Lauren Graham

Talking As Fast As I Can

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In this collection of personal essays, the beloved star of Gilmore Girls and Parenthood reveals stories about life, love, and working as a woman in Hollywood—along with behind-the-scenes dispatches from the set of the new Gilmore Girls, where she plays the fast-talking Lorelai Gilmore once again. With a new bonus chapter In Talking as Fast as I Can, Lauren Graham hits pause for a moment and looks back on her life, sharing laugh-out-loud stories about growing up, starting out as an actress, and, years later, sitting in her trailer on the Parenthood set and asking herself, “Did you, um, make it?” She opens up about the challenges of being single in Hollywood (“Strangers were worried about me; that’s how long I was single!”), the time she was asked to audition her butt for a role, and her experience being a judge on Project Runway (“It’s like I had a fashion-induced blackout”). In “What It Was Like, Part One,” Graham sits down for an epic Gilmore Girls marathon and reflects on being cast as the fast-talking Lorelai Gilmore. The essay “What It Was Like, Part Two” reveals how it felt to pick up the role again nine years later, and what doing so has meant to her. Some more things you will learn about Lauren: She once tried to go vegan just to bond with Ellen DeGeneres, she’s aware that meeting guys at awards shows has its pitfalls (“If you’re meeting someone for the first time after three hours of hair, makeup, and styling, you’ve already set the bar too high”), and she’s a card-carrying REI shopper (“My bungee cords now earn points!”). Including photos and excerpts from the diary Graham kept during the filming of the recent Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, this book is like a cozy night in, catching up with your best friend, laughing and swapping stories, and—of course—talking as fast as you can.

From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls (and Everything in Between)

Talking as Fast as I Can

I love Gilmore Girls, so was interesting to hear about the filming and characters and actors. 

Sarah Chauvidon

In her first work of nonfiction, the star of Gilmore Girls and Parenthood recounts her experiences on Gilmore Girls, the first and second time, and shares stories about life, love, and working in Hollywood.

From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls, (and Everything in Between)

Bria

I don't know why but I've been enthralled with Lauren Graham since I was a kid

"This book contains some stories from my life: the awkward growing-up years, the confusing dating years, the fulfilling work years, and what it was like to be asked to play one of my favorite characters again. Also included: tales of living on a houseboat, meeting guys at awards shows, and that time I was asked to be a butt model. A hint: all three made me seasick."

Sarah Sammis

One of the better / more entertaining memoirs I've read recently.

Graham writes as if we're reading one side of a lengthy conversation. She covers the early bits of her life and career but doesn't turn the events into something that reads like a very dull book report. Instead of going through every year in finite detail, we're giving the highlights.

The part, though, that Graham expands upon is the part I was most interested in — namely the filming of the original series and the later Netflix movies. So many of these memoirs skip over the parts the authors are best known for to expand upon other events they'd rather be known for. In Graham's case, she clearly loved playing Lorelai Gilmore and doesn't mind talking about the show.

Teresa Bonifácio

I had to read the audiobook because it was read by Lauren! 
She seems to be exactly what I thought of her! So bur so cool! 
I loved Gilmore Girls and Parenthood is one of my favorite tv shows! I really want to read all of her books!

Bailey Corblies

Jeff Sexton

Fast And Funny. In this memoir, Graham talks about her life in general and some of her more famous/ long-lasting projects: Gilmore Girls and Parenthood. And she does it in what seems to be her style on the shows - fast and hilarious. The chapters are short, and the book overall is a very quick read. If you've ever seen any of her projects at all, this is a very worthy read. And if you haven't, you're probably not interested in this book anyway - but if you haven't seen any of her work and *are* interested, go ahead and pick this up. If nothing else, you will be entertained.

Allie Reynolds

Melissa Palmer

Book #94 Read in 2017
Talking As Fast As I Can by Lauren Graham

I loved the show Gilmore Girls and Lauren Graham is one of my favorite actresses. In this book, she details life in Hollywood, talking about her background, her early days, her Gilmore days etc. She writes in the way I would think Lorelei (her Gilmore Girls character) would talk. This was an entertaining, quick read.

