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My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy

October 19, 2023

My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy is an autobiography written by Nancy Cartwright. First published in September 2000 by Hyperion, it details Cartwright's career, particularly her experiences as the voice of Bart Simpson on The Simpsons and contains insights on the show, diary entries and anecdotes about her encounters with various guest stars.

My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy
Front cover
AuthorNancy Cartwright
IllustratorNancy Cartwright
Cover artistCreative Capers
Brendan Hitt (design)
Ray Kachatorian (photograph)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
SeriesThe Simpsons
SubjectThe Simpsons
GenreNon-fiction
Autobiography
Humor
PublisherHyperion
Publication date
30 September 2000[1]
Media typePaperback
Pages271
ISBN0-7868-8600-5
Preceded byTehran Nancy 

Critics commented that the book seemed to be aimed at fans of The Simpsons rather than a more general audience. Other criticisms included the simplicity of the writing and a lack of interesting stories. In 2004, Cartwright adapted the book into a one-woman show, which she has performed in the UK and North America, including at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Background Edit

In the opening chapter, Cartwright writes "About five years ago I decided I wanted to write this book. I knew that The Simpsons would end some day. [...] I decided that I wanted to write it while the show was still on the air."[2] In an interview with Scotland on Sunday, she added "I wanted to tell my story and I needed to because I get so much fan mail. People are so interested in the whole process, how it all comes together. This book does that."[3] In a 1995 interview, five years before writing the book, Cartwright remarked that she wanted to write a book and that if she did, it would be titled "My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy."[4]

The book contains excerpts from date books and journals that Cartwright had kept over the years.[5] The book was officially announced in January 2000[6] and Cartwright had originally intended that it be released on October 31.[7]

Content Edit

My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy opens with a dedication to Daws Butler, a list of acknowledgements and a foreword from Cartwright's The Simpsons co-star Dan Castellaneta. The first chapter of the book details Cartwright's life and career prior to 1987. In the second chapter, Cartwright recalls the day she went to audition for a role in a series of animated shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show. The shorts were about a dysfunctional family and Cartwright intended to audition for the role of Lisa Simpson, the eldest daughter. Upon arriving at the audition, she found the role of her brother Bart to be much more interesting. Matt Groening, creator of the shorts, allowed her to audition for Bart, and gave her the job on the spot after hearing her reading. From there, the book contains her experiences as the voice of Bart. After three seasons of shorts, a half-hour spinoff called The Simpsons debuted in 1989. In the following chapters, she recalls the early days of The Simpsons, commenting on the recording process and her co-stars and revealing how she got the roles of some of the other characters she voices, including Nelson Muntz and Ralph Wiggum. In the 15th chapter, she discusses her experiences of voicing a famous character, but rarely being recognized.

Several chapters are devoted to a detailed "behind the scenes" look at how an episode of The Simpsons is made, including the writing, recording and animation. My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy contains multiple excerpts from Cartwright's diary detailing various events, mostly encounters with The Simpsons guest stars. Guest stars she talks about include Ernest Borgnine, Danny DeVito, Kirk Douglas, Mel Gibson, Kelsey Grammer, Tom Jones, Michael Jackson, Mickey Rooney, Meryl Streep and Elizabeth Taylor. One chapter describes the day she found out that Phil Hartman, a frequent guest star on The Simpsons, was murdered. The final chapter is a retrospective in which she answers the question "what is it like to be the voice behind the star?"[8]

Reception Edit

My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy's original print of 25,000 copies were sold on pre-order in the United Kingdom, with 38,000 copies being sold.[7] Cartwright began a publicity tour in late October 2000, starting in her hometown of Dayton, Ohio,[9] where the book became the top selling non-fiction in the town in the first week of November 2000.[10]

