Meryl Streep: The Reluctant Superstar

This book gives understanding of the Meryl Streep many don't know. How she started on the stage, tranforming into a hugh talent on the screen and with all that she has managed to be a great mom and wife which is so important to her. She always remembers where she came from. She may be a shinning star but inside she is a real person like the rest of us. I respect her for the choices she has made in her life. This book is a must read...it may be 20 years old but worth the time to read. I really enjoyed it.

I'm not sure if "reluctant" is the right summary of Streep's attitude towards being a "superstar". It's something else. But Diana Maychick puts together a pleasantly understandable picture of what makes this great actress: Meryl Streep. We hear so many "superstars" proclaimed, but from Streep's story it's clear: it is not the parties (though she goes to her share). It is not the beauty (goodness, her blond hair comes from a bottle!). It isn't the single-mindedness: Streep spends a lot of energy on her family life. It isn't necessarily intelligence (Streep seems intelligent enough, but her Vassar speech, quoted in the book, is nothing striking.) Rather, being a star is, first, professionalism, skill, and hard work. But beyond that, someone who elicits -- something so rare in modern life, and in modern box-office hits -- who elicits awe when she appears on screen. Maychick, retelling Streep's life, teaches us the true and frightening magic of acting: just as sleep brings hypnosis unnoticed into our lives, so does acting make schizophrenia acceptable, even admired. And when done right, makes us freeze, and catch our breath.