My new voice belongs to Edward Herrmann. He has allowed me to use it for 448 pages. The actor has recorded the audiobook version of my memoir, Life Itself, and my author's copies arrived a few days ago.

Listening to it, I discovered for the first time a benefit from losing my own speaking voice: If I could still speak, I suppose I would probably have recorded it myself, and I wouldn't have been able to do that anywhere as near as well as Herrmann does.

My editor, Mitch Hoffman, suggested a few readers he was confident would do a good job. Herrmann's name leaped up from his email.

Continue reading →

Q. Thank you for speaking out about the travesty that Warner Brothers is perpetuating with "Eyes Wide Shut." I originally read about the digitally altered 65 seconds in Richard Schickel's Time magazine article. This is truly a sad day for film enthusiasts. I believe that it is time for someone to step in and deal with the MPAA's perversion of their power. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to their decisions. For example, the original tagline of the "South Park" movie, "All Hell Breaks Loose," was rejected due to the use of the word "hell." The MPAA claims the rating system is only to inform potential viewers about objectionable subject matter, but it is farcical for them to act as if their rulings have no effect on a film's box office potential, especially the stigmatized NC-17. I will

Continue reading →