Laura A. Bischoff of the Dayton Daily News commented that the book was the "ultimate insider's guide to The Simpsons."[11] However, several critics commented that the book was straightforward and presented few interesting stories. Susan Shapiro of The New York Times wrote that "Although the paradoxes of being 'a celebrity nobody knows' are interesting, the photographs, diary entries and overly cute commentaries make this book feel like a personal scrapbook."[12] Rosellen Brewer of the Library Journal commented that "Cartwright's own life notwithstanding, there is nothing really new or exciting here. She knew what she wanted to do and was able to do it; end of story."[13] Lee Bacchus of The Province wrote that "This little book by the voice of Bart Simpson reads as if it were written by a 10-year-old boy. Not that that's all bad. Cartwright, who voices Bart along with Ralph Wiggum and a few others on The Simpsons, gives a very unchallenging tour behind the scenes of the phenomenally successful series. It's kind of fun to discover how the show is put together and how an adult woman snagged one of the coolest jobs in the world [...] If only it wasn't all so relentlessly perky."[14]

Another common criticism was that the book was aimed at fans of The Simpsons and not a general audience. A preview in People said the bottom line was that the book is "for die-hard fans only."[15] Bacchus concurred, saying "Cartwright writes as if she were speaking to devotees of The Simpsons Fan Club, too often providing bland tidbits of background that only obsessives would ever really care about."[14] Rob Sheridan of the National Post also believes that the book is "aimed squarely at rabid Simpsons fans", and criticized the writing, commenting that "the chronology of her story is sometimes muddled, and a lot of sentences have that first-draft feeling [...] But none of this is anything to have a cow about."[16]

Stage adaptation Edit

In 2004, My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy was adapted into a one-woman play.[17] Described as "a romp through Springfield through [Cartwright's] eyes",[18] the first portion of the play is scripted and includes anecdotes from Cartwright, dialogue performed in her characters' voices and video clips from The Simpsons.[19] At the end, she does a question and answer session and occasionally plays a game to allow for audience participation.[20] Cartwright's friend Rose Goss co-wrote the play, and serves as director.[17] Cartwright has performed the show at various locations, including the Big Laugh Comedy Festival in Parramatta, Australia, in March 2004,[19] a three-week run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Edinburgh, Scotland in August 2004,[17] at the "Simpsons Mania" convention in Toronto, Canada, (the North American debut of the play) in October 2004[21] and at Riverside Studios in London, England, in May 2005.[22]

The play has received modest reviews. Julian Hall of The Independent criticized it for a lack of inside stories about The Simpsons, writing that "Cartwright never allows you to become bored but that means some issues are skirted over faster than American closing credits on television. You never really get a feel what it is like recording the show."[23] Brian Logan of The Guardian described Cartwright as "a lively host [...] eager to please", but found the play to be "an overweeningly upbeat collection of Simpsons chitchat."[24] David Chatterton of British Theatre Guide described it as "interesting and entertaining, but not really a 'must see' even for Simpsons fans."[25] Clive Davis of The Times wrote that "In contrast to The Simpsons itself, where not a line, not a syllable, goes to waste, Cartwright has a habit of losing herself in anecdotes that stumble into dead-ends. [...] The half-hearted trivia quiz involving volunteers from the audience soon dies a death too. The performance really cries out for a hard-headed director. The video clips of Cartwright at large are fun, however."[26]

