View source for My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy

{{short description|Book by Nancy Cartwright}}
{{Infobox book
|name=My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy
|title_orig=
|translator=
|image=My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy.jpg
|caption= Front cover
|author=[[Nancy Cartwright]]
|illustrator= [[Nancy Cartwright]] 
|cover_artist=Creative Capers<br />Brendan Hitt (design)<br />Ray Kachatorian (photograph)
|country=United States
|language=English
|series= The Simpsons 
|subject=''[[The Simpsons]]''
|genre=[[Non-fiction]]<br />[[Autobiography]]<br />Humor
|publisher=[[Hyperion (publisher)|Hyperion]]
|pub_date= 30 September 2000<ref name="Fiction">{{Cite news |title=New Books - September releases |work=[[The Buffalo News]] |date=2000-09-10}}</ref>
|english_pub_date=
|media_type=Paperback
|pages=271
| isbn =  0-7868-8600-5
|oclc=
|preceded_by= Tehran  Nancy 
|followed_by=
}}
'''''My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy''''' is an autobiography written by [[Nancy Cartwright]]. First published in September 2000 by [[Hyperion (publisher)|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.

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 person show|one-woman show]], which she has performed in the UK and North America, including at the [[Edinburgh Festival Fringe]].

==Background==
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. {{interp|...}} I decided that I wanted to write it while the show was still on the air."<ref>Cartwright, p. 2.</ref> 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."<ref>{{Cite news |title=Just don't call me Bart |work=[[Scotland on Sunday]] |date=2000-11-19}}</ref> 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."<ref>{{Cite news |title=Voice actress got a life - Bart's |work=[[Austin American-Statesman]] |author=Funk, Tim |date=1995-09-24}}</ref>

The book contains excerpts from date books and journals that Cartwright had kept over the years.<ref>Cartwright, pp. 55–56.</ref> The book was officially announced in January 2000<ref>{{Cite news |title=A 'Simpsons' Tell-all? |date=2000-01-02 |work=[[Rocky Mountain News]] |author=Thorn, Patti}}</ref> and Cartwright had originally intended that it be released on October 31.<ref name=dayton/>

==Content==
''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 [[The Simpsons shorts|shorts]] on ''[[The Tracey Ullman Show]]''. The shorts were about a [[Simpson family|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 (singer)|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?"<ref>Cartwright, p. 248.</ref>

==Reception==
''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.<ref name=dayton>{{cite news |title=Her Bart is Worse Than Her Bite - Twelve years of voicing Bart Simpson hasn't hardened Kettering native Nancy Cartwright |date=2000-10-29 |work=[[Dayton Daily News]] |page=1C |author=Bischoff, Laura A.}}</ref> Cartwright began a publicity tour in late October 2000, starting in her hometown of [[Dayton, Ohio]],<ref>{{Cite news |title=And then there's... |work=[[The Star-Ledger]] |date=2000-10-29}}</ref> where the book became the top selling non-fiction in the town in the first week of November 2000.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Local bestsellers |work=[[Dayton Daily News]] |date=2000-11-10}}</ref>

Laura A. Bischoff of the ''[[Dayton Daily News]]'' commented that the book was the "ultimate insider's guide to ''The Simpsons''."<ref>{{Cite news |title=Inside look at 'The Simpsons' makes for a fun read |author=Bischoff, Laura A. |work=Dayton Daily News |date=2000-10-29}}</ref> 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."<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/01/03/04/bib/010304.rv101326.html |title=My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=2001-03-04 |access-date=2009-02-06 |author=Shapiro, Susan}}</ref> 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."<ref>{{Cite journal |title=My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy |author=Brewer, Rosellen |journal=[[Library Journal]] |date=2000-11-15 |volume=125 |issue=19 |page=70}}</ref> 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 {{interp|...}} If only it wasn't all so relentlessly perky."<ref name="Bacchus"/>

Another common criticism was that the book was aimed at fans of ''The Simpsons'' and not a general audience. A preview in ''[[People (magazine)|People]]'' said the bottom line was that the book is "for die-hard fans only."<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20133257,00.html |title=Pages |magazine=[[People (magazine)|People]] |date=2000-12-18 |access-date=2009-02-06 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090204015649/http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20133257,00.html |archive-date=2009-02-04 }}</ref> 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."<ref name="Bacchus">{{Cite news |title=We'd like to see more Bart and less Ralph |author=Bacchus, Lee |work=[[The Province]] |date=2000-11-05}}</ref> 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 {{interp|...}} But none of this is anything to have a cow about."<ref>{{Cite news |title=Life in Springfield isn't as fun and exciting as it seems |date=2000-12-23 |work=[[National Post]] |author=Sheridan, Rob}}</ref>

