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Title details for Brother & Sister by Diane Keaton - Available

Brother & Sister

A Memoir

by Diane Keaton
Diane Keaton
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
From the beloved film star and best-selling author of Then Again—a heartfelt memoir about Diane Keaton's relationship with her younger brother, and a poignant exploration of the divergent paths siblings' lives can take.
When they were children in the suburbs of Los Angeles in the 1950s, Diane Keaton and her younger brother, Randy, were best friends and companions: they shared stories at night in their bunk beds; they swam, laughed, dressed up for Halloween. Their mother captured their American-dream childhoods in her diaries, and on camera. But as they grew up, Randy became troubled, then reclusive. By the time he reached adulthood, he was divorced, an alcoholic, a man who couldn't hold on to full-time work—his life a world away from his sister's, and from the rest of their family.
Now Diane is delving into the nuances of their shared, and separate, pasts to confront the difficult question of why and how Randy ended up living his life on "the other side of normal." In beautiful and fearless prose that's intertwined with journal entries, letters, and poetry—many of them Randy's own writing and art—this insightful memoir contemplates the inner workings of a family, the ties that hold it together, and the special bond between siblings even when they are pulled far apart. Here is a story about love and responsibility: about how, when we choose to reach out to the people we feel closest to—in moments of difficulty and loss—surprising things can happen. A story with universal echoes, Brother & Sister speaks across generations to families whose lives have been touched by the fragility and "otherness" of loved ones—and to brothers and sisters everywhere.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    February 4, 2020

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780593169964
      • File size: 129349 KB
      • Duration: 04:29:28

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Actor Diane Keaton holds nothing back in this memoir of childhood. She recalls her tender relationship with her younger brother, Randy, a seemingly normal child who grew into a troubled adult. Listeners will be drawn in by her candor as she considers her feelings at key stages of their lives. Keaton's voice is as lively as it has been in the roles that made her famous. Listeners are likely to forget that an Oscar winner is letting them into very private moments because her love for Randy has a universal quality. She recounts his difficulties in a contemplative voice that may cause listeners to think about their own loved ones or regrets about growing up. M.R. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      December 9, 2019
      Actor Keaton (Let’s Just Say It Wasn’t Pretty) focuses on her complex relationship with her mentally ill younger brother in this resonant and melancholy family memoir. Keaton admits that she saw her brother, Randy, as a burden when they were kids growing up in Southern California: “He was a nuisance, a scaredy-cat, and a crybaby.” As she got older, “he became an absent presence. I avoided him as my life got busier while his got smaller and more difficult.” Throughout, Keaton shares details of her career (filmmakers Woody Allen and Nancy Meyers, among others, get mentions), but the focus is on Randy, an alcoholic plagued by sadomasochistic fantasies about women, and whose escalating instability—vividly described here (in a letter to Keaton, Randy writes, “When I thought about sex it was always with a knife”)—affected Keaton, her parents, and her two sisters. The author, who became “the family documentarian” after her mother’s death in 2008, utilizes family letters and journals to enhance the narrative, which follows Randy as he unravels and turns into a “Boo Radley character.” Keaton talks about the complexities of loving a brother she never quite knew; of watching him become consumed by alcohol, then falling into the grip of dementia “in the process of dying”; and of wishing she had done more to help him (“I want to have another chance at being a better sister”). This slim but weighty book stands as a haunting meditation on mortality, sibling love, mental illness, and regret.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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