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Me: Stories of My Life

by Katharine Hepburn
3.88 of 5 s tars

3.88 rating details 5,694 ratings 328 reviews

Admired and beloved by movie audiences for over sixty years, four-time Academy Award-winner Katharine Hepburn is an American classic. Now Miss Hepburn breaks her long-kept silence about her private life in this absorbing and provocative memoir. A NEW YORK TIMES Notable Book of the Year A Book-of-the-Month-Club Main Selection From the Paperback edition.
Lee rated it 2 of 5 stars

I've always admired Katherine Hepburn for being ahead of her time and unconventional in many ways. Thought surely this book would focus on her nearly 30 year love affair with Spencer Tracy. However, I barely managed to get through it. Mostly about mundane things, her growing up years, how much she loved and admired her parents and siblings, etc. Spencer only came in at the very end and there was no new ground covered. Lots of tidbits about making of various movies and the people she worked with - her anxieties about trying to sing in several roles...lots of rambling on. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone unless they're really into that time period - the actors, directors, producers, etc.(less)
2 likes like see review Ashley rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is my favorite actress so I will try not to be too biased lol. One of my favorite autobiographies. It isn't a chapter book. It contains different stories of Kate's life as she remembers them. A must have book if you are a Kate fan.
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Mar 15, 2013Sharon rated it 5 of 5 stars Shelves: before-goodreads

I loved Katherine Hepburn and have read a lot about her. This is a very interesting account of her life, written with honesty and humility. She was a symbol of the social circle she was brought up in and the times she lived in. Fascinating, sad, triumphant. She lead a life without compromise.
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May 13, 2013Leon rated it 4 of 5 stars review of another edition

Admired and beloved by movie audiences for over sixty years, four-time Academy Award-winner Katharine Hepburn is an American classic. Now Miss Hepburn breaks her long-kept silence about her private life in this absorbing and provocative memoir. A NEW YORK TIMES Notable Book of the Year A Book-of-the-Month-Club Main Selection From the Paperback edition. From Publishers Weekly Beloved actress Hepburn's episodic autobiography spent 24 weeks on PW 's hardcover bestseller list and was a BOMC main
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Jan 05, 2013Vicky rated it 4 of 5 stars

I was initially undecided about reading this autobiography, since I read several reviews that said it was completely jumbled and very difficult to follow since events weren't retold in chronological order. However, I found it was actually very interesting and the writing style came across as more of a casual, conversational tone. I had never really known much about Katharine Hepburn and I only recently became rather interested in her life and work. She doesn't divulge much personal content, but...more
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Jul 05, 2012Penny rated it 4 of 5 stars review of another edition

Ever since I discovered the appeal of classic movies, I have been a fan of Katharine Hepburn. Everything about her was unique and I really enjoyed watching her movies, whether they were full of comedy or bogged down with drama. After visiting a used bookstore, I found this biography and knew I had to read it. I have always wondered about her life and this seemed like the perfect book. To be honest this is the first biography that I chose to read for myself and I completely enjoyed it. Although there may be some people that would fault her for the fact that she chose to do a nonlinear biography, I thought that the format was easier to stomach. She chose the moments in her life she liked the best and wrote them down. Her personality came through tremendously and I found the inner dialogue that she has with herself interesting. It was a little like listening to a wise and quirky grandmother telling you about her life. I also, unlike other people, didn't mind the fact that there was so little about Spencer Tracy in this book. What little she mentioned about him was just right because she managed to get across her feelings about him completely. They had a complicated relationship that I don't even think Katharine herself understood. The letter she wrote to him after he died and the preceeding chapter was so touching that I found myself almost crying. Katharine was completely candid in this biography and I enjoyed it very much. I would recommend this book only to diehard fans of Katharine Hepburn. You really have to be a fan to appreciate everything about her biography. (less)
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Patrick rated it 5 of 5 stars review of another edition

