Harvard Book Store Presents:

Minnie Driver

presenting

Managing Expectations:
A Memoir in Essays

in conversation with EMIKO TAMAGAWA

Harvard Book Store welcomes Academy Award–winning film and television actress MINNIE DRIVER for a discussion of her new book Managing Expectations: A Memoir in Essays. She will be joined in conversation by WBUR’s EMIKO TAMAGAWA, senior producer of Here & Now.

A Return to In-Person Events

Harvard Book Store is excited to re-introduce in-person programming this season. To ensure the safety and comfort of everyone in attendance, the following Covid-19 safety protocols will be in place at all of our Brattle Theatre events until further notice:

• Face coverings are required of all staff and attendees when inside the venue. Masks must snugly cover nose and mouth. At venues where refreshments are served, attendees may briefly unmask when actively eating or drinking.
• Attendance is capped so as to allow for some social distancing in the venue.

Ticketing

All tickets include a hardcover copy of Managing Expectations, to be picked up at the venue the night of the event.

About Managing Expectations

In this intimate, beautifully crafted collection, Driver writes with disarming charm and candor about her bohemian upbringing between England and Barbados; her post-university travails and triumphs—from being the only student in her acting school not taken on by an agent to being discovered at a rave in a muddy field in the English countryside; shooting to fame in one of the most influential films of the 1990s and being nominated for an Academy Award; and finding the true light of her life, her son. She chronicles her unconventional career path, including the time she gave up on acting to sell jeans in Uruguay, her journey as a single parent, and the heartbreaking loss of her mother.

Like Lena Dunham in Not That Kind of Girl, Gabrielle Union in We’re Going to Need More Wineand Patti Smith in Just Kids, Driver writes with razor-sharp humor and grace as she explores navigating the depths of failure, fighting for success, discovering the unmatched wonder and challenge of motherhood, and wading through immeasurable grief. Effortlessly charming, deeply funny, personal, and honest, Managing Expectations reminds us of the way life works out—even when it doesn’t.

Praise for Managing Expectations

“We have all been charmed by Minnie Driver on the screen, but it’s a divine pleasure to learn the woman behind some of our most beloved characters is a writer of true precision, wit and style who has had a life more compelling than any movie. This book will be a companion to those struggling to make sense of their own story and a clarion call to mothers (of all kinds) grappling with their identity. I was comforted, galvanized, touched and – no surprise considering the author – charmed, too.” —Lena Dunham

“Sharp observations and quirky irreverence make for a delightful read.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“To reveal oneself in a manner that is at once poignant and fiercely intelligent while also being funny, warm, and genuine, is quite a feat. Minnie Driver shows us she is even more than what’s met the eye all these years. Simply put: I love this book!” —Therese Ann Fowler, author of Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald

Emiko Tamagawa

Emiko Tamagawa produces arts and culture segments for Here & Now. She studied psychology and drama at Yale and Brandeis, and toured colleges and high schools with her one-woman show about the Japanese-American internment before turning to radio.

Minnie Driver

Minnie Driver is an English and American actress, singer, and songwriter whose films include Circle of Friends, GoldenEye, Big Night, Grosse Pointe Blank, Sleepers, Ella Enchanted, The Phantom of the Opera, and most recently, the Amazon Original film Cinderella. For her role as Skylar in Gus Van Sant’s Good Will Hunting, she was nominated for both the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She has also starred in several television series, including The Riches, for which she received Emmy and Golden Globe nominations and has recorded three albums, all of which received considerable critical acclaim. She lives in Los Angeles.