Where Am I Now?

True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame

By: Mara Wilson

Narrated by: Mara Wilson

Length: 7 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

A former child actress best known for her starring roles in Matilda and Mrs. Doubtfire, Mara Wilson has always felt a little young and out of place: as the only kid on a film set full of adults, the first daughter in a house full of boys, a Valley girl in New York and a neurotic in California, and a grown-up the world still remembers as a little girl. Tackling everything from what she learned about sex on the set of Melrose Place to discovering in adolescence that she was no longer "cute" enough for Hollywood, these essays chart her journey from accidental fame to relative (but happy) obscurity. They also illuminate universal struggles, like navigating love and loss and figuring out who you are and where you belong. Honest, insightful, and hilarious, Where Am I Now? introduces Mara Wilson as a brilliant new chronicler of the experience that is growing up young and female.

©2016 Mara Wilson (P)2016 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Wilson's humorous literary voice tells the story of growing up as a young female in the spotlight (and eventually stepping out of it) and the road of self-acceptance, discovery and everything in between.” (BuzzFeed)

"[Wilson] returns as a talented writer with this collection of essays." (Entertainment Weekly, "15 Books You Have to Read in September")

"Funny [and] insightful." (GoodReads, "Best Books of the Month")

You never know what someone's going through.

Take away the fact that Mara was a famous child actor and you'll get to know an amazing, loving person. Her story would be great for anyone who grew up a rockstar; that is a star athlete, a model student in school, that seemingly perfect child who experienced all the attention only to grow up and realize it was short lived fame. I watched the struggles of my kids who did great things only to graduate high school and realize most of their friends on teams, choir, drama, and clubs were really not their friends. I never knew how much they struggled with fears, sadness, and anxiety until they were in their 20's. As a parent, you can protect them from some of the heart ache.
Mara's story was beautiful, honest, an eye opening for me. I bought the book Kissing Doorknobs for two of my daughters to read when I'm finished. Thank you Mara. You really are a beautiful soul. [e-mail]

This girl can write!

As a 31 year old male I can't say this book was in my wheelhouse but once I started listening I couldn't stop. incredible story telling makes this a fast listen.

Great Read -

The 1996 Matilda movie was trending on Netflix for the US. So I watched the movie to bring back some nostalgia and remembered how much I enjoyed watching Mara act when I was younger. From Matilda to Miracle on 34th Street all the way to A Simple Wish. To this day I still watch Mrs. Doudtfire every few years. I thought the title for this book was perfect, as I sometimes wonder, "Where is this actress now." So clever. This was a great read from her childhood to adulthood. It was comforting to know experiences others have you've never met sometimes have the same experiences as you. The book pulled at the heart strings, made me angry with how journalist or strangers treated her (as a child and adult), and also brought laughter in some of the chapters. I'm really glad Mara wrote this book and shared it with the world. 10/10 would recommend.

Couldn't stop listening!

Very easy to listen to Mara as she narrates her life. I was laughing one moment and crying the next as I joined her on this journey of self-discovery. Have a listen!

Love!

I loved how candid this book is! I think hearing the author read it, is what really made it for me. I've had anxiety over everything my entire life and knowing that I'm not the only one truly helps. I think that my next read will be "Kissing Doorknobs" so I can have a better understanding of OCD

great story telling and very powerful,

I feel for Mara and her struggles with anxiety as I have had my own struggles in this area. I wish her the best and look forward to reading more by her or maybe see her in future movies, thank you Mara.

From just curious to unlikely relatable.

Grateful for Matilda and everyone and everything that made that character available in my life I am curious about Mara Wilson’s perspective. Her narrative is gripping and who would have known, her story relatable. Sometimes funnier and all of the time more entertaining than Ellen’s Relatable because Mara’s story telling overrides comedy in “badassedness”.

An amazing and intimate journey

This book is full of laughs, tears, sympathetic anxiety, and every emotion in between. You’ll empathize with Mara, feel like you’re in her head for the uncomfortable moments but still the benefit of retrospect is always there.

A Powerful Personal Story

What I Liked: Mara Wilson's words are already amazingly powerful on their own as she writes with a very open and honest approach to things. She doesn't give you a detailed blow-by-blow of her every moment in those years but she is open and honest about her struggles and looks at key moments in her life to give us a better picture of what she's went through at the time. Her big chapter written as a sort of letter to Matilda as a character is probably one of the most powerful parts of the story.

Growing up is never easy, especially when you feel that you're one of the "weird" kids or something like that. And she captures the sense of teen awkwardness perfectly. I keep stressing this point, but I can't help but remark on just how candid and sincere the writing feels from start to finish. Add in Wilson's brilliant narration for this audio book really brings it home.

What Could Have Been Better: What can I really complain about here? There may be the fan mentality of wanting to know more about this or that portion of her life like tell us more about your relationship with the other Mrs. Doubtfire kids or tell us even more about Robin Williams. But then you can't really since she carefully curated what parts of her life went into this book and we have to respect those reasons.

There area also those bits that don't necessarily feel like they deserved as much detail, but again it's hard to comment. In many ways, one can't help but feel that writing this was more for Mara Wilson and not for potential readers, and that's not a bad thing at all. I could be totally wrong, but that's how much I respect this work.

Matilda wrote a book!

Lovely book by a very thoughtful person. I found her honesty touching without being too self satisfying. Her sadder stories were told sensitively and her funnier stories were thoughtfully funny. I really enjoyed it.