Floor Sample: A Creative Memoir

by Julia Cameron

The author of The Artist's Way and other classic works on the creative process reflects on the experiences that have fed her own art and inspired her dream of helping others, from her early writing career with Rolling Stone magazine and marriage to Martin Scorsese to her battles with alcohol and struggles to survive in Hollywood. 50,000 first printing.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Writing, Biography, Biography Memoir, Art, Self Help

416 pages, Hardcover

First published May 4, 2006

About the author

Julia Cameron has been an active artist for more than thirty years, with fifteen books (including bestsellers The Artist's Way, Walking In This World and The Right to Write) and countless television, film, and theater scripts to her credit. Writing since the age of 18, Cameron has a long list of screenplay and teleplay credits to her name, including an episode of Miami Vice, and Elvis and the Beauty Queen, which starred Don Johnson. She was a writer on such movies as Taxi Driver, New York, New York, and The Last Waltz. She wrote, produced, and directed the award-winning independent feature film, God's Will, which premiered at the Chicago International Film Festival, and was selected by the London Film Festival, the Munich International Film Festival, and Women in Film Festival, among others. In addition to making film, Cameron has taught film at such diverse places as Chicago Filmmakers, Northwestern University, and Columbia College. Her profound teachings on unlocking creativity and living from the creative center have inspired countless artists to unleash their full potential.

Reviews

[Diane Shipley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh, lordy.

This one was hard work. In large part because Julia Cameron herself comes across as hard work. Not because she's an alcoholic (now sober), or because she has serious mental illness which never seems to be entirely resolved, but because she never really seems to arrive at self-knowledge - which is surely the point of a memoir, to have some truth you want to present to people.

This is more like a chronicling of events, with not enough filtering out of what is relevant, and quite a bit of ego. (Every time someone told Cameron she was a great writer, she had to share it with us, it seems...)

She flits about from L.A to New York to Taos to London, writing, having relationships, having breakdowns (literally), but never seeming to understand her own motivations, far too often upping sticks (and/or buying a horse) when things get tough. It's exhausting to read all of this.

But I did find the book inspiring on a creative level: Cameron may not have a good understanding of herself, or of what makes a great memoir (clue: it's not using the phrase "one more time" approximately three thousand times) but she knows how to inspire creativity and she made me look at my approach to writing and (ew) "my art" in a new, more relaxed, more fun way. For that, I'm grateful.

[Jaclyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

I made it to page 216, and that's as much as I can take. This is so fascinating to me -- Julia Cameron is such a great writing teacher. I've read two of her how-to books, one for a poetry class. The woman can teach ... but she can't do. Case-in-point: I made it in the book until her second marriage crumbled, and I realized: I didn't care. She doesn't tell the reader how she got to know these men. How they made her fall in love with them. I don't know what they did on their first date or what she felt when they first kissed her. I don't even really know what happened to make the marriages fall apart. For the first one, there was an affair on his part and some alcoholism on her part. That that is truly as in-depth as it goes. For the second one, she moves because she wants to, without taking into account his feelings ... but there is no regret. There is no second-guessing. She doesn't share her thought-process, just that it felt right. So when these relationships fall apart ... I so, so, so don't care.

[Lain · Rating 3 out of 5]

The difficulty in critiquing memoirs is that it's near impossible for me to critique the writing without critiquing the life. In this case, there is much to raise one's eyebrows at in Julia Cameron's long, fruitful, and erratic life (she seems to be ruled by the winds as much as by the muse).

But her writing is clear, her life has been an interesting one, and she seems to hold little back when writing about her challenges and struggles with mental illness and alcoholism. A fragile, yet indominatable personality, Cameron bounces from one side of the continent to the other, generating reams of prose, poetry, songs, and other artistic works on the way.

My biggest beef with her life is the way that she seems to see others as bit players in her drama ("Everywhere I turned, people seemed to have their own agendas," she moans in one chapter, wondering why her friends and acquaintances are unwilling to drop their own lives to help caretake in hers).

My biggest beef with her writing is her overuse of the adjective "little." Everywhere she lived is described as her "little cottage," or her "little apartment." It's a "little" too precious, if you know what I mean.

All in all, though, Cameron remains an inspirational and impressive creative force in a world that could use more of her type of energy.

