My Life So Far

By: Jane Fonda

Narrated by: Jane Fonda

She is one of the most recognizable women of our time. America knows Jane Fonda as an actress and an activist, a feminist and a wife, a workout guru and a role model. Now, in this extraordinary memoir, Fonda reveals that she is so much more. From her youth among Hollywood’s elite and her early film career to the challenges and triumphs of her life today, Jane Fonda reveals intimate details and universal truths that she hopes “can provide a lens through which others can see their lives and how they can live them a little differently.”

Fonda divides her “life so far” into three “acts,” writing about her childhood, first films, and marriage to Roger Vadim in Act One. At once a picture emerges: a child born to the acting legend Henry Fonda and the glamorous society princess Frances Seymour. But these early years are also marked by profound sadness: her mother’s mental illness and suicide when Jane is twelve years old, her father’s emotional distance, and her personal struggle to find her way in the world as a young woman.

By her second act, Fonda lays the foundation for her activism, even as her career takes flight. She highlights her struggle to live consciously and authentically while remaining in the public eye as she recounts her marriages to Tom Hayden and Ted Turner, and examines her controversial and defining involvement with the Vietnam War. As her film career grows, Fonda learns to incorporate her roles into a larger vision of what matters most in her life–and in the process she wins two Academy Awards, for Klute and for Coming Home.

In Fonda’s third act, she is prepared to do the work of a lifetime–to begin living consciously in a way that might inspire others who can learn from her experiences. Surprising, candid, and wonderfully written, Jane Fonda’s My Life So Far is filled with universal insights into the personal struggles of women living full and engaged lives.©2005 Jane Fonda; (P)2005 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Belongs alongside the memoirs of Gloria Steinem, Bella Abzug, Marilyn French and Katharine Graham . . . To hold this book in your hands is to be astonished by how much living can be packed into sixty-plus years.”—Los Angeles Times

“[A] sisterly, enveloping memoir . . . an intimate, haunting book that might as well be catnip from its ever controversial author.”—Janet Maslin, The New York Times

“Terrific . . . rich . . . unexpectedly quite moving.”—San Francisco Chronicle

“Fiercely intelligent, detailed, probing, rigorously revealing.”—O: The Oprah Magazine

“Fonda possesses a raw and affecting candor. . . . Her honesty [is] a force.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer

“A fearless book . . . fascinating.”—Chicago Sun-Times

“Truly compelling.”—The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“Riveting.”—Seattle Post-Intelligencer

An Honest Look at One's Life

Some of the extremely negative reviews of "My Life So Far" were very obvious written by people who have NOT read the book. Instead, these "reviewers" are judging the author "Hanoi Jane"

Now for the book: what a read!!! Whoever would have guessed that underneath the immensely talented, strong, sensitive, beautiful, entrepeneurial Jane Fonda existed a depressed and tortured soul. And what fortitude it took to reveal the details of "the other Jane's" real life: gut-wrenching, eye-opening, tragic and hopeful. Most surprisingly, we realizing that the gutsy, joyful, healthy Jane we thought we knew is as legitimate and real as the emotional wreck we never saw.

I'm sure that money was not out of consideration as a motivating factor in writing this autobiography, but there is also an honest, palpable need to reach out to others that leaps off of every page.

The adage "never judge a book by its cover" has never applied more accurately than to Jane Fonda, in more ways than one.

Inspiring

Jane's life in Jane's voice is inspiring! It is especially timely right now, with the war in Iraq. I gained new admiration for Ms. Fonda. Loved it.

What a wonderful voice to listen to!

"My life so far" was my first audiobook. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to follow through and listen for so long and not loose track. But Jane Fonda's wonderful voice, reading her own words about her fantastic life, sharing her innermost thoughts was fantastic! I was hooked and listened and enjoyed and followed her different "acts" in life, being amazed of all the things she's done and her reflections on life and her own behaviour's cause and effect. I sure would like to know more about what will happen in her "third act"!

A MUST FOR EVERY WOMAN

Jane Fonda was a slow learner due to a childhood of pain. She has finally "gotten it right". Her book is entertaining. Her narration is beautiful. The most important thing about this book is the lesson she is teaching. Women of all ages will learn about themselves. They can grow into a period of peace through her work.

Jane Fonda: Truth Teller

I became entranced with this book. I laughed and cried and witnessed a person giving a straight story of her highly varied life. I am so grateful to Jane for being so frank about her life experiences. Her openness while being involved in becoming a person that she likes and feels comfortable with is a fine example for many of us..
Many parts of this book tease me to believe I would like to see the participants respond. Her three husbands would have views of her that would supplement in some way an understanding of Jane. Several others have inspiring presence. One other topic that has eluded me in life is why people don?t match up for the long hall-that is part of her story..