Goldie

A Lotus Grows in the Mud

By: Goldie Hawn

Narrated by: Goldie Hawn

With her trademark effervescence, Goldie delivers a personal look at private and powerful events that carried her through life: her father’s spontaneity; her mother’s courage; and the joy of being a daughter, a sister, a parent, and a lover. She writes about her childhood dreams of becoming a ballerina. She takes us on a tour of her go-go years in 1960s New York City, the phenomenon of TV’s Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, her Oscar-winning debut in Cactus Flower and Hollywood stardom. She writes intimately about the challenges of love, anger and fear, and the importance of compassion and integrity. She speaks openly about her family, her partner Kurt Russell, her children; her faith, her curiosity for that which she doesn’t yet know, and her thirst for knowledge. Most of all, it is a trip back through a life well lived by a woman well loved.©2005 Illume, LLC; (P)2005 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

Praise for Goldie: A Lotus Grows in the Mud

“In her surprising new memoir, Goldie Hawn talks about growing up geeky, stardom, raising kids, and loving Kurt.”—People

“Genuinely interesting...startlingly frank.”—Sunday Times (London)

“Down-to-earth charm...Hawn can be winsomely self-deprecating.”—The Washington Post Book World

“Compelling and easy to read... What comes through most strongly is kindness, generosity, her fondness for fellow performers and all those with whom she worked and devotion to family. The inherent goodness of Goldie glows incandescently.”—Variety

“Goldie Hawn's personal look at an unusual journey to stardom...Fans will enjoy getting to know [Goldie] in this frank, reflective memoir.”—BookPage

“Positively overflows with spiritual enlightenment.”—Publishers Weekly

Loved her voice and loved her outlook

there was nothing to dislike about this. she didn't tell about every second of her life but she only picked the most important things. she only shared the life lessons that affected her the most. and it was enough

Goldie’s example of a life lived is inspiring and uplifting.

I love how Goldie shares her life story openly and honestly. I love how she lives her life to be of benefit to herself and others.

Great book

Goldie is so real and likable. Wonderful stories and insights. Would love to spend time with her!

Unexpected Delight

One of Hawn's unstated messages is "don't judge a book by its cover," which is apparently what Diane Sawyer did recently when she conducted a patronizing interview of Hawn about this book. According to what I've read, Sawyer lead a rather silly interview and asked Hawn at the end "you say you always learned from your father that you can always learn something out of anything--what have you learned from this interview? Hawn: I've learned it's the shortest interview in the history of the world."

When I began the book, I thought it might be very much like the typical roles she has played: kind of ditzy. At first, she narrates very much like that as she tells her tale. But as she subtly points out, the creator of Laugh-In once called her "dumb as a fox." The book is read (though not immediately apparent) as a series of memories, rather like picking up a photo and telling you its story. The book is then punctuated by the lessons and impact it has had on Hawn's life, read by a very different and more serious Hawn. As a result, the book does tend to skip back and forth at times (at one moment she's married to her second husband then is pregant with her third husband's child); it can take a few moments to figure out what is going on.

The more I read, the more I couldn't put it down. I found myself taken with the author and her story and for her nuggets of wisdom. They are, in some cases, old chestnuts, but Hawn elaborates about why things are important. What you find is far from the image that is often conveyed and instead a very savvy business woman, who, perhaps unexpectedly for her profession puts her role as a daughter, sister, woman, partner and most of all as a mother before everything else in her life.

Whether the audio book was intended to be as it is or whether it is a product of the abridgement is unclear. It's a good read, but the abridgement makes me withhold the fifth star. Abridgment is largely for Tom Clancy novels.

Very enjoyable read

For starters it's wonderful that Goldie narrated the book herself she -has such a wonderful soothing voice. I thoroughly enjoyed the book however there were many gaps that I wish she had filled in for instance she goes from being married the 1st time all of a sudden she's separated and you don't even know what happened etc. I understand it's a not complete chronological account of her life so you have to go into it knowing that. Overall, it was very interesting. I do wish she had gone into more details about her life ,I think in part because I actually hated for the book to end! I really enjoyed it. And it is still relevant even though it was written 14 years ago because it's her story.