[Maria Menozzi · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is, hands down, the worst book I read this year. I was about two-thirds of the way through when I realized after her London escapade, that I was reading the work of a mentally ill woman who either continues to have no clue as to the impact of her disorder or has a clue and has such an acute personality disorder that her narcissism blocks her ability to perceive the effect and consequences of her behavior. This "memoir" had no focus nor did the writer convey any insights about her long, troubled, and vexing journey as a writer, mother, wife, daughter, sister and teacher. The fact that she wrote, I think she did, who knows now, "The Artist's Way" which I bought and worked through during the better part of the 90's and found unique, spiritually quenching and satisfying for applying to my creative work, is really disturbing. I am sorry I picked this up. Cameron writes about her other works as if she completed these masterpieces when I not only have never heard of any of her other fictional works, nor did I ever see one of her films, but would not care to read them or see them. The narrative is unexceptional, linear and disjointed jumping from one experience to another with no remorse or some sort of understandable explanation of how we are supposed to feel and how the writer feels about being an addict and not being able to care for her child among other experiences including the buying and selling of horses, dogs, cats and other poor creatures that I wonder were adequately cared for. Her ex-husband, Scorcese, doesn't come off like a good parent either but who knows considering her mindset here and what she is detailing and what the truth really could be. This is a disturbing and quite pathetic account of a woman's unraveling and continued pathology unchecked and how she moves from one disaster to the next due to her unwillingness to get the help she needs to render her stable, insightful and able to create a semblance of agency and responsibility for herself and her behavior.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yay! I was excited to see that Julia Cameron wrote her own memoir. After encouraging us all to free our own inner artists, she left me curious as to her own body of work (besides the Artist's Way, Vein of Gold, Right to Write self-help titles she is famous for).

I have to warn you--at least with the hardcover version--if you are one to set aside a book and leave it face-down (as I am), her photograph on the back may frighten you. It sure did me.

Anyway, to get to the meat of the book...JC admits (and illustrates) right from the start that she knows who she is--one tough chick--and I feel this is to be admired (knowing yourself, not just being a tough chick).

Nearing the end now, I am quietly justified in not being able to follow her Artist's Way (and I've been struggling with Vein of Gold for years).

I dropped Artist's Way twice as a program, and the last time I had to say to myself, "I am not an addictive personality, and I just can't get into this process." Now knowing that she created Vein of Gold while recovering from a manic-depressive episode, I don't feel so guilty at not being able to breeze through that program either (though of the two books, Vein still intrigues me, especially as a scrapbooker rarely featured in her own pages).

I know my story must be told, and JC gives us all the courage to tell it. She also illustrates that we need to know who we are at our core. I enjoyed and appreciated this book for the insight it gave. Thanks again, Julia.

[Lila Porat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant first half of the book and quite depressing the second one. But still worth reading.

[Barbara Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, I must be on a run of book about alcoholism! Because this is the 3rd (unknowingly) book I’ve read in the last month that this topic figures prominently.
Yes, I was a bit shocked at first learning she’s an alcoholic. Sober for many many years.
And yes, I must admit that I’ve always passed over The Artist Way book many times, always thinking I’m creative enough and not in need of any help.
First, I love reading memoirs, so when I saw this one at a used bookstore it was an easy decision in purchasing.
I did find that this book reads more like an autobiography than a memoir.
But it’s interesting and it also made me now interested in reading The Artist Way book.
Curious as to if I might have picked a copy up along the way, I searched my book shelf in my art studio and found a copy of The Artist Way at Work: Riding the Dragon. Currently I’m working my way through it.
There is such a link between creative people and drugs and alcohol and the thinking that the two go together. And it can’t be further from the truth.
On page 28 she writes like many writers; I confused my drinking identity and my writing identity. I thought they went together.

Page 85 “stop trying to be a great writer,” they advised me next. “That’s your ego. Get your ego out of your writing. You should be writing from the spirit of service. You’re just the vehicle, the channel. That God writes through you.”

I found it also interesting that she was a friend of Sonia Croquette
She was also married to Martin Scorsese.
on page 259 she writes
“as a sober alcoholic I had been carefully taught don’t get too hungry, angry, lonely, or tired.”

Her parent’s history is one of her mother’s depression and her father’s manic depression.
And I so could relate to so much of what she said. I admire her honesty.

She’s produced an incredible amount of work: fiction, nonfiction, plays, poetry, film, feature films, and screenplays. A don’t forget teaching The Artist’s Way
Definitely worth a read!

