An outsider, with access of a famous insider

Once her children were adults, Coppola could have devoted more time to working on conceptual art installations like the two she describes in the book. Francis' reactions to these projects, nearly 30 years apart, nicely encapsulates changes in the marriage: he was hurt by the first one, which he thought made fun of him and his achievements; at the opening for the second, he tactfully stayed out of the limelight so that her work would be the focus. If the author were a different sort of person, she would simply have focused on her projects; instead, she kept making documentaries about other people's. "[I]t is a rare opportunity to see my child at work, be included in her world," she writes about filming Sofia on the set of "Marie Antoinette," and we see elsewhere that an important element in her relationship with Francis is the excitement of being included in his world of creative risk and rewards.

The fact that she generally was an onlooker rather than a participant in this world was her choice, Coppola acknowledges in this nuanced assessment of her life. Her mature understanding illuminates this engaging memoir, which chronicles with equal acuity regrets over the paths not taken and pleasure in the ones that were.

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Wendy Smith is a critic and the author of "Real Life Drama: The Group Theatre and America, 1931-1940."