Book Review – Watch Me: A Memoir by Anjelica Huston
First published, 2015
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Picking up from her first memoir (which I didn’t know about and therefore, hadn’t read), Watch Me begins in 1973 with Ms Huston’s breakup from Bob Richardson, goes right the way through her longterm relationship with Jack Nicholson, and concludes in Ms Huston’s early sixties.
I know other reviewers have pointed out the amount of name-dropping in this book. For myself, if I’d met or slept with, that many famous people, I’d rattle out those names like nobody’s business. At least Anjelica Huston is classy about it.
There was a bit, years ago on Whose Line Is It Anyway? where Jonathan Pryce was telling a story in the style of the diaries of Noel Coward. Every time it came his turn to speak, he began with, ‘Binky was there…’ The beginning of this memoir is written in a similar style. However, after a hundred pages or so, I barely noticed it.
The writing livened up enormously with the totally understandable conflict of emotions as Ms Huston found herself torn between the beautiful but volatile Ryan O’Neal and the charming but unfaithful Jack Nicholson. There were plenty of heartfelt moments which provided a rare insight into this delightful and enigmatic actress.
My favourite line was right towards the end: “I saw a medium recently. She said that Dad is happy in the afterlife because he likes alcohol and you can have a drink in heaven.”
Chapter 37, p. 385, Watch Me: A Memoir by Anjelica Huston.
Petrina Binney - Author 