Some years ago, as an undergraduate in English literature I was taught to question the authority of a narrator in the novels we read.

The great pursuit of understanding who the narrator is and why they tell their stories from their vantage point helps to counterbalance the natural human tendency to warp reality to suit our purposes.

For me this search begins with Cervantes’ magnum opus Don Quixote, and the somewhat lesser famous Moll Flanders by 18th century novelist Daniel Dafoe.

We weren’t applying this critical reasoning to non-fiction, but I was reminded of this pursuit reading two excellent and quite thought-provoking memoirs, the first Open: An Autobiography by tennis great Andre Agassi and more recently Run Towards the Danger: Confrontations with a Body of Memory by actor and film director Canadian Sarah Polley.

Agassi tells the story of a boy who despite hating tennis is dragooned into a punishing routine of hours upon hours of returning tennis balls fired at him by a tennis “dragon” by a father who is obsessed by the vision of his son becoming not just any tennis professional, but the best in the world.

Polley tells of the encouragement she received as a child by her parents to take a major role in a TV series based on the writings of Lucy Maude Montgomery with only a measured regard for the child’s safety or personal development.

Sarah obviously had a talent in front of the camera and her family stood to benefit financially. She was told the money would go toward her university education. Her family enjoyed expensive vacations together.

Was it worth it?

Well, Sarah’s mother died early in young Sarah’s acting career from cancer. Her father suffered debilitating grief from the loss of his wife. Sarah herself never got the university education she was promised in spite of being an enterprising reader. Her TV directors and handlers left her frequently in harms way of special effects, a stalker, long working hours, months away from her friends, and in a kind of Twilight Zone of parental love and parental neglect.

And two-thirds through the book the author now in her 40’s tells us she’s been in therapy for 20 years.

It’s about this time I put on my critical hat and ask myself about the author’s sanity given all the injuries she’s suffered, the lunatics in showbiz she has been subject to, the dangerous surgeries she’s undertaken to correct scoliosis — a spine deformity she had as a child — painful endometriosis, a dangerous placenta previa pregnancy, an unlucky concussion from a falling fire extinguisher, an equally unlucky sexual misadventure with now-disgraced radio personality Jian Gomeshi, the complications arising from the delivery of a premature child, and a mind-bending bout of stage fright at the Stratford Festival.

Child exploitation comes in many forms. Andre Agassi experienced one form. Sarah Polley experienced another. And we on the outside only see the benefits of celebrity. A lot of parents never see their children succeed so spectacularly, but at what price?

I listened to Polley’s memoir as an audiobook performed by the author herself. She’s a talented performer and she can be very funny. I highly recommend the audio version of this work.

But I myself worked in the theatre as a teenager and I can tell you there’s no way to exaggerate some of the crazies you meet in that business. ( )

Great story about her adversity and experiences ( )

Great book on challenges Sarah had as a child and an adult. After a concussion she had to be proactive to beat its effects. ( )

An exceptionally brave and amazingly well-written book. Even the subtitle "confrontations with a body of memory" has resonance: every chapter deals with memories of bodily danger and how she managed to find her way through. One of the best books I've read in a long time. ( )

From Child Actor to Film Screenwriter/Director
Review of the Penguin Press hardcover edition (March 1, 2022)

When I first met concussion specialist Dr. Michael Collins, after three and a half years of suffering from post-concussive syndrome, he said, “If you remember only one thing from this meeting, remember this: run towards the danger.” - Sarah Polley.

I don't know how well Sarah Polley (1979-) is known internationally, but in Canada she is pretty iconic. This popularity has its roots in her childhood with a starring role in Terry Gilliam's film "The Adventures of Baron Munchhausen" (1988), the popularity of the Canadian TV-series "Road to Avonlea" (1990-1996) based on the stories of [author:Lucy Maud Montgomery|20369871], and a theatrical debut at the age of 15 in the lead role of our Stratford Festival's stage adaptation of Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There (titled as "Alice Through the Looking Glass").

See photograph at https://i.pinimg.com/originals/a5/2d/a2/a52da20c8b06cb0b71118ee6e87de193.jpg
Sarah Polley as Alice and Michelle Fisk as the Red Queen in a publicity still for the Stratford Festival's 1994 production of "Alice Through the Looking Glass." Image sourced from Pinterest.

From there she went on to work on many Canadian independent films, with a final on-screen appearance in Bruce McDonald's rock'n'roll movie Trigger* (2010) (a cameo appearance as the stage manager, glimpsed at 0'19" to 0'20" in the linked trailer).

In the last decade or so she has written, produced and/or directed her own films "Take This Waltz" (2011) and the family memoir/documentary "Stories We Tell" (2012), as well as adapting for the screen the works of several iconic Canadian writers with "Away From Her" (2006) (based on a short story by Alice Munro), "Alias Grace" (TV mini-series 2017) (based on the novel by Margaret Atwood and the upcoming "Women Talking" (late 2022 release?) (based on the novel by Miriam Toews). This all while raising 3 children in the past decade as well.

While all of that might sound idyllic and extremely accomplished, behind the scenes the journey was often fraught with the inordinate pressures and terrors of childhood acting, the loss of a mother at a young age, various childhood diseases and conditions: one which required major spinal surgery, an [alleged - have to be careful] traumatic pedophilic sexual assault by a now notorious and disgraced Canadian radio broadcaster and an accidental brain concussion which took years to overcome.

Polley approaches these most difficult periods and events in her life in 6 extended memoir essays in this recently published collection, some sections of which she mentions that she has been writing and editing for 20 years, as she has worked to overcome their psychological and physical effects. The result is an empowering and triumphal statement of her dedication, perseverance and survival.

Trivia and Links
There are excellent Sarah Polley mini-biographies / career overviews at Northern Stars and Wikipedia.

* The rather insanely catchy (to me anyway) song in the "Trigger" trailer is "Standing Alongside Gone" by the Canadian indie-band Cookie Duster and you can hear their original version here, and watch the song's full sequence from the "Trigger" movie here [language content warning if you click on the latter] (For context, the movie deals with a feuding fictitious rock duo with the band name of Trigger and their reuniting for a reunion concert, the duo are portrayed by Canadian actors Molly Parker and Tracy Wright, for the latter, the film was her final screen appearance prior to her death from cancer). ( )