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MY EXTRAORDINARY ORDINARY LIFE by Sissy Spacek

MY EXTRAORDINARY ORDINARY LIFE

by Sissy Spacek and Maryanne Vollers

Pub Date: May 1st, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4013-2436-0
Publisher: Hyperion

An average memoir from the renowned actress.

Beginning with her childhood in Quitman, Texas, Spacek then chronicles her move to New York City after high school to pursue a singing career. During her time in the city, she subsisted on part-time work and help from her parents. She played the guitar and sang at a local bar and took classes at the Lee Strasberg Actors’ Studio. After filming her first movie, Prime Cut (1972), Spacek moved to Los Angeles. She was then cast in Terrence Malick’s classic Badlands (1973), where she met her future husband Jack Fisk, who was the art director of the movie. The memoir then recalls Spacek’s life during and after her big break as the lead actress in Brian de Palma’s Carrie (1976). After winning an Oscar for the role of country singer Loretta Lynn in Coal Miner’s Daughter (1980), Spacek took a self-imposed hiatus and moved to the country to enjoy nature, horses and a calm family life. Even though she made family life her priority, she continued to act in movies while raising her daughters; Spacek almost always brought her entire family on set. She returned to acting in the ’90s and won an Oscar nomination for her role in Todd Fields’ In the Bedroom (2001). Much of this overly detailed book lacks a narrative arc, but the author comes off as truly down-to-earth, a value she preaches throughout the book. As the title states, the book is “ordinary” and does not have enough drama to engage readers not directly interested in Spacek and her work.

For die-hard movie buffs and Spacek fans only.