St Martin's
Press
Kirkus
Reviews
Publishers
Weekly BookList
Magazine
Publishers
Weekly
Roberts, who plays Marie
Barone on the sitcom Everybody
Loves Raymond, uses her TV
character's preoccupation with
food to underscore her own
needs in this memoir. Her
autobiography isn't a sexy
tell-all, but it's honest and
life-affirming. Roberts was
desperate for love and
attention. What she got was a
hardscrabble childhood, two
tough marriages and a career
she adored. She repeats her
mantra-"I am a
survivor"-throughout the
book, along with her recipes.
These delectable
treats-lasagna, chicken crepes,
flourless chocolate cake-match
moods or milestones in her
life. It's a cute, though not
innovative, way of breaking up
her tale. Roberts's dad left at
her birth, her indifferent
grandparents raised her in the
Bronx, and her mother never
paid her a compliment. Still,
by age 11, she decided to be an
actress, and she got some
terrific breaks, due as much to
talent as tenacity. That she
pursued her dreams while
raising a son is laudable,
especially with little help
from her family. A hardworking
actress fond of peppering her
prose with homilies (e.g.,
"If you want life to
surprise you, you've got to be
open to it rather than
defending against it"),
Roberts saves the best part of
her saga-the early years, the
struggle, the triumphs-for the
last third of the book. Still,
readers will applaud her
victories, even if the
recounting is less than
stellar.
Booklist
Magazine
Actress Roberts weaves
together recipes from her own
kitchen with anecdotes from her
life in show business to
construct this effusive memoir.
The Emmy-winning actress who
plays the mother-in-law from
hell, Marie Barone, on the hit
television show Everybody Loves
Raymond, tells stories from her
life, along with lessons she
has learned during her 40-year
career, two marriages, various
love affairs, and struggle to
raise her son while building a
successful acting career. Fans
of the show will know that the
character of Marie Barone is
quite feisty; Roberts takes on
that persona as narrator of
this book, and she delivers
spirited and amusing opinions
on motherhood, ageism in
Hollywood, seniors' sex lives,
other people's cooking, and
more. Her sure-to-be-in-demand
memoir includes complete
recipes for several Italian
dishes. Casual readers, who
know Roberts only from seeing
her here and there on various
TV shows and in supporting
roles in movies, will enjoy the
book, certainly, but Roberts'
fans (and fans of the show)
will get the most out of it.
St
Martin's Press
In Are You Hungry Dear?,
Doris Roberts takes her
signature line from the show
and makes it her own in a book
that pairs hilarious stories
and dramatic turning points
from her fascinating life with
delicious recipes from her
kitchen. She shares the lessons
learned in two marriages and
numerous love affairs, her
struggles with her own family,
and her heroic efforts to build
a career and raise a son on her
own. Readers will love feisty,
judgmental, and opinionated
Marie Barone will see how Doris
is all that and more: tough,
sweet, brave, direct, and
vibrant. Readers will embrace
the unforgettable life of this
very open star, and relate to
the issues-like ageism in
Hollywood, sex in the senior
years, and her
daughter-in-law's imperfect
meat sauce-that Doris cares
about so passionately. Are You
Hungry Dear? is for everyone
who loves a laugh, a great
recipe, and a true inside
glimpse of the life of a very
approachable star
Kirkus
Reviews
With wry humor and good
sense, the Emmy-winning
Italian-American Mom of
Everybody Loves Raymond offers
advice, recipes, and
reminiscences about personal
and professional good and bad
times. This is not one of those
linear memoirs that proceed
from humble birth to exalted
present. Instead, Roberts
sidetracks here, detours there,
but cumulatively offers up a
lively if discursive account of
her life. She accompanies each
chapter with an appropriate
recipe, usually an example of
good Italian home cooking like
her potato salad or lasagna.
Beginning with an assessment
of Marie, the character she
plays in the hit comedy,
Roberts revisits particular
times, experiences, and
relationships. Now in her 70s,
expected when young to marry
early and stay home raising the
children, she admits to loving
Marie because if things had
turned out differently she too
could have been such an
overbearing mother.
In other chapters, Roberts
describes the unusual annual
Christmas party she throws for
the cast ("the greed
party, where guests scheme to
get the gifts they want"),
recalls how she landed the
part; and expresses the
satisfaction she gets from
still being able to work.
Without self-pity she describes
a lonely childhood: her
taciturn, critical, and
divorced mother had to work,
and Doris was left with
grandparents who regarded her
as imposition. Only an uncle
gave her a sense of worth that
enabled Roberts to survive her
first marriage (to a man she
supported while he went to law
school) and difficult early
attempts to become an actress.
Her second husband was the
love of her life, she has one
son and three grandchildren,
and she happily details the
joys of motherhood. She seasons
everything with insights
shepicked up along the way: the
value of perseverance, a
positive attitude (think pink
rather than angry red), and
accepting who you are. An
agreeable visit with a chatty
old friend. 