References Edit

Notes Edit

  1. ^ "New Books - September releases". The Buffalo News. 2000-09-10.
  2. ^ Cartwright, p. 2.
  3. ^ "Just don't call me Bart". Scotland on Sunday. 2000-11-19.
  4. ^ Funk, Tim (1995-09-24). "Voice actress got a life - Bart's". Austin American-Statesman.
  5. ^ Cartwright, pp. 55–56.
  6. ^ Thorn, Patti (2000-01-02). "A 'Simpsons' Tell-all?". Rocky Mountain News.
  7. ^ a b Bischoff, Laura A. (2000-10-29). "Her Bart is Worse Than Her Bite - Twelve years of voicing Bart Simpson hasn't hardened Kettering native Nancy Cartwright". Dayton Daily News. p. 1C.
  8. ^ Cartwright, p. 248.
  9. ^ "And then there's...". The Star-Ledger. 2000-10-29.
  10. ^ "Local bestsellers". Dayton Daily News. 2000-11-10.
  11. ^ Bischoff, Laura A. (2000-10-29). "Inside look at 'The Simpsons' makes for a fun read". Dayton Daily News.
  12. ^ Shapiro, Susan (2001-03-04). "My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-02-06.
  13. ^ Brewer, Rosellen (2000-11-15). "My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy". Library Journal. 125 (19): 70.
  14. ^ a b Bacchus, Lee (2000-11-05). "We'd like to see more Bart and less Ralph". The Province.
  15. ^ . People. 2000-12-18. Archived from the original on 2009-02-04. Retrieved 2009-02-06.
  16. ^ Sheridan, Rob (2000-12-23). "Life in Springfield isn't as fun and exciting as it seems". National Post.
  17. ^ a b c Smith, Aidan (2004-06-20). "Little Voice". The Scotsman. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
  18. ^ Menan, Vinay (2004-09-18). "Life imitating Bart - Voice of most mischievous member of Simpson clan takes her act to Toronto for a one-woman show An anonymous celeb for more than a decade, Nancy Cartwright is ready to take run for the spotlight". The Toronto Star.
  19. ^ a b "Bart to the bone". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2004-03-12. Retrieved 2009-02-06.
  20. ^ . The Boston Globe. 2008-07-24. Archived from the original on August 29, 2008. Retrieved 2009-02-06.
  21. ^ . CBC Arts. 2004-10-15. Archived from the original on April 20, 2007. Retrieved 2009-02-06.
  22. ^ Smith, Alistair (2005-03-29). "Simpsons star Cartwright to make London debut in one-woman show". The Stage News. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
  23. ^ Hall, Julian (2004-08-10). . The Independent. Archived from the original on March 2, 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
  24. ^ Logan, Brian (2004-08-11). "Nancy Cartwright". The Guardian. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
  25. ^ Chatterton, David (2004). . British Theatre Guide. Archived from the original on 2009-06-29. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
  26. ^ Davis, Clive (2005-05-27). "My Life as a Ten Year Old Boy". The Times. Retrieved 2009-02-06.

