In their new book, actors and humorists Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman leave nothing off the table. The Greatest Love Story Ever Told describes their passionate marriage, acknowledges their non-traditional views of life and celebrates their ability to make it all work in Hollywood ... Raised in very different environments, Megan and Nick discuss their relationships with their families when they were growing up. Megan was an only child who navigated a dysfunctional home life. Nick grew up in the Midwest with loving parents and siblings. It makes sense that Megan put up her guard for a long time before letting Nick into her world. It also makes sense that he adores her with every fiber of his being. The book is packed with hilarious, honest and wacky details about their sex life, religious beliefs and rise to stardom ... the individual essays are hilariously candid, and the affection that Megan and Nick have for each other is the recipe for an amazing love story. Some might argue it’s the greatest one ever told.
Widely admired celebrity couple Mullally and Offerman chat their way comfortably through a book about their lives and marriage. It’s framed as a series of dialogues on subjects such as their first meeting, their families, their early lives, and, of course, sex ... Both partners come across as likable, grounded, unpretentious, and flawed enough to be believable. An extra treat is a series of photos of the two posing, often with one or more of their dogs, with the jigsaw puzzles they complete on a regular basis. Those hoping that Hollywood couples are just like the rest of us, only maybe a little bit nicer and richer, should be pleased.
Among the questions that never get answered in The Greatest Love Story Ever Told, Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman’s relationship memoir, is the one you probably most want to ask: Will they adopt me? But over the course of several breezy recorded conversations (and a few delightful essays), the happily married actors cover nearly everything else—just as playfully, endearingly and wait-why-can’t-I-be-their-legal-offspring-again-ingly as you might expect ... The free-flowing conversation format tends to make things repetitive—how many times can one married couple talk about bedding? (Wait, don’t answer that.) But it also makes you feel privy to a world that’s uniquely theirs, as though you’re sitting beside them at the kitchen table while they solve their beloved jigsaw puzzles. That’s about as close to legal adoption as you’re likely to get.
The promise of insight into their life together tantalizes with its celebrity glow and its humor from two established comedians who deliver most of the book as dialogue ... The early part of the book wholly delivers on this promise ... it would be interesting to read their insights into how gender works and how it has changed, and nothing that intimate is offered up ... The chapters on sex and religion could have been omitted from the book without any real loss. The authors are so obviously uncomfortable discussing these matters in detail that they’d be better served to leave them alone ... Later chapters lose their focus and sense of purpose. As the performance energy wanes, so does the charm ... But fans of Offerman and Mullally will likely still enjoy this book.
...The book is nonchronological, proceeding in chapters focusing on topics including religion, sex (and previous relationships), art, awards ceremonies, and fame in general. When they met in 2000 while rehearsing for a play, Mullally was already successful with Will & Grace, while Offerman was as much a carpenter as an actor. It wasn’t love at first sight, at least on her end, but, he says, 'we recognized a kindred spirit in our performance styles, if you will. And senses of humor.' Readers are likely to enjoy the authors’ company almost as much as they seem to enjoy each other’s.
After 18 years together, actors Mullally and Offerman divulge the lurid details of their life together in this uproarious oral history ... Despite seeming a little mismatched to some, the two fell in love and haven’t spent more than two weeks apart since (thanks to their two-week rule) ... Mullally and Offerman’s unmistakable chemistry shines throughout this wildly fun collection of sincere conversations and hilarious personal essays.