I am forever fascinated by this icon of filmdom, from her personal trials and survival skills, to her trailblazing fashion style, her yankee engenuity,flawless talent, and her ability to just be who she is through it all. I really feel that her words always ring far truer than any bio done on her. She has an uncanny almost dry wit about her, that can be at times self deprecating, and at times an assessment of her opinion of others. Many think her a snob, for her judgements of people and life, but I find her as a refreshingly honest individual who hasn't let listening to others, dictate her life. She looks at life through a telescope, that many of us will never see through. Eccentric,yes. Original,definitely. Ashamed of being different,never. She celebrated her uniqueness, and it served her well. Just being able to experience the childhood that carved out the hollow mold, that would eventually be filled with what became the woman, who in this book, shared those intimacies with candor,pulling no punches,is an homage of what it takes to become great, in an industry that wanted greatness on it's own terms, and that tried to destroy the original few. This is Kate. This is a self analyzation of the contents that filled that mold, a mold noone could break. (less)
Kim rated it 3 of 5 stars Shelves: non-fiction, memoir

I wanted to love this book, but I liked it instead. It's a good book, not a great book. I so admire Katharine Hepburn, and always will, but I felt that she had difficulty sharing her personal life after a certain point... a certain age. She didn't share much detail, as others have said, about the relationship she had with Spenser Tracy, and frankly, I found that annoying. Here is this remarkable woman who devotes a great portion of her life to one man, and although their relationship was quite tabu, it was still known about, and celebrated by many. I wouldn't particularly celebrate their relationship, due to the fact that he was still married, but I did want to know about it, not really for juicy intimate details, but to know about "her" in it, what brought her to it, what convinced her to stay in it, what made it strong, or weak, or impossible to leave. I'm big on studying human behavior, it's part of my life's work, and so many of the books I read, are chosen because I enjoy getting into the details of choices made and what's behind them. There wasn't much of that in this book, because Katharine seemed to be a guarded human being with secrets that perhaps were too uncomfortable to share. So I guess we'll never truly know the woman, but perhaps the only person she cared to share her wholeself with, was the one that she wasn't fond of sharing intimate details about, and that's the way she wanted it. One thing that can always be said of Ms. Hepburn, is that if she wanted it a certain way, she made damn sure that she got it. That for me, sums up the book and the lady. 3 1/2 stars if i could give it, but 3 stars because I can't. Don't let that keep you from reading it though. It's a worthy read, just one with lots of open endings. Maybe that was her plan though... always leave 'em wanting more!(less)
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Sep 25, 2012Jennifer rated it 3 of 5 stars

Interesting, if a bit too quirky in its delivery, too uneven in style. Where it is forthcoming, the information is highly engaging. The problem is, the book is overly cagey, with vast gaps, great leaps in time, as though Ms. Hepburn had huge portions of her life which she did not wish to discuss, and so, rather than providing a smooth and fluid connection through these more-relevant stretches of her life with "ordinariness,"she chose to ignore them completely. (For example, virtually nothing is written of Spencer Tracy). Which is a shame, considering that the author clearly possessed a gift for expository writing. Some of the descriptions approach poetry in their expression, all the while the author remains ethereally charming, magnanimous and first-class. Too, she shows at times sharp insight into the real characters around her. These examples are in the minority. Ms. Hepburn consequently bulks up the book with quotidian remembrances, even including recipes in her narrative. Many of the passages are tedious, as well, by virtue of their staccato,

epigrammatic phrasing, their stubborn refusal of an "editor." Pleasant enough, but too random and "scattershot" to be greatly valuable. To borrow from one of her own phrases, regarding disappointment in a personal endeavour -- she has "done it but not DONE it." A "so-so" book.
(less) 1 like like see review Lisa Parker added it

