Managing Expectations Audiobook By Minnie Driver cover art

Managing Expectations

A Memoir in Essays

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Managing Expectations

By: Minnie Driver
Narrated by: Minnie Driver
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About this listen

A charming, poignant, and mesmerizing memoir in essays from beloved actor and natural-born storyteller Minnie Driver, chronicling the way life works out even when it doesn’t.

In this intimate, beautifully crafted collection, Driver writes and narrates with disarming charm and candor about her bohemian upbringing between England and Barbados; her post-university travails and triumphs—from being the only student in her acting school not taken on by an agent to being discovered at a rave in a muddy field in the English countryside; shooting to fame in one of the most influential films of the 1990s and being nominated for an Academy Award; and finding the true light of her life, her son. She chronicles her unconventional career path, including the time she gave up on acting to sell jeans in Uruguay, her journey as a single parent, and the heartbreaking loss of her mother.

Like Lena Dunham in Not That Kind of Girl, Gabrielle Union in We’re Going to Need More Wine and Patti Smith in Just Kids, Driver writes with razor-sharp humor and grace as she explores navigating the depths of failure, fighting for success, discovering the unmatched wonder and challenge of motherhood, and wading through immeasurable grief. Effortlessly charming, deeply funny, personal, and honest, Managing Expectations reminds us of the way life works out—even when it doesn’t.

Also included at the end of this audiobook is a conversation between Minnie Driver her friend Emma Forrest.

©2022 Minnie Driver (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers
Entertainment & Celebrities Essays Celebrity Nonfiction Funny Witty Heartfelt Inspiring Thought-Provoking
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Beautiful Storytelling • Engaging Essays • Heartfelt Narratives • Candid Reflections • Humorous Anecdotes • Rich Voice
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I love it. As an Audible bio, read by the author, the whole book really hits home. The hardest part is to stop anywhere before the end.

Wonderful.

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Interesting and she’s such an elegant writer! I would have preferred some endings to some of the essays, they left me wanting more details. Especially after her trip in Miami alone as a kid!

Great audiobook

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Thank you, Minnie, for sharing your story. I laughed, I cried, but mostly laughed and became inspired by your tenacity and endurance as you've traveled your journey. Well done! Keep being you, because you are awesome!

Minnie Driver is an Excellent Storyteller!

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Loved how Minnie expressed what was happening her and how she was processing it, both in the short arcs of the essays and the longer arc of her life. Beautiful prose, delightfully narrated.

Thoroughly enjoyable

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This book made me want to watch or rewatch her movies! Great history to understand her drive in life!

Interesting all the way through

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Really hope there is a sequel. I have so many questions! Great essays and they tie together well. I loved the way she narrated, you could feel the emotion.

Wanted more

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Sweet jeebus, what can’t this woman do? She acts, she sings, she can write - all so beautifully. I loved this book, and am looking forward to more.

Brilliant

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I usually dig in a bit to see whether or not a book will interest me, but I immediately clicked purchase. I am so glad I did.

Obviously, listening to Minnie narrate her own book was a pleasure. Her voice is a melody of character, wit, sarcasm and sincerity. I literally felt like I was listening to a play that was being acted out. Her ability to keep the listener captivated with a story line is unmatched. It was as though I was watching her have the conversations and she would subtly change her voice to reflect the person she was having the conversation with. From this side, Minnie's execution seemed effortless and it was incredibly easy to visualize each of her essays. I have listened to hundreds of audio books and I have never enjoyed the narration of a book as much as I did this one. For example, Minnie's ability to bring you into the space with her memories as though they were happening in real time was incredible. So much so that I was actually sad when she grew up because I missed the feisty, head strong, messy haired 9 year old that I had come to root for and admire.

I lost my mom to lung cancer on December 11, 2021. The way Minnie described the week leading up to her mothers death, the emotions, the world around her, and the overall experience made me feel less alone in my grief. I kept thinking, "Exactly. That is exactly it." She was able to put into words what had only previously been feelings that I could not express.

This book now holds a place in my favorites for sure. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know you Minnie...all ages and stages. Thank you for sharing your essays and allowing us the opportunity to learn a little bit about ourselves and to appreciate our own journey...even the potholes.



Brilliantly expressive ~ like watching a play

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Ms Driver has such a lovely voice and engaging delivery and is, of course, the perfect person to have narrated? read out loud? this wonderful memoir. I laughed and welled up and gasped and grinned, all the way through with her; and then mourned for her at the last (with slight jealously that she had such a beautiful mother to mourn). Her discussion with Ms Forrest at the end is the treat. I love the idea that a scent requires a tiny note of some foul smelling ingredient to be beautiful - I was always taught that a spelling mistake in the last paragraph ruined what would otherwise have been an excellent essay; that it was like eating a wonderful broccoli soup only to get to the bottom and find a maggot sitting at the bottom of the bowl, such that the enjoyment of the whole was ruined by the last spoonful. I much prefer Ms Churchward’s perspective.

What a treat!

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I read a good number of autobiographies and biographies of creative people. Some are great, some not so much. This one was outstanding. The Hollywood memoirs are the least interesting, but this one it’s not about who she slept with, but the lessons she learned in life and how her childhood Informed the rest of her life.
She’s very honest about her eccentricities. Part of the reason I think it’s so well written is that she is a reader herself she knows what it takes to make her book interesting.

I usually don’t enjoy when the author serves as the narrator. biography sometimes are an exception I think, because Minnie driver can laugh at her self, and is not embarrassed to tell the truth this one works.

Heartfelt, funny, poignant, insightful exclamation

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