Wednesday, April 07, 2010

Jenny Gardiner's "Winging It," the movie

Now showing at My Book, The Movie: Winging It: A Memoir of Caring for a Vengeful Parrot Who's Determined to Kill Me by Jenny Gardiner.

The entry begins:
Well, it might be a little tricky, what with the parrot in the starring role. That said, Hollywood works magic all the time, so I'm sure it could be done. Besides which, Winging It features my African gray parrot, Graycie, but it's her story intertwined with my family's story, so it's not as if it would be 120 minutes of talking bird.

I haven't given a whole lot of thought to this book in movie form--funny, as I did very much with my first book, the novel Sleeping with Ward Cleaver. In this one it's more personal, as I'd be casting my family, which seems a bit surreal. If we went by looks, well, hmm, I was told in my skinnier days frequently that I looked like Courtney Thorne-Smith, so that might be useful casting. But personality-wise, I'd have to go with someone more known for their humor. I've always felt an affinity toward Bonnie Hunt--I think she and I are soul-sisters in our approach to life, parenting, humor in general--based of course purely on what I've seen of her in interviews and in movies.

For my husband, it's so hard to say. Maybe he'd like Andrew...[read on]
Watch a video of Gardiner discussing Winging It and another of Graycie performing, and learn more about the book and author at Jenny Gardiner's website and blog.

My Book, The Movie: Sleeping with Ward Cleaver.

Writers Read: Jenny Gardiner.

The Page 99 Test: Winging It.

My Book, The Movie: Winging It.

--Marshal Zeringue