Talking as Fast as I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls (and Everything in Between)

Lauren Graham

Nov 2016 · Penguin Random House Audio · Narrated by Lauren Graham

About this audiobook

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In this collection of personal essays, the beloved star of Gilmore Girls and Parenthood reveals stories about life, love, and working as a woman in Hollywood—along with behind-the-scenes dispatches from the set of the new Gilmore Girls, where she plays the fast-talking Lorelai Gilmore once again.

In Talking as Fast as I Can, Lauren Graham hits pause for a moment and looks back on her life, sharing laugh-out-loud stories about growing up, starting out as an actress, and, years later, sitting in her trailer on the Parenthood set and asking herself, “Did you, um, make it?” She opens up about the challenges of being single in Hollywood (“Strangers were worried about me; that’s how long I was single!”), the time she was asked to audition her butt for a role, and her experience being a judge on Project Runway (“It’s like I had a fashion-induced blackout”).

In “What It Was Like, Part One,” Graham sits down for an epic Gilmore Girls marathon and reflects on being cast as the fast-talking Lorelai Gilmore. The essay “What It Was Like, Part Two” reveals how it felt to pick up the role again nine years later, and what doing so has meant to her.

Some more things you will learn about Lauren: She once tried to go vegan just to bond with Ellen DeGeneres, she’s aware that meeting guys at awards shows has its pitfalls (“If you’re meeting someone for the first time after three hours of hair, makeup, and styling, you’ve already set the bar too high”), and she’s a card-carrying REI shopper (“My bungee cords now earn points!”).

Including photos and excerpts from the diary Graham kept during the filming of the recent Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, this book is like a cozy night in, catching up with your best friend, laughing and swapping stories, and—of course—talking as fast as you can.

Includes a PDF of Photos from the Book

Ratings and reviews

This memoir is pleasant and genuinely funny. The fact that it's not very exciting is probably a testimony to good choices that Lauren Graham has made in her life, but doesn't make for the most engaging book. It's mostly about the experience of trying to become an actor, and some sweet personal anecdotes. It's a little bit cheesy but nice.

This book is funny, smart and a quick read. Lauren Graham as the narrator makes it seem as though she is thinking outloud and telling her story directly to the reader.

it was such a fun book and easy listen. listening to the stories in her voice really added to how fun it was to listen to. it is funnier than I expected, and I found myself smiling as I listened or actually laughing out loud a few times. I will definitely listen to this book again in the future.

About the author

Lauren Graham is an actor, writer, and producer best known for her roles on the critically acclaimed series Gilmore Girls and Parenthood. She is also the New York Times bestselling author of Someday, Someday, Maybe. Graham has performed on Broadway and appeared in such films as Bad Santa, Because I Said So, and Max. She holds a BA in English from Barnard College and an MFA in acting from Southern Methodist University. She lives in New York and Los Angeles.