==Stage adaptation==
In 2004, ''My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy'' was adapted into a one-woman play.<ref name="Little"/> Described as "a romp through Springfield through [Cartwright's] eyes",<ref>{{Cite news |title=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 |work=[[The Toronto Star]] |author=Menan, Vinay |date=2004-09-18}}</ref> 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''.<ref name="SMH"/> At the end, she does a question and answer session and occasionally plays a game to allow for audience participation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/vermont/articles/2008/07/24/voice_of_bart_simpson_plays_friday_at_middlebury/ |title=Voice of Bart Simpson plays Friday at Middlebury |date=2008-07-24 |work=[[The Boston Globe]] |access-date=2009-02-06 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080829143749/http://www.boston.com/news/local/vermont/articles/2008/07/24/voice_of_bart_simpson_plays_friday_at_middlebury |archive-date=August 29, 2008 }}</ref> Cartwright's friend Rose Goss co-wrote the play, and serves as director.<ref name="Little"/> Cartwright has performed the show at various locations, including the Big Laugh Comedy Festival in [[Parramatta, New South Wales|Parramatta]], Australia, in March 2004,<ref name="SMH">{{Cite web |url=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/03/11/1078594483215.html |title=Bart to the bone |work=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |date=2004-03-12 |access-date=2009-02-06}}</ref> a three-week run at the [[Edinburgh Fringe|Edinburgh Festival Fringe]] in [[Edinburgh]], Scotland in August 2004,<ref name="Little">{{Cite web |title=Little Voice |url=http://news.scotsman.com/ViewArticle.aspx?articleid=2538956 |work=[[The Scotsman]] |date=2004-06-20 |access-date=2009-02-05 |author=Smith, Aidan}}</ref> at the "Simpsons Mania" convention in [[Toronto]], Canada, (the North American debut of the play) in October 2004<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/simpsons-fans-descend-on-toronto-1.504116 |title='Simpsons' fans descend on Toronto |publisher=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|CBC Arts]] |date=2004-10-15 |access-date=2009-02-06 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070420171933/http://www.cbc.ca/arts/story/2004/10/15/simpsonsmania041015.html |archive-date=April 20, 2007 }}</ref> and at [[Riverside Studios]] in London, England, in May 2005.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Simpsons star Cartwright to make London debut in one-woman show |url=http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/newsstory.php/7115 |work=The Stage News |date=2005-03-29 |access-date=2009-02-05 |author=Smith, Alistair}}</ref>

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."<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/reviews/nancy-cartwright-my-life-as-a-10yearold-boy-assembly-rooms-edinburgh-556068.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090302075031/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/reviews/nancy-cartwright-my-life-as-a-10yearold-boy-assembly-rooms-edinburgh-556068.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 2, 2009 |title=Nancy Cartwright: My Life As A 10-year-old Boy, Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh |date=2004-08-10 |author=Hall, Julian |access-date=2009-02-05 |work=[[The Independent]]}}</ref> Brian Logan of ''[[The Guardian]]'' described Cartwright as "a lively host {{interp|...}} eager to please", but found the play to be "an overweeningly upbeat collection of Simpsons chitchat."<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2004/aug/11/comedy.edinburghfestival20044 |title=Nancy Cartwright |author=Logan, Brian |date=2004-08-11 |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=2009-02-05}}</ref> David Chatterton of ''British Theatre Guide'' described it as "interesting and entertaining, but not really a 'must see' even for Simpsons fans."<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.britishtheatreguide.info/otherresources/fringe/fringe04-07.htm |title=Fringe 2004 Reviews (7) |author=Chatterton, David |work=British Theatre Guide |year=2004 |access-date=2009-02-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090629214945/http://www.britishtheatreguide.info/otherresources/fringe/fringe04-07.htm |archive-date=2009-06-29 |url-status=dead }}</ref> 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. {{interp|...}} 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."<ref>{{Cite web |title=My Life as a Ten Year Old Boy |url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/article526701.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110616182604/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/article526701.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 16, 2011 |date=2005-05-27 |author=Davis, Clive |work=[[The Times]] |access-date=2009-02-06}}</ref>

==References==
* {{cite book |last=Cartwright |first=Nancy |title=My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy |year=2000 |publisher=[[Hyperion (publisher)|Hyperion]] |location=New York City |isbn=0-7868-8600-5 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/mylifeastenyearo00nanc }}

==Notes==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
{{Portal|The Simpsons|Books}}
* [http://www.nancycartwright.com/ Nancycartwright.com]

{{The Simpsons books}}

{{good article}}

[[Category:2000 non-fiction books]]
[[Category:Plays based on books]]
[[Category:Non-fiction books about The Simpsons]]
[[Category:Show business memoirs]]
[[Category:Hyperion Books books]]