Burnt Toast: And Other Philosophies of Life » (Reprint)

From America's most beloved comedic actress and the star of Desperate Housewives comes a personal, heartfelt, and often very funny manifesto on life, love, and unlearn - and the lessons we all need to learn -- on the road to happiness.

Teri Hatcher secured her place in America's heart when she stood up to accept her Golden Globe for Best Actress and declared herself a "has-been" on national television. That moment showcased her down-to-earth, self-deprecating style -- and her frank openness about the ups and downs she's experienced in life and work.

But what the world might not have seen that night is that Teri's self-acceptance is the hard-won effort of a single mother with all the same struggles most women have to juggle -- life, love, bake sale cookies, and dying cats. Now, in the hope that her foibles and insights might inspire and motivate other women, Teri opens up about the little moments that have sustained her through good times and bad.

From the everyday (like the importance of letting your daughter spill her macaroni so she knows it's okay to make mistakes) to the rare (a rendezvous with a humpback whale -- and no, he was not a suitor), the message at the heart of Burnt Toast -- that happiness and success are choices that we owe it to ourselves to make - is sure to resonate with women everywhere.

"Toast. We eat a lot of it in the course of our lives. You know when you're trying to make it and you just can't get it right? Maybe too brown, or too soft, or totally burnt. Are you the kind of person who tries to scrape off the black? Or do you smother it with jam to hide the taste? Do you throw the burnt toast away, or do you eat it? Up 'til now, I ate it. Ilearned that from my mom. A loving wife and mother, she always took care of everyone and everything before herself. When I hit forty, I decided I was done eating the burnt toast. I was done anticipating failure. There is a way for us to value ourselves without taking away from anyone else. Happiness doesn't go hand-in-hand with success. It takes work. This book is my wacky, serious, skittish, heartfelt attempt to share my jagged route to happiness with other women like me."

About the Author In 2005, TERI HATCHER won a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, and was nominated for an Emmy for her role as Susan Mayer on the hit TV show Desperate Housewives. Hatcher previously starred as Lois Lane in the popular Lois & Clark series.