Wilde

This makes for a perfect audio book. I could listen to Graham read the phone book and love it.

Krystyna 

I LOVE The Gilmore Girls so obviously I had to read this book. Lauren Graham narrates this book in the audiobook format; so, I would definitely recommend listening to the audiobook for this one.

Victoria

Okay, three things:

1) This is my first audiobook. And I love that I chose this specifically because I absolutely adore Lauren Graham. 

2) I'm one of the biggest fans of Gilmore Girls so I don't know why it took me this long to get through this book but better late than never and I'm glad that I finally did.

3) It was just all around fun.

Matthew Royal

I've never read a celebrity biography before. I've seen all the Gilmore Girls episodes now, more from compulsive binge watching than from particular love of Lorelei, who I find irritating, and I can understand how meaningful it must have been to be a part of the show. Lauren seems to have completely absorbed her character, and I can't imagine her playing another character, though she talks a lot about her role on Parenthood.

Lauren is a bit disingenuous when it comes to acting and getting roles. She promotes a "just be yourself" and "don't read the reviews" viewpoint while clearly analyzing her competitive situations and gaming them to success. This is more of a lesson than anything else in this book, except for maybe her 2nd hand advice for how to be productive in writing every day. A sort of modified Pomodoro technique that could probably work for other creative tasks like painting or coding.

My takeaway from this book is that you should be aware of what you need to do competitively in your job and life to get what you want, and you shouldn't sacrifice them for others, but you should keep them close to your chest, and focus on enjoying the moment with others rather than being consumed with the competition or self doubt. Confidence that there is no one path through life, so you can't rationally worry about hitting so-called "milestones." Don't worry about it; take the next step you know you need and cherish the human moments along the way that make life meaningful.

Alexa M

Ivy X

this book was okay. 
It was very personable but I think I wanted something different content-wise. Lauren definitely hit the spot more toward the end of the book (as she talks about the remake of Gilmore Girls, working on set, taking memorabilia, and even her thoughts on the ending being a cliffhanger). However, I wish there was more depth. The feelings of nostalgia must have hit so hard for her (especially for us viewers who felt taken back to a better time-- even though Rory turned out very different from what we hoped for) 

I do love Lauren's personality though! It really shone through in this book, and she definitely has the charm of Lorelai (esp with the fast-talking, sarcasm, and humor)

Lyric Hooey

This was a quick, fun read! Lauren Graham writes exactly how she speaks, with quick wit and excellent at explaining things. This was a really nice mix of her personal life stories, along with plenty of Gilmore Girls tidbits, and extras from her other shows/movies. Lots of name dropping, but that's part of what we wanted to hear, wasn't it?

Rounding up because Graham’s an alum of the Barn (!!!) Theater in Augusta, Michigan. 🙂

Izza

Jude Moon

i love lauren graham,,, the thing that kept me from the 5 stars was listening to the audiobook :( i loved her voice so much but i have realized that, unfortunately, listening to books distracts me too much and i can’t get into what they’re telling me.

