Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Tender at the Bone

Ruth Reichl

This was mentioned as one of Ruth Reichl's revelatory memoirs.

150 Most Famous Poems

Poetry House

Julia's mother, a writer and poet, published her first book of poetry at the age of 75 or 80, which was mentioned by Julia during the podcast.

Mary Poppins

P. L. Travers

Julie Andrews originated the iconic role of Mary Poppins in the movie based on the book.

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She's been working professionally since she was just 10 years old, performing in a vaudeville act with her family singing all over England even performing at age 13 for King George the sixth and the future Queen Elizabeth.

The Truth Will Set You Free, But First It Will Piss You Off!

Gloria Steinem

It was one of Gloria Steinem's books. It contains a poem that Julia read, 'Dear Goddess, I pray for the courage to walk naked at any age, to wear red and purple, to be unladylike, inappropriate, scandalous and incorrect, to the very end.'

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I want to read, Gloria, a poem that you've written that is in one of your books, The Truth Will Set You Free But First It Will Piss You Off, is the title of the book. And I would like to read this poem that you wrote. Dear Goddess, I pray for the courage to walk naked at any age, to wear red and purple, to be unladylike, inappropriate, scandalous and incorrect, to the very end.

Women Holding Things

Maira Kalman

It was given to Julia by her friends Yoji and Janice. It's a collection of her illustrations and writing. It's drawings of women holding things.

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There's a spectacular book that my friends Yoji and Janice gave us. It's by Myra Kalman, and it's called Women Holding Things.

OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS

Anne Lamott

Julia Louis-Dreyfus explained that she had read Anne Lamott's "Operating Instructions" during the first year of her son's life. She found the book's honest and transparent approach to parenting, particularly the struggles with colic, to be relatable and comforting.

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The first book of hers that I read was operating instructions which she wrote about the first year of her son's life in which I read in the first year of my son's life and I guarantee you we're gonna talk about that today because it was a game-changer for me her straightforward open honest daring approach to her work is just unique and she's not writing about easy stuff either her words on addiction shaped by her own struggles carry immense significance within the recovery community and have truly shifted perceptions on how we view sobriety and substance abuse.

Bird by Bird

Anne Lamott

Anne Lamott spoke about the origin of the book title, "Bird by Bird", which came from her father who encouraged her brother to complete his school paper by focusing on small, manageable steps.

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My older brother hated school and wasn't very good at it because he didn't care and he had his bird paper and you have the whole semester to do that and it was due the next day. This was a Sunday and it was due on Monday and he hadn't started he couldn't start it was too much like any writing project you start it's it's like an unassaulted ice flow and he was in tears.

H Is for Hawk

Helen Macdonald

It was a book of poetry written by Debbie Allen's mother in 1957. It's about a man's transcendence to a higher level of existence, and it was her story, an allegory with various characters.

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Her poetry, her book Hawk, which you can get on amazon.com, yes, her legacy work, which she wrote in 1957, is about man's transcendence to a higher level of existence and being man's search for freedom. It's really her story.

Just Kids

Patti Smith

It was described as a work of art and a love story, more than a memoir. Patti Smith promised Robert Maplethorpe before his death that she would write their story down, which she finally did in 2010.

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What a work of art. What a work of art.

In Pieces

Sally Field

She talked about putting the puzzle pieces together of her childhood and her life. It was interesting because writing the memoir really freed something up for her, after the fact.

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She wrote the most extraordinary memoir called "In Pieces" and in this book it's an autobiography and she talks about her putting the puzzle pieces together of her childhood and her life um it's interesting because writing the memoir really freed something up for her you know sort of after the fact and she talks about this in the memoir and she talked about it in conversation to about the fact that when she's playing a character when she's performing that's when she is I think most confident and most at ease with herself and that's even I think still the case to this day.

Home before morning

Christopher Van Devanter, Lynn; Morgan

The book was about nurses on the front line of Vietnam, a jaw dropping story about the trauma of war.

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And we had these projects and one of them was so good and it was before the films really started to come out about Vietnam and we had this book um called "Home Before Morning" which was about nurses on the front line of Vietnam and it was jaw dropping it was Kunu and it was the first time you took a look at the trauma of war and of course we would go to these studios and they would go well we don't want to see our little sadly do this what uh huh and you just it was so hard to get any serious films about women made

You Hurt My Feelings

John

The book was about the little white lies we tell to the people we love the most.

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It's a little comedy about the little white lies we tell to the people we love the most.