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All of Me

Written by Anne MurrayAnne Murray Author Alert and Michael PosnerMichael Posner Author Alert
Category: Biography & Autobiography - Personal Memoirs; Biography & Autobiography - Entertainment & Performing Arts
Format: eBook
Publisher: Knopf Canada
ISBN: 978-0-307-37309-0 (0-307-37309-6)

Pub Date: October 27, 2009
Price: $26.00

Buy this eBook

All of Me
Written by Anne Murray and Michael Posner

Format: eBook
ISBN: 9780307373090
Our Price: $26.00

Also available as a hardcover and a trade paperback.
About this Book

In this revealing autobiography, Canada’s first lady of song, for the first time, tells the whole story of her astonishing 40-year career in show biz. It is a candid retrospective of the extraordinary success achieved, and the prices that had to be paid.

“After ‘Snowbird’ hit, I was swept up like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, and catapulted into a strange new universe … If I thought for a moment that I was really in control of events, I was deluded.” Anne Murray

An unflinching self-portrait of Canada’s first great female recording artist, All of Me documents the life of Anne Murray, from her humble origins in the tragedy-plagued coal-mining town of Springhill, Nova Scotia, to her arrival on the world stage. Anne recounts her story: the battles with her record companies over singles and albums; the struggle with drug- and alcohol-ridden band members; the terrible guilt and loneliness of being away from her two young children; her divorce from the man who helped launch her career, Bill Langstroth; and the deaths of two of her closest confidantes. The result is a must-read autobiography by Canada’s beloved songbird.


From the Hardcover edition.

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Awards

FINALIST 2010 - Dartmouth Book Award for Non-Fiction

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Extras

Back from Europe, I was watching the Tonight Show one night and discovered a new talent: a young comedian named Jerry Seinfeld. In those days he was still largely unknown and playing the comedy-club circuit. His act had me in stitches, so much so that the very next day I called my agent, Fred Lawrence, and said, “Find me that guy. I gotta have him.” So that fall Jerry opened for me at Harrah’s in Lake Tahoe — his first stand-up gig outside of a comedy club and the only one that resulted from his Tonight Show appearance. Over the next four years he opened for me once more in Tahoe, at least three times in Vegas and at several one-nighters on the road.

Jerry was a class act, as real offstage as he was on. Pat Riccio said that Jerry was so normal he was almost too good to be true. His material, like mine, was clean, and you never had to worry about him turning off an audience or establishing a sour mood in the room. Quite the contrary. Having laughed until their sides ached, most audiences were content to settle down and listen to some good music. And he and I were temperamentally alike as well: always calm and in control, even when disasters struck.

Except for the fact that he didn’t play an instrument, Jerry might well have been another member of my band. He hung out with all the guys. My bassist, Peter Cardinali, recalls doing his laundry with Jerry at a local laundromat; he maintains that it was one of those laundry trips that inspired what may be Jerry’s most famous bit: the missing-sock routine.


From the Hardcover edition.

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Review Quotes

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

"It is warm, straightforward and candid, and Posner has wisely dimmed his own stylistic light in order to let her voice come through. And it does, sometimes with low-key, self-deprecating humour and surprising honesty, and always with a lack of pretentiousness."
The Globe and Mail

"In keeping with Murray's down-to-earth honesty, the [book]...provides a balanced account of her life that covers both career highs (her 54 million records sold and dozens of awards) and personal lows (the dissolution of her marriage and her daughter's struggle with anorexia)."
— Calgary Sun

"Anne Murray's new memoir blows the lid off her image as the fresh-faced all-Canadian singing sensation.... A fast-paced and revealing autobiography."
— Winnipeg Free Press

"Murray is the queen of Nova Scotia.... The notoriously private singer finally open[s] up about her astounding life in All of Me."
— The Salt Lake Tribune


From the Hardcover edition.

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Related Links

Visit Anne Murray's website.

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About this Author

Born and raised in Springhill, Nova Scotia, Anne Murray has enjoyed an unparalleled career, delighting millions with her signature voice and time-honoured songs. Over a four-decade-long career, she’s sold 54 million records, putting more than 30 pop hits, 50 country tunes and over 40 adult contemporary songs on the Billboard charts.


From the Hardcover edition.

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