Julia Lotz

Meine Meinung: Ich tue mich immer schwer mit Biografien. Wer Lauren Graham jedoch kennt der weiß, dass in ihr eine Menge des Charakters von Lorelai Gilmore steckt und das sollte eigentlich jede Biografie aufwerten oder? Auf Einmal Gilmore Girl, immer Gilmore Girl trifft das jedenfalls zu. Lauren Graham verpackt so viel Humor in ihrem Buch, dass ich aus dem Schmunzeln gar nicht mehr raus kam. Sie stellt uns große Teile ihrer Kindheit und Jugend vor, redet über ihre Schauspielanfänge und über ihre Rolle in Parenthood und gibt uns wertvolle und wichtige Tipps mit auf den Weg. Immer wieder kommt sie darüber hinaus auf die Gilmore Girls zu sprechen und somit ist das Buch neben Lauren Grahams Biografie auch eine tolle Ergänzung für alle Gilmore Girl Fans. 
Hier vorab: Vor dem Lesen solltet ihr die Gilmore Girls Staffeln kennen, sonst können euch Spoiler erwarten. Ein neues Jahr müsst ihr allerdings noch nicht gesehen haben. Darauf geht Lauren Graham nur im letzten Kapitel ein und es gibt eine Spoilerwarnung. 
Was mir beim Lesen klar geworden ist, das ist, dass Lauren Graham nicht nur Lorelai Gilmore verkörpert, sondern dass sie Lorelai Gilmore IST. Durch und durch und ohne Abstriche. Das Buch war wahnsinnig lustig und man hatte häufig das Gefühl, man ist Rory, sitzt mit Lorelai am Küchentisch und hört sich alte Geschichten und gute Ratschläge an. Das Buch katapultierte mich direkt in die Gilmore Girls Wohlfühl-Stimmung hinein und so kamen mir die 250 Seiten des Buches viel zu kurz vor. 
Die einzelnen Kapitel wurden von Lauren Graham ganz unterschiedlich geschrieben und gestaltet. So füllen Foto und sogar Zeichnungen die Seiten, Interviews und Telefongespräche lösen pure Beschreibungen ab und man findet verrückte Dinge, wie Schreib-Motivations-Anleitungen oder ein Rewatch-Tagebuch der Gilmore Girls Staffeln. Das gestaltete das Buch sehr abwechslungsreich und unterstrich den verrücken Charakter Lauren Grahams. Zudem bekommt man das dringende Bedürfnis, die Gilmore Girls DVD in den Player zu legen, und eine Folge zu schauen. Nein, ich korrigiere mich, selbst beim Schreiben dieser Rezension bekomme ich unglaubliche Lust, Gilmore Girls zu schauen. Das macht Einmal Gilmore Girl, immer Gilmore Girl zum absoluten Muss für alle Gilmore Girl Fans. 
Fazit: In Lauren Graham steckt so viel von Lorelai Gilmore und das macht das Buch nicht nur lustig sondern auch lesenswert. Abwechslungsreich berichtet sie uns von ihrer Kindheit, ersten Schauspielerfahrungen und von ihrem Leben heute. Zahlreiche Bezüge zu den Gilmore Girls sowie tolle Ratschläge runden das Buch ab und lassen die 250 Seiten viel zu kurz erscheinen.

calli wiltshire

Must listen to her read this book, gave me feels from GG, SHE WILL ALWAYS BE LORELEI!

Tracie McMurray

I REALLY wish I had seen the Netflix series, "A Year in the Life" before I read this book. Also, while listening to this book read by the author was wonderful, it was very annoying to not be able to see the pictures she was referencing. So, I recommend getting the actual book.

Shereen Evans

This was a great read. i enjoyed everything that there was in it and seeing the road to her role as Loreali and back again. It was great hearing what it was like being back in Stars Hollow to create A Year in the Life.

With a new bonus chapter From the star of the much-loved television shows Gilmore Girlsand Parenthoodand the author of thebestselling novel Someday, Someday, Maybecomes a collection of candid and hilarious essays. In Talking as Fast as I Can, Lauren Graham hits pause for a moment and looks back on her life, sharing stories about growing up, dating, and starting out as an actress. Some things you'll learn about Lauren- She once tried to go vegan just to bond with Ellen DeGeneres, she's aware that being set up with guys at awards shows has its pitfalls (oIf you're meeting someone for the first time after three hours of hair, makeup, and styling, you've already set the bar too higho), and she's a card-carrying REI shopper (oMy bungee cords now earn points!o). Lauren also sits down for an epic Gilmore Girlsmarathon and reflects on being cast as Lorelai Gilmore and how it felt to pick up the role nine years after the first series concluded. Complete with photos and excerpts from the diary Lauren kept during the filming of Gilmore Girls- A Year in the Life, this book is like a cozy night in, catching up with your best friend, laughing and swapping stories, and-of course-talking as fast as you can.

a super fun audiobook that i listened to as i walked around NYC on a self care weekend!! it felt like i was walking with a friend <3

erin moran 

Steph L 

This book was a delight to read. If you enjoy Lauren in any capacity, or Gilmore Girls read this book!!!! If you have not seen A Year In The Life as you're reading this, skip the last chapter because it contains spoilers from when they were filming the show.

Talking As Fast As I Can

Reviews