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Send Yourself Roses - Thoughts on My Life, Love, and Leading Roles
by Kathleen Turner with Gloria Feldt
Springboard
ISBN 0-446-58112-7
Published February 2008 - Hardcover - 265 pages - $24.99

Kathleen Turner has starred in more than a couple of memorable movies - Body Heat (her debut), Romancing the Stone (loved it), and The War of the Roses.  She's a gutsy lady both on and off the screen and/or stage.  I love when she says in her book, "Fearlessness at twenty springs from not knowing what challenges lie ahead.  Fearlessness at fifty comes from having wrestled with life's challenges and learned from them."  I'd not heard much about Ms. Turner in what seems like ages, but I do remember seeing a television interview with her in London some time back.  She didn't look well and came across as loud and brash.  I didn't know at the time that she was suffering from rheumatoid arthritis and must have been in great pain or greatly medicated.  The press didn't help matters either, as we read how washed-up and/or drunk she was.  I'm haunted to this day that I actually sort of believed them.  Since then, I knew she'd been in the news for her stage performance in London and New York in The Graduate where she caused a ruckus for taking her clothes off.  Then, at age fifty, she attained a lifelong career goal of playing Martha in Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf? on stage to rave reviews.  Other memorable movie roles include Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Prizzi's Honor, Switching Channels, and Peggy Sue Got Married.  Kathleen Turner's book is an indepth and personal look at her career, her illness, her family, her intense drive and work ethic, how she approaches her craft, her philanthropic beliefs and actions, parenting, and a whole lot more.  I was in total agreement with her chapter "Speak In Your Own Voice" - so true.  I loved Kathleen Turner as Chandler's drag queen father on Friends.
Conclusion - A rare glimpse into the personal workings of an accomplished actor.