An Improvised Life

An Improvised Life by Alan Arkin, 201 pages

In this short memoir, award-winning actor Alan Arkin muses on his life in acting, from catching the acting bug as a child to his years at Second City to the improv workshops that he now teaches. If you're looking for dirt on his past co-stars, however, you won't find it here; while Arkin does mention a few problematic co-stars or directors, he doesn't call them by name, or even give the production on which they worked together (a few of the good ones, however, he does name). Instead, this is much more about his processes as an actor. It's not your typical Hollywood memoir, but it's enlightening in its own way.