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read Julia Cameron's "The Right to Write" as a teenager and adored it. I read it so much I practically memorized it. In that book, she painted a picture of herself living an idyllic writer's life in Taos, NM. I was enthralled, so when I found out about her memoir, I couldn't wait to read it. Boy, was I disappointed. I had misgivings from the first page when she described her age, 57, as being the 'midpoint of her life.' But I slogged through 350+ pages of non-stop recitations of all her household moves. I found myself wishing she would just shut up already. The chapters had no order and were entirely too long; there was no timeline presented. At almost no point did I know what year it was or how old she was. It was just an endless litany of her brilliant projects, discontent with her geographical location, and mental breakdowns which she never seemed to take seriously, even after the fact. But she truly lost me when she described her rape in a park: "It was rape, but a gentle rape. More like a molestation." I can't believe any person would actually write a line like that. I also had a huge problem with the fact that so much of this book could be found verbatim in the pages of "The Right to Write." Because I remembered it so well, I knew there were many exact copies of paragraphs from it. She seems to milk her same material over and over, and went on about being an Artist and staying true to her Art, while deriding that mindset in her other work. All in all, she came across as self-important and delusional. But it did take nerve to admit all that in print for the world to see, so I'll give her that. However, it would have read better if she'd put any insight or emotion into anything she revealed, but it was just a recitation of the facts. Empty and boring to read, despite the sordid details and Hollywood name drops. Also, it ruined the allure of her other book for me, so I honestly wish I'd skipped this one.

[staykind · Rating 5 out of 5]

i only knew julia cameron from the artists way. this book really shows shes been through alot and also practices what she preaches.

[Betsy Ellis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Several years ago I was part of an Artist‘s Way group, inspired by Julia Cameron‘s book of the same name. That ground breaking book outlined ways to encourage the creative process and deal with “blocks.” I looked at her as a kind of spiritual and creative guru. And so I was immediately intrigued to see that she had written a memoir, because I knew nothing of her personal life.

In this book she details her own creative struggles, framed by her fight to maintain sobriety after years as an alcoholic and drug addict. Early fame writing for Rolling Stone led her to the most cataclysmic relationship of her life, a youthful marriage to director Martin Scorsese, with whom she had her only child. The relationship lasted less than two years. For 10 years after, Cameron chased similar creative ground to Scorsese's, attending film school, making small films and screenwriting for film
and TV. She seemed unable to settle down, moving between Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Taos (in fact she moved so frequently - a geographic cure? - that I had to wonder how this affected her daughter), and unable to completely let go of Scorcese’s hold on her psyche. She also struggled with a type of mania that required anti-psychotic medication.

Through it all she never stopped writing, a fact I find amazing. This woman is nothing if not prolific.

I did not get the feeling by the end that she had found much peace or that her cross-country moves were over for her. But her story is a fascinating one, though a bit exhausting to get through.

[miteypen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I devoured The Artist's Way when it first came out and thought it was brilliant. I've also read a couple more of her books and would love to read more. I was very interested in finding out what fuels such a creative person and I was surprised to find out that it may be that she lives much closer to the edge than most of us do. Not so much that she challenges herself or opens herself up to opportunities more than most of us do. But that she might sometimes be living on the edge of sanity.

She has struggled with alcoholism and mental illness, which may explain a lot. But she has also accomplished so much and it was hard to get a sense of that from the book. It was always: "He pushed me to get it done." "I was spending too much time teaching and not nurturing my artist self." She never tells us exactly how successful she has become, almost as if she doesn't believe it herself.

The book seem unfinished; I would love to know what happened to her after the book was written. And, like another reader, I was put off by her picture on the back of the book. Did she really give approval for that? She looks scary.

[Dorothy · Rating 1 out of 5]

About half way through I started asking myself, why didn't I quit reading this earlier. But at that point I felt committed to finishing. Bad choice. This is the story of how Martin Scorsese's first wife spent a good portion of her life moving from NY to CA to NM, VA and back again and again. It made me tired just reading about all the moves and even when she was in one state she still kept moving from hotels to apartments to houses and back. She describes herself as multi-talented, but neglects to mention that there was always an ever-ready agent waiting who thought he could sell anything she produced and there was no need to ever promote the products to a publisher on their own merit. She should be credited for writing The Artist's Way, but she wrote that book more than once with new titles. When she becomes delusional and consults psychics and shamans to cure her I pretty much wanted to yell. "Go to a doctor or the hospital or at least see a counselor." Quit thinking this New Age rubbish is going to do the trick! Detoxing, enemas, and herbs are not what is called for here."