I picked this up for three bucks in an antique shop while on a road trip last weekend. Why? Forty odd years ago Katharine Hepburn was on our tv in The African Queen. I was passing through the family room on my way to do something better than to watch one of mom's favourite actresses kissing on some hunky actor in stupid black and white. I mean, soon they'd be breaking into song, or worse, dance. My mother raved about her, and wanted me to stay and watch I think, but oddly Mom could not whole heartedly like her. In my Catholic confusion, i asked why not? Oh the horror. She lowered herself to be in a long affair with a married man. I had to finally get the story from the horse's mouth. It's not a tell all. She lived in a different time. She had talent and class. (Ugh, what Paris Hilton's autobiography won't disclose?) So this is it. I had to wait til the end of the book to learn of her affair. But as she said, patience. She had to wait 33 years to meet Spencer Tracey. So, Mom. Spencer was already separated from his wife when Katharine met him and got shot by cupid's arrow, the lil sh*t disturber. Put that in the Catholic pipe and smoke it. The wife wouldn't let go. Kate couldn't even go to his funeral ... after a 30-year love. Times have sure changed. Yes! w(less)

Jun 17, 2012Mary Bellus rated it 2 of 5 stars

I would recommend this book through part 3, but don't bother with the rest. The first 3 parts were pretty good. It was interesting to hear about her life growing up on the East Coast, and how she got into theater and movies. But by part 4 it turned into a random bunch of rambling stories about this person, or that strange conversation. There were two very brief chapters about her relationship with Spencer Tracy. At the end of the first one, she says, "more on Spencer later," but then the second "Spencer" chapter didn't deliver-it sort of left me wondering if their relationship wasn't a great one, because it seemed like she didn't have much to say about him (the saddest part to me is when she said, "I have no idea how Spencer felt about me. I can only say that I think that if he hadn't liked me, he wouldn't have hung around." WOW, how sad to not know how your husband of almost 30 years feels about you!!!). Basically it seemed like after she talked about making the movies, she didn't have much else to say. Also, I have to say (because it drove me nuts the entire time) that her writing style was SO ANNOYING. Very fragmented sentences--just trailing off into nothing--em dash here--em dash there--random person talking here... ellipses--another em dash. I wanted to scream WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING???? It got really old and I got older trying to stick with it and figure out what she was talking about.
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Jul 12, 2010Kelly rated it 3 of 5 stars review of another edition

Katharine Hepburn is someone I admire greatly and I fully admit to reading this to figure out a little bit more of just what it was that made her tick. She has a very odd and very unique writing style - it's as if she's in conversation with herself. She occasionally doesn't include all of the details, name-drops without

meaning to, and frequently interrupts herself. However, it is very much her. It is absolutely her voice and I could almost hear her talking to me as I read. The parts that I was most interested in were her childhood and her commentary on her time spent with Spencer Tracy. Essentially, I wanted to know what made her who she was and how her personal life went from there. She spent a lot of the book telling little stories about producers and directors from her early years in show business. I was semi-familiar with a few of them and I think that I would have enjoyed the book as a whole far more if I'd known most of the people she talked about. The parts that I was interested in, though, were fascinating. I'm not quite sure exactly how to respond as of right now, but part of me wants to be like her and a part of me wants to start writing her into a story as a character because that's what she truly came off as: a character. She was an extraordinary, unique character that I don't think can ever be replicated. I would only give this two stars due to the vast amount of material that held little interest for me, but I feel that it merits a third because of just how special it is.(less)
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Amanda rated it 3 of 5 stars

I'll be upfront in saying I never watched many Hepburn movies even though the woman is a legend. Me is a book of stories and I was interested in hearing those stories (read by Kate herself in her unique way). This isn't her biography per se, it's just personal stories from her life. She lived to be 96 so you know she had some stories to tell. This books covers some of her childhood, Fenwick and growing up in Connecticut. She dearly loved her parents and siblings. In 1921, she found her brother Tom hanging by the rafters. It was presumed an accident but no one knew for sure. Kate also covers her early acting career. One obvious quality of Hepburn is her self-confidence. She never seemed to struggle for parts or self-esteem, even when she was "box office poison". She saved Spencer Tracy for last. They met filming in 1941, already having known about each other. Tracy was married but Hepburn and Tracy had a complex relationship that lasted until his death in 1967. Listening to her account of time with Tracy, it showed that she put herself aside for the man she loved. The very last part of the book is a letter to Tracy, read with her voice breaking throughout.
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