Synopsis:

From her 1950s childhood in a suburb she describes as an “abusement park,” to performing Molière on Broadway, to voicing characters on the popular “Rugrats” cartoon series, Melanie Chartoff was anxious “out of character,” preferring any imaginary world to her real one. Obsessed with exploring her talent and mastering craft, fame came as a destabilizing byproduct. Suppressing a spiritual breakdown while co-starring on a late-night comedy show, Chartoff grew more estranged from whoever she was meant to be. But given a private audience with a guru, she finally heard her inner voice, played by ’70s soul singer Barry White, crooning, “Get out, baby!” All the while, she’s courted by men with homing pigeons and Priuses, idealized by guys who want the girl du jour from TV to be their baby rearer or kidney donor.

Go backstage on Broadway, behind the scenes on network television, and inside the complicated psyche of a talented performer struggling to play the role of a complete human. Odd Woman Out intimately exposes the nature of identity in the life of a performing artist, snapshotting the hopeful search for a self Chartoff could love, and someone else’s self to love, too.

You might recognize Melanie Chartoff by her voice more than her face, but this award-winning actor’s career has spanned decades and devices. She might be best known as the voice for two characters on the very popular “Rugrats” television series, but this talented comedian has performed on Broadway, off Broadway, in various popular television shows, films, and is also a brilliant writer.

In Odd Woman Out Chartoff has collected some new and some previously published essays and stories. They’re perfect to read quickly as you drift off to sleep, or languidly—one after another—as you sink into her witty and wise life-affirming observations. Chartoff has said she wrote and collected these stories for mature singles, but I think anyone will find something to appreciate.

“Despite my desire to embody everybody but me, I landed the bigger-than-life role of ‘Melanie Chartoff‘ and began to embody it everywhere. I didn’t intend to get famous. I just needed enough people to outvote my internalized negative father so I could believe in myself.”

Melanie Chartoff, Odd Woman Out

The stories vary from her turbulent childhood to her experiences as a woman in a man’s dominating profession to her late-in-life marriage, but in each stage I found something refreshing. Her talent to make the more serious and scary inevitabilities in life humorous and hopeful kept me reading. She illustrated with class and self-love how to navigate the treacherous waters of aging, being single, and remaining true to oneself. My favorite essay was one at the end of the collection. She honestly depicts falling head over heels in love late in life—after she’d peacefully accepted never being married—and her candid heart-filled, hopeful words had me smiling, happy to be reminded that love can find anyone at anytime, whether it’s with someone else or with oneself.