional sense and setting.

I also loved her openness about her relationships, both good and bad, and wasn't really surprised about Burt Reynolds. I was sad that her second marriage was skipped over, but understood that really the book was an ode to her mother and in fact motherhood, as it traversed her own as well the progression of herself as a person, while juggling so many things in her life.

I felt the memoir really gave me a sense of who Sally Field is, and I was grateful for her candid openness.

If you enjoy her as an actress I would definitely recommend this book.


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