[Tatyana Naumova · Rating 4 out of 5]

Не "Путь художника", но очень оптимистично!

[Cynthia Sillitoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very honest memoir, but so much happens in what seem to be too long of chapters. The first half is strongest and I think that's because she has enough distance to understand events. Also, I had a hard time keeping track of all the people in her life.

[Kelly · Rating 1 out of 5]

One word. Repetitive.

[Ellen · Rating 2 out of 5]

The opening sentence of the prologue of this book says: "I'm seventy-five years old. The book you hold in your hands was written when I was fifty seven." What??? Sure enough, a bit of research revealed that this book had been originally published in 2006, and the only update for the book that was listed online as being published in 2023 is a three page prologue. No mention of the fact that it was previously published. I feel duped.

Although I never really connected with Cameron's most famous work, The Artist's Way, I know many people who did and I know it became such a standard that the words "morning pages" has become a part of the creative lexicon. The title of this book refers to the fact that Cameron calls herself "the floor sample for The Artist's Way." Especially in the early chapters of the book, the discipline of writing three pages to start every day and letting the creativity flow through you was an important part of her voyage to sobriety and a prolific writing career. Unfortunately, writing didn't erase many of the demons that she lived with. Even though she managed to stay sober, she struggled with other psychological problems, which sometimes threatened her life. She developed a compulsion for moving from place to place, always thinking that the next place would help her writing and her mental state. It made me slightly dizzy thinking of packing up and moving so often. She also careened from artistic genre to artistic genre, turning out a huge oeuvre of nonfiction (including many variations on The Artist's Way), fiction, poetry and music. She describes being led toward each new project, often hearing voices telling her what to do or having songs emerge fully formed from her brain. She practices a kind of new-age spirituality, considering her creative work to be a legitimate spiritual path (there I agree with her), visiting psychics and mediums, and praying to what she often refers to as "my guidance."

Julia Cameron is an excellent writer, and so I found myself reading quickly through this book and even staying up late. I didn't know, for example, that she married Martin Scorsese early in life, and her only child is Scorsese's daughter. This relationship gave her access to the inner circles of New York and Hollywood royalty, and over the years she collaborated with a number of very talented people (and some others as well). It was kind of fascinating to read, until it wasn't, and became a sad narrative of a troubled soul, albeit one who has made a positive difference in millions of others.

[Nita · Rating 4 out of 5]

What did I learn? Julia Cameron sure does move around a lot.

Seriously, I was struck by her productivity. Even in the midst of major psychic breaks and nervous breakdowns, she was productive. Mania perhaps? Supposedly she's not manic depressive, but those episodes with the trees talking to her sure should like a manic episode to me. Not that I've ever been "allergic" to electricity like she was, so I can't relate. But I get that surge of energy - that feeling like the work is just flowing out of you. And I get that even though you're really sick when it's happening, you want it back bad enough to go off your meds and hope for the best. That I truly understand!

It was a good reminder of The Artist's Way stuff. That's where I really began long before Natalie Goldberg. Three pages a day no matter what. No judging. Just writing. And artist's dates. Alone. Just me and a place I find inspiring. And of the whole, "worry about the quantity and let the muse take care of the quality." I needed to be reminded of that. It also made me wish I'd gone to one or her workshops when I was in Taos just to have had the experience. I think Jim Nave was teaching them then, not Julia. She was going through one or her difficult periods. And I was so focused on writing and so steeped in Nat's approach that I didn't want to try anything else. Might have learned a thing or two.

It was also a nice return to Taos. Even though Taos was always a difficult place for Julia, she too was in love with the dream of Taos and I really get that. And thinking that a different place will bring different results. Hope I've learned my lesson with that too, but it was a good reminder.

[Victoria · Rating 1 out of 5]

After a grueling slog through her first marriage to director Martin Scorcese and early battle with alcoholism (the first 70 pages of the book took me almost a month to get through), the book opens up into the Julia Cameron writers and artists know and love - open, honest, inspiring, struggling, worrying, prayer-filled, illuminating, challenging, and freeing.

