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      gene wilder

      kiss me like a stranger

      MY SEARCH FOR LOVE AND ART

       Dedication

      To Karen,

      without whom I would be

      floating like a cork in the ocean

      Contents

       COVER

       TITLE PAGE

       DEDICATION

       PROLOGUE

       CHAPTER 1. FIRST MOVEMENT

       CHAPTER 2. CAN A FEW WORDS CHANGE YOUR LIFE?

       CHAPTER 10. MOTHER COURAGE

       CHAPTER 11. A TASTE OF FREEDOM

       CHAPTER 12. THE KING IS DEAD. LONG LIVE THE KING!

       CHAPTER 13. “FREE AT LAST, FREE AT LAST. THANK MARGIE WALLIS, I’M FREE AT LAST”

       CHAPTER 14. “SORRY I CAUGHT YOU WITH THE OLD LADY”

       CHAPTER 15. SECOND MOVEMENT: SPRINGTIME FOR HITLER

       CHAPTER 16. BLACK IS MY FAVORITE COLOR

       CHAPTER 17. “I HAVE A REASON – I JUST DON’T KNOW WHAT IT IS”

       CHAPTER 18. NEW YORK, NEW YORK

       CHAPTER 19. THE BIRTH OF A MONSTER

       CHAPTER 20. LE PETIT PRINCE

       CHAPTER 21. SHERLOCK HOLMES HAS A JEWISH BROTHER

       CHAPTER 22. CRISIS IN BLACK AND WHITE

       CHAPTER 23. LEO BLOOM HAS HIS PICTURE TAKEN

       CHAPTER 24. SIDNEY POITIER AND I GO STIR-CRAZY

       CHAPTER 25. HANKY-PANKY WITH ROSEANNE ROSEANNADANNA

       CHAPTER 26. I DON’T BELIEVE IN FATE

       CHAPTER 27. THIRD MOVEMENT

       CHAPTER 28. COMEDIENNE – BALLERINA 1946–1989

       CHAPTER 29. IT’S ALWAYS SOMETHING

       CHAPTER 30. STOLEN KISSES

       EPILOGUE

       INDEX

       ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

       PRAISE

       COPYRIGHT

       ABOUT THE PUBLISHER

       Prologue

      Suppose you’re walking out of the Plaza Hotel in New York City on a warm spring day. You breathe in the lovely fresh air as you step outside and walk down the red-carpeted stairs, saying a quick, “Hi, again!” to the uniformed doorman.

      You want to go directly across the street to Bergdorf’s Men’s Shop on Fifth Avenue, but the Plaza fountain is directly in your path, with people from all walks of life sitting on the ledge of the fountain, eating sandwiches in what’s left of their lunch hour, talking to their friends from the office, maybe flirting with some new acquaintance and whispering arrangements for a love tryst that night. Perhaps some are taking a short sunbath on this first beautiful day of the year or even sneaking in a quick snooze as they lean their backs against the famous fountain where Zelda Fitzgerald once jumped in fully clothed.

      You can get to the shop on Fifth Avenue by walking around the fountain on the path to your left, or by taking the path to your right. I believe that whichever choice you make could change your life. I’m sure everyone has had these mysterious brushes with irony, perhaps referring to them years later as “almost fate.” Here are a few of mine.

       chapter 1

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