External links Edit

  • Nancycartwright.com

October 19, 2023
life, year, autobiography, written, nancy, cartwright, first, published, september, 2000, hyperion, details, cartwright, career, particularly, experiences, voice, bart, simpson, simpsons, contains, insights, show, diary, entries, anecdotes, about, encounters, . My Life as a 10 Year Old Boy is an autobiography written by Nancy Cartwright First published in September 2000 by Hyperion it details Cartwright s career particularly her experiences as the voice of Bart Simpson on The Simpsons and contains insights on the show diary entries and anecdotes about her encounters with various guest stars My Life as a 10 Year Old BoyFront coverAuthorNancy CartwrightIllustratorNancy CartwrightCover artistCreative CapersBrendan Hitt design Ray Kachatorian photograph CountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishSeriesThe SimpsonsSubjectThe SimpsonsGenreNon fictionAutobiographyHumorPublisherHyperionPublication date30 September 2000 1 Media typePaperbackPages271ISBN0 7868 8600 5Preceded byTehran Nancy Critics commented that the book seemed to be aimed at fans of The Simpsons rather than a more general audience Other criticisms included the simplicity of the writing and a lack of interesting stories In 2004 Cartwright adapted the book into a one woman show which she has performed in the UK and North America including at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Contents 1 Background 2 Content 3 Reception 4 Stage adaptation 5 References 6 Notes 7 External linksBackground EditIn the opening chapter Cartwright writes About five years ago I decided I wanted to write this book I knew that The Simpsons would end some day I decided that I wanted to write it while the show was still on the air 2 In an interview with Scotland on Sunday she added I wanted to tell my story and I needed to because I get so much fan mail People are so interested in the whole process how it all comes together This book does that 3 In a 1995 interview five years before writing the book Cartwright remarked that she wanted to write a book and that if she did it would be titled My Life as a 10 Year Old Boy 4 The book contains excerpts from date books and journals that Cartwright had kept over the years 5 The book was officially announced in January 2000 6 and Cartwright had originally intended that it be released on October 31 7 Content EditMy Life as a 10 Year Old Boy opens with a dedication to Daws Butler a list of acknowledgements and a foreword from Cartwright s The Simpsons co star Dan Castellaneta The first chapter of the book details Cartwright s life and career prior to 1987 In the second chapter Cartwright recalls the day she went to audition for a role in a series of animated shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show The shorts were about a dysfunctional family and Cartwright intended to audition for the role of Lisa Simpson the eldest daughter Upon arriving at the audition she found the role of her brother Bart to be much more interesting Matt Groening creator of the shorts allowed her to audition for Bart and gave her the job on the spot after hearing her reading From there the book contains her experiences as the voice of Bart After three seasons of shorts a half hour spinoff called The Simpsons debuted in 1989 In the following chapters she recalls the early days of The Simpsons commenting on the recording process and her co stars and revealing how she got the roles of some of the other characters she voices including Nelson Muntz and Ralph Wiggum In the 15th chapter she discusses her experiences of voicing a famous character but rarely being recognized Several chapters are devoted to a detailed behind the scenes look at how an episode of The Simpsons is made including the writing recording and animation My Life as a 10 Year Old Boy contains multiple excerpts from Cartwright s diary detailing various events mostly encounters with The Simpsons guest stars Guest stars she talks about include Ernest Borgnine Danny DeVito Kirk Douglas Mel Gibson Kelsey Grammer Tom Jones Michael Jackson Mickey Rooney Meryl Streep and Elizabeth Taylor One chapter describes the day she found out that Phil Hartman a frequent guest star on The Simpsons was murdered The final chapter is a retrospective in which she answers the question what is it like to be the voice behind the star 8 Reception EditMy Life as a 10 Year Old Boy s original print of 25 000 copies were sold on pre order in the United Kingdom with 38 000 copies being sold 7 Cartwright began a publicity tour in late October 2000 starting in her hometown of Dayton Ohio 9 where the book became the top selling non fiction in the town in the first week of November 2000 10 Laura A Bischoff of the Dayton Daily News commented that the book was the ultimate insider s guide to The Simpsons 11 However several critics commented that the book was straightforward and presented few interesting stories Susan Shapiro of The New York Times wrote that Although the paradoxes of being a celebrity nobody knows are interesting the photographs diary entries and overly cute commentaries make this book feel like a personal scrapbook 12 Rosellen Brewer of the Library Journal commented that Cartwright s own life notwithstanding there is nothing really new or exciting here She knew what she wanted to do and was able to do it end of story 13 Lee Bacchus of The Province wrote that This little book by the voice of Bart Simpson reads as if it were written by a 10 year old boy Not that that s all bad Cartwright who voices Bart along with Ralph Wiggum and a few others on The Simpsons gives a very unchallenging tour