And then in the final 1/3 of the book, it gets dark again, with multiple breakdowns, depression and medication. I'm left without any idea of what she's trying to convey - there are stories here, but no message. It's a bleak, wandering look at her life without analysis or meaning - fascinating, brutal, beautiful, abrupt... I'm not sure what to make of it.

Annoying to say the least. It doesn't make me like the Artist's Way any less*... but it certainly doesn't leave me wanting to know Cameron any better.

I need something uplifting to clear my thoughts.

* Editor's note, 2025: This book did, in fact, poison my view of The Artist's Way such that I've never been able to revisit it since.

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a fan of Julia Cameron. "Faith and Will" as well as "Transitions" and "Answered Prayers" were different than almost anything I've read. Consequently I thought it would be interesting to read her memoir and see where it all started. It did keep my attention and her story of allowing her art to speak through her without trying to restrain it or divert it was intriguing. She also allows the reader to see her alcoholism and mental illness without trying to minimize its impact on her and her life. It was a little hard to follow her enthusiasm for constantly moving back and forth between cities at what sometimes seemed like the drop of the hat. But that starts to sound more like I am critiquing her life rather than her memoir. I would have liked to hear more of her thoughts on how all of that moving/changing/overhauling her life affected her. It seems sometimes she is trying to stay one step ahead of her somewhat unresolved mental illness (a diagnosis is unclear since bipolar is ruled out part of the way through the book.)

[Abby Green · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started ok - interesting perspective into her life married to Martin Scorsese and then the collapse of that marriage and her journey out of Alcoholism. But then...from about 1/2 way through the wheels come off. For such a celebrated teacher of the creative process, this is a very disappointing memoir.
It's by turns exhausting to read, enraging and boring. Skimmed the last 1/3 and truly couldn't have cared less ;/. It tapers off at the end with absolutely no sense of what on earth to make of the life she's led.
Like I said, disappointing.

[Esther Bradley-detally · Rating 5 out of 5]

I gave this 3 stars in 2009; what was i thinking; i now give it 5; for the author's endurance. Her books have helped so many people, and i had no idea of the struggle and sacrifice behind them. I found floor sample particularly encouraging to an audience of people/no/women, who struggle. We allhave done so, and she cuts a pretty brave path in this world of words, misintentions, goals, hopes and love. Good on ya Julia Cameron

[Marsmannix · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm sorry. I've never really like Julia Cameron's book, they just sound condescending to me, and i find it very hard to take guidance from someone who has led life in a gilded cage. So, when i realized who the author was, and put two and two together, I didn't get far into the memoir. Hollywood, glamour, NYC, blah blah blah.

yes i have a bias about Hollywood & the whole star culture.

YMMD

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was completely enthralled with this book. I have completed several of Julia Cameron's creativity books before. So it was so interesting to read what was going on in her life during the time she was writing them.

[Melani · Rating 1 out of 5]

Cameron has had an interesting life (I think?), but her telling of it is an exhausting read. There is a glaring lack of insight into any of the people populating her story, including herself. And, please never speak or write about Taos, NM, to me. Ever.

[Connie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I rarely find memoirs to be spell-binding, but this one did it for me. I had no idea the author of The Artist's Way had such an illustrious (and turbulent) life. I would recommend it to artists (especially those who have used The Artist's Way teachings) and those who enjoy memoirs.

[Anastasiia Mozghova · Rating 4 out of 5]

очень не спокойная и непростая жизнь, и такая же книга. но при этом полезная и важная.

советую всем, кто что-либо создаёт или хочет создавать.

[Dan Chastant · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know U-Haul loves to see her coming

[June Price · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fascinating, well written, and disturbing. I can't say I enjoyed reading this but I kept coming back. I couldn't stay away. I wanted to see what she did next. There were a lot of nexts, too, as she seemed to flit from place to place, person to person, and genre to genre...mastering most of the last. As for the rest, uh, not so much.

