Managing Expectations: A Memoir in Essays

Actress, singer, and songwriter Driver allows listeners in on her colorful perspective of her life. She narrates her own memoir, unleashing her full storytelling abilities. Her bohemian upbringing, her nontraditional family life, and especially her hair struggles are woven into this memoir, which pulls the listener right into her inner circle. People with wavy, curly, and uncontrollable hair will find affirmation in her beautiful description of her hair trying to escape from her head, each lock headed toward a different direction. Her parents, her sister, a primary grade teacher, and her agents all periodically take center stage to guide her through her early life and career. Her life isn’t always easy and doesn’t work out exactly as she thought; she has horrible, painful moments. Then there are the moments of existential joy. Her pitch never changes, but the pauses work miracles as she weaves the story. In an interview included in the audiobook, she relates how reading the story aloud lets the full weight of the experiences described land so much more powerfully. The listener will experience this as well.