Book Review – I Think I’m Outta Here

I listened to this book on audio which was read by the author.  I had been expecting to hear Archie Bunker’s voice flow through my ear pods but what I heard was the Broadway cultured voice of Carroll O’Connor.  I didn’t realize that his voice changed as much as it did when he played Archie.

As in most biographies, Carroll spent some time talking about his childhood and young adulthood.  He talked about how he got into the acting business and his time on Broadway.  While he did discuss how he landed the part of Archie Bunker in All in the Family, I was disappointed that he did not spend much time talking about this character and how he actually felt about Archie and what it was like playing him.  The last third of the book was all about his son, Hugh, and his drug addiction.  I think writing the book was a bit of a cathartic exercise with respect to his son’s addiction and death and the last third of the book was mostly Carroll’s journal entries of what was happening with respect to Hugh (i.e. Hugh was high today; Hugh seemed to be sober today, etc.).

Overall, I gave this book 3 stars.