I won't detail Cameron's life here as it's not only well-documented but others will have surely done so. Cameron, now well into her 70s, wrote this book when she was 57. She had a childhood full of horses, books, and freedom, but often dominated by "God says..." guilt and guilt trips. She lived close to the edge and, sadly, went over the edge. It's those times that make this a disturbing read as you're taken inside her drugged out or sedated by alcohol mind. In a sense, she was held hostage by not just her mind but her talent, which she has used in various venues, ranging from books like this to movies and theater. Recalling the scene where she details running out of the house in a panic naked, with an aide having to chase her down and cover her with a sheet, will horrify and astonish readers, who'll immediately feel either sympathy or horror. Honestly, Maybe both.
Yes, reading this left me exhausted and disturbed. I found myself breaking down my reading stints into smaller segments, some at obvious breaks, others because, quite frankly, what I was reading left me so unsettled. Yet, she was painting a vivid picture of her life, which included not just growing up in the free spirited hippy age but name-drops famous names who dropped in and out of her life in a fascinating way. Some, like the father of her daughter, former husband Martin Scorsese, who was making Taxi Driver when they married, left, but many mentors and even former addicts were devoted to helping her defeat her demons. She drew people to her, yes, but she also drove them away.

Bottom line, as noted, not an easy read but one well worth making...even if you have to divide reading sessions up. As a former horse crazy girl, now dog person, I had to admire her devotion to her beloved animals. Even when her demons forced her to move and more again and again, her animals were always a priority. That tells me lots about her inner core, her true being. The Julia Cameron that I (and so many others) thought we knew and admired from her The Right to Write, is in there amidst all the chaos. It took nerve to write this book, which I admire. I'm not sure I could be so open and brave. Thank you #NetGalley and #StMartin'sPress - #StMartin'sEssentials for allowing me this look into the real Julia Cameron. It's definitely a book that will stay with me for a long time.

[Leah Odze Epstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Julian Cameron has helped change many lives for the better with her book, "The Artist's Way," and her other books on how to tap into your own deep well of creativity. Now she is telling the story of how she changed her own life. As her title suggests, she is the "Floor Sample" of her own teachings, meaning that everything she has taught, she too has tried and used on herself. After struggling in her own life--with mental illness, alcoholism, two marriages that ended in divorce, loneliness and single parenthood--she turned to creativity as her higher power, implementing her routines, structures and pep talks to lift herself, and others, up. From her earliest years, she not only wanted to express herself, but to serve others, teaching others as she and her many siblings taught each other when she was growing up. This book reads as both a fascinating chronicle of a life lived to the hilt and as a creative manual. Cameron chronicles her early years as a college student at Georgetown, then as a successful journalist for Rolling Stone magazine, among others, a marriage and creative collaboration with famous director and filmmaker Martin Scorsese, and anecdotes about her life as part of the creative sets in Hollywood, New York and New Mexico. She's a self admitted eccentric, moving constantly with her young daughter from Washington, D.C. to Chicago to New Mexico to Los Angeles to New York and then to London and back and forth to teach workshops, to lecture and to write plays, screenplays, musicals, novels, and poems. I couldn't stop reading this book, which was mostly riveting. Sometimes, i got frustrated by the lack of dates (she only supplies dates and the age of her daughter sparsely). Also, her childhood is only briefly sketched and hinted at, which is probably fine since she has so much material to get through. The only other nitpick I have: At first, I was put off by the cover. Why was there a dressmaker's dummy, when that had nothing to do with her many careers? I wondered if she had another career stint as a designer. I understand why she chose the title, as she feels she is the test case, or Floor Sample, for all that she teachers, but I'm still wondering: is this the best possible cover for this amazing woman's memoir? For some reason, my imagination conjured a bird, singing somewhere on the cover. A great read that swept me along.

[Jeanette Eleff · Rating 3 out of 5]

My rating is 3.5.
Being a big fan of Julia’s book “The Artist’s Way”, I wanted to read her memoir and learn what was behind this insightful woman.
Well, she did have quite a whirlwind and chaotic life. Overcoming alcohol and drugs, her gifted and creative energy turns into writing, constant moves, mental illness, men, and too many supportive and non-supportive people to remember.
She frequently mentions Martin Scorsese, her first husband, whom, I feel, she was addicted to also.
I did like learning how she created the ideas behind her “The Artist’s Way”. She has an immense gift for writing, writing, writing. She lives TAW.
The last fourth of the book reveals how she realizes the treatment she really needs, and constant relocation is not one of them.
I did, however, find myself getting bored with all of the details by the second half of the book. But I sped along, wanting to see how it “ended”.
I applaud her courage for sharing her memoirs with us. It is a good reading from those suffering from addiction and mental illness, to see with the right assistance, one can get better and be creative.
I still admire Julia’s creativity and love of spirit, which is strongly supported in her “The Artist’s Way.”