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šŸ“–Insider book club: Passionately written autobiography makes you feel like you knew the person

Mary Rodgers also wrote ā€˜Once Upon A Mattress,’ ā€˜Freaky Friday’

Erik Sandoval recommends "Shy" (Copyright 2023 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved.)

I love a good autobiography that’s passionately written and makes me feel like I sort of knew the person when I am done reading it.

ā€œShyā€ did it, and left me wanting more.

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Mary Rodgers wrote ā€œOnce Upon A Mattress,ā€ ā€œFreaky Fridayā€ and she was the daughter of Broadway royalty – Richard Rodgers, of Rodgers and Hammerstein.

What many people don’t know about Mary Rodgers is – she was anything but the title of one of the biggest songs she wrote: ā€œShy.ā€

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ā€œShy: The Alarmingly Outspoken Memoirs of Mary Rodgersā€ is partially told through her own words with side notes by Jesse Green.

Picture a rambling conversation told at a cocktail party with regular inserts of, ā€œwhat was I talking about again?ā€ combined with corrections to her story written by Green.

Rodgers definitely lived in a social circle that many of us would envy from a far – her best friend until the day she died was Stephen Sondheim, who she met when they were very young. But, this book shows the underbelly of that life, including the inherent pressure for daddy’s approval (both personally and professionally), the pressure to marry, and the pressures of a society that was very different than the one we live in today.

I highly recommend ā€œShy!ā€  Let me know what you think!


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