behind the scenes of the phenomenally successful series It s kind of fun to discover how the show is put together and how an adult woman snagged one of the coolest jobs in the world If only it wasn t all so relentlessly perky 14 Another common criticism was that the book was aimed at fans of The Simpsons and not a general audience A preview in People said the bottom line was that the book is for die hard fans only 15 Bacchus concurred saying Cartwright writes as if she were speaking to devotees of The Simpsons Fan Club too often providing bland tidbits of background that only obsessives would ever really care about 14 Rob Sheridan of the National Post also believes that the book is aimed squarely at rabid Simpsons fans and criticized the writing commenting that the chronology of her story is sometimes muddled and a lot of sentences have that first draft feeling But none of this is anything to have a cow about 16 Stage adaptation EditIn 2004 My Life as a 10 Year Old Boy was adapted into a one woman play 17 Described as a romp through Springfield through Cartwright s eyes 18 the first portion of the play is scripted and includes anecdotes from Cartwright dialogue performed in her characters voices and video clips from The Simpsons 19 At the end she does a question and answer session and occasionally plays a game to allow for audience participation 20 Cartwright s friend Rose Goss co wrote the play and serves as director 17 Cartwright has performed the show at various locations including the Big Laugh Comedy Festival in Parramatta Australia in March 2004 19 a three week run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Edinburgh Scotland in August 2004 17 at the Simpsons Mania convention in Toronto Canada the North American debut of the play in October 2004 21 and at Riverside Studios in London England in May 2005 22 The play has received modest reviews Julian Hall of The Independent criticized it for a lack of inside stories about The Simpsons writing that Cartwright never allows you to become bored but that means some issues are skirted over faster than American closing credits on television You never really get a feel what it is like recording the show 23 Brian Logan of The Guardian described Cartwright as a lively host eager to please but found the play to be an overweeningly upbeat collection of Simpsons chitchat 24 David Chatterton of British Theatre Guide described it as interesting and entertaining but not really a must see even for Simpsons fans 25 Clive Davis of The Times wrote that In contrast to The Simpsons itself where not a line not a syllable goes to waste Cartwright has a habit of losing herself in anecdotes that stumble into dead ends The half hearted trivia quiz involving volunteers from the audience soon dies a death too The performance really cries out for a hard headed director The video clips of Cartwright at large are fun however 26 References EditCartwright Nancy 2000 My Life as a 10 Year Old Boy New York City Hyperion ISBN 0 7868 8600 5 Notes Edit New Books September releases The Buffalo News 2000 09 10 Cartwright p 2 Just don t call me Bart Scotland on Sunday 2000 11 19 Funk Tim 1995 09 24 Voice actress got a life Bart s Austin American Statesman Cartwright pp 55 56 Thorn Patti 2000 01 02 A Simpsons Tell all Rocky Mountain News a b Bischoff Laura A 2000 10 29 Her Bart is Worse Than Her Bite Twelve years of voicing Bart Simpson hasn t hardened Kettering native Nancy Cartwright Dayton Daily News p 1C Cartwright p 248 And then there s The Star Ledger 2000 10 29 Local bestsellers Dayton Daily News 2000 11 10 Bischoff Laura A 2000 10 29 Inside look at The Simpsons makes for a fun read Dayton Daily News Shapiro Susan 2001 03 04 My Life as a 10 Year Old Boy The New York Times Retrieved 2009 02 06 Brewer Rosellen 2000 11 15 My Life as a 10 Year Old Boy Library Journal 125 19 70 a b Bacchus Lee 2000 11 05 We d like to see more Bart and less Ralph The Province Pages People 2000 12 18 Archived from the original on 2009 02 04 Retrieved 2009 02 06 Sheridan Rob 2000 12 23 Life in Springfield isn t as fun and exciting as it seems National Post a b c Smith Aidan 2004 06 20 Little Voice The Scotsman Retrieved 2009 02 05 Menan Vinay 2004 09 18 Life imitating Bart Voice of most mischievous member of Simpson clan takes her act to Toronto for a one woman show An anonymous celeb for more than a decade Nancy Cartwright is ready to take run for the spotlight The Toronto Star a b Bart to the bone The Sydney Morning Herald 2004 03 12 Retrieved 2009 02 06 Voice of Bart Simpson plays Friday at Middlebury The Boston Globe 2008 07 24 Archived from the original on August 29 2008 Retrieved 2009 02 06 Simpsons fans descend on Toronto CBC Arts 2004 10 15 Archived from the original on April 20 2007 Retrieved 2009 02 06 Smith Alistair 2005 03 29 Simpsons star Cartwright to make London debut in one woman show The Stage News Retrieved 2009 02 05 Hall Julian 2004 08 10 Nancy Cartwright My Life As A 10 year old Boy Assembly Rooms Edinburgh The Independent Archived from the original on March 2 2009 Retrieved 2009 02 05 Logan Brian 2004 08 11 Nancy Cartwright The Guardian Retrieved 2009 02 05 Chatterton David 2004 Fringe 2004 Reviews 7 British Theatre Guide Archived from the original on 2009 06 29 Retrieved 2009 02 05 Davis Clive 2005 05 27 My Life as a Ten Year Old Boy The Times Retrieved 2009 02 06 External links Edit nbsp The Simpsons portal nbsp Books portalNancycartwright com Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title My Life as a 10 Year Old Boy amp oldid 1129471085, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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