This book details the years during the 1970's in which the author wrote for a popular, long-running television program. His uncertain beginning, learning by the seat of his pants, immersion into the rigors of the work, and ultimate obsession with the writing are interesting. Read after the author's first memoir, one can appreciate why Lemay behaved as he did during the 70's. Although he had reconciled some of the past conflicts about his childhood by this time, ghosts of his demons and unresolved issues sprang up in the hothouse of daytime TV writing.

Lemay provides an interesting depiction of the struggles anyone would face in the fast-paced, pressure cooker environment of soap operas-- creating 5 one hour dramas each week with no time off for reruns-- and gives us some hints about his own particular reaction to the stresses. "Eight Years" does not, however, contain the depth of insight and self revelation that the preceding memoir did. A reader who had not read the first volume would not realize the desires, experiences, and unfulfilled hopes that drove Lemay to throw himself into a cauldron of obsessive writing, quest for quality, self imposed isolation, and acceptance of inane corporate superiors. The costs of such compulsive self discipline are outlined but not as completely detailed as in his first book. Implied in the book is the incredible convergence of fate that brought a man who had been so long striving to enter another, better world through sometimes dramatic means to a television show that needed a theme about longing and the lengths to which people will go to find satisfaction of their dreams.

Much of the book is devoted to the plots Lemay created for the show. This hints at the role of fantasy in the mind of a damaged child, creative adult, and questing person, but the author refrains from exploring at length the links between addiction to writing the ongoing lives of imagined characters and the deprivations of his actual history. The continuing drama of his show's characters do propel the book the way they do a soap, which is fun. The pain of Lemay's decisions, however, seem underplayed. Nevertheless, as a two volume memoir, "Inside, Looking Out" and "Eight Years" make for a compelling portrait of a man one might like to know better. The books raise curiosity about the plays he also wrote and the teleplays of "Another World" of the 1970's that may be lost forever except in the memories of fans lucky enough to have seen them in their single airing.

I was a fan of Another World and was immeditaly intrigued by the fact a former writer on the show decided to publish a book about his work. However, I didn't watch during the time he wrote, so I was reluctant to actually start reading it. I figured since I knew nothing about that period of the show, I would get easily confused and it would be a bore. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that that didn't matter. What I found was a fantastic account about his experiences. Anyone who either loved the show or TV shows in general or has dreams of becoming a writer should pick up this book and read it! It was a very enjoyable read.

Lemay's account of the first half of his life is an insightful, honest reckoning of painful childhood, hard-won self awareness, and longing. In straight-forward prose, he describes the memories he has, and those he thinks he should have, of a life of emotional deprivation. The way he conveys his sense of alienation, literally feeling alien to the family that seems more at ease in the dirt farming community, gives richness to his story.

Absent of self-pity, he takes stock of his own shortcomings and the way he flounders through young adulthood once he escapes the hinterlands. Lemay links primal childhood experiences with actions he often feels compelled to take in later years. His search for a sense of adequacy, belonging, and accomplishment make for an in-depth portrait. He makes fascinating connections between unresolved family attachments and the ambivalent relationships of his adult years.

The motivations of an artistic frame of mind, the development of childhood dreams into adult realities, and the frank openess regarding the well rounded life were absorbing to this reader. I thrilled in the author's willingness to reveal these aspects of his life and was able to identify all the more because of his honesty. I also found this book to be a counterpoint to much of the writing of the WWII era that cast a halo of vagueness and false steadfastness around its occupants.

Lemay's childhood fascinations with fictional characters and movie actors developed into pursuit of acting, then playwriting, and later work in the publishing field. A follow-up memoir called "Eight Years In Another World" chronicles a subsequent, intense period of screenwriting for television.