Ali’s Well That Ends Well by Ali Wentworth

If you have never read a book of essays by Ali Wentworth, actress, comedian and wife of Good Morning America host George Stephanopoulos, you are seriously missing out on an enjoyable, funny, laugh out loud read. Her latest book covers her, and her families lives during Covid, which also includes her hound mix dog and obese dachshund! If that does not pique your interest, I don’t know what will!

She begins the book with an essay on she herself being one of the first people to get Covid early on when not much was known about the virus. She realized she really did have it when her hound dog who had been missing for a few days jumped on her bed and she smelled…well, nothing! She praises her husband George who slipped meals in or came to check her in hazmat gear. Her thanks to him was that in her delirium and after watching season after season of Mad Men on Netflix continuously, accused him of having an affair with one of the women characters on the show!

In another essay she explains how her family enjoyed their food tremendously during their isolation especially Carvel’s whale shaped ice cream cakes which they all relied on to keep them happy. Until the night she got a 10:00 pm call from her doctor telling her they had to talk about her cholesterol readings. The ice cream almost killed her!

But, in Ali fashion she does try to make something good out of something bad. During the family’s isolation, she discovered “clamming” a solitary sport which has now grown into an obsession for her and a not so benefit for her loved ones who now seem to eat clams continuously. She also explains how what began as a purging of her basement, turned into a sobbing love letter to her from her family and how hard it became letting her daughter go when it was time for her to move into college.

But, with all her positivity, there were some not so nice lessons which were learned. Although they hardly had contact with the neighbors around them, when Ali discovered she had Covid they supported her by dropping notes into her mailbox saying if you need anything just call. Except for one neighbor who, of course is nameless, happened to see her husband George in a drug store and called the local rag to say he was out galivanting while his wife was on death’s door. So, it seems, just like us even celebrities can have horrible neighbors!

Overall, the essays are filled with sassy, funny, make you smile stories or heartfelt anecdotes which can make you tear up. But spread throughout the book are great stories with celebrity name drops. And having met Ali, I can honestly tell you she is the same way in person, real, funny and wonderfully gossipy!