Best memoirs/biographies?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Educated

She needed to wait a few more decades before writing this. It's more like trauma drama than memoir.

Agree with the posters who mentioned Katherine Graham's memoir.

[Anonymous]

Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China
by Jung Chang

Fascinating book. This sixteen-year-old concubine, who was not even liked by the emperor, managed to maneuver herself into a position where she was running China after his death when she was in her early 20s. She led China, quite successfully, for like 40 years in the late 1800s.

[Anonymous]

Growing Up by Russell Baker was great

[Anonymous]

I really liked Amy Schumer’s book, The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo and Tina Fey’s, Bossy Pants.

[Anonymous]

I am working my way through the Brat Pack memoirs. Have listened to:

-Rob Lowe - Stories I Only Tell My Friends - pretty good. I thought he came across as a bit un-self aware, petty, and sexist. Not like hard core misogyny, but I think if he had had a beautiful daughter instead of sons he might have caught a clue. He breezes over his sex scandal with an underage girl and had the audacity to then be angry with the Democratic party for freezing him out. Um.

In that vein, he spends a lot of time being pissed about his treatment on the West Wing and weirdly weaves himself into JFK Jr's story and death. And he's still hugely pissed at the guy that wrote the Brat Pack article and ended that with some quip about the writer enjoying "their [the Brat Pack's] women." That was gross.

Still, the anecdotes and his story are really engaging. His recounting of shooting The Outsiders was fascinating. That's the one that really stood out to me. That and his clear infatuation with Demi Moore, who seems aware and much less infatuated than him. His recounting of his childhood/growing up in Ohio and Malibu, is interesting reading, especially his conversation with Martin Sheen about Coppola.

-Demi Moore - Inside Out - really good. Great chronicle of her messed up childhood. I don't feel she really owns her fame/success in the book - in a very female way. No one gets to that level of fame without actually running their career. She makes her body issues a major part of the book, but it doesn't seem to me that she's over it in any significant way. And she seems to gloss over whatever made her daughters not talk to her for something like three years.

I feel like she revealed a lot without pointing fingers - like Adrian Lyne screaming at her for being too skinny in Indecent Proposal. Her desperation to be in shape for A Few Good Men. The reaction to GI Jane. The reaction to her pregnant Vanity Fair cover. I think she's sort of an attention whore, but not more than any other actress. I felt like she left the reader to fill in the lines/interpret the reaction to some of those events.

Her story of her life with Bruce Willis is really interesting, and of her life with Ashton Kutcher, although I understand he was pissed about some of it. She lets Willis off the hook quite a bit I think - Kutcher was basically in charge of her kids when she went on location somewhere. He was like 25 at the time. That was bizarre.

-Andrew McCarthy - Brat - meh. Title says it all I think. He wasn't in that famous Brat Pack article. Was pointedly left out and only merited an insult in it, and yet...Brat. The recounting of his childhood and even most of his time at NYU is painfully boring. But his recounting of being cast for Class - and then living with Jacqueline Bisset and her lover!! was bonkers. I couldn't tell if he actually never slept with her or he was too nice to say so, but wow. Also, a similar recounting of a story with Liza Minelli.

Seems like he never really fit into Hollywood but either wasn't successful enough on stage to leave it or didn't want to. Even though this is the third memoir I've listened to about the Brat Pack, not one of them really has a whole lot to say about Making St. Elmo's Fire. McCarthy maybe has the most - the director screamed at him and Sheehy for not being passionate enough in their sex scene and he went after him, which was interesting. He didn't make friends with everyone else on set. And seems to hate Emilio Estevez to this day. Throws a good bit of shade.

He has good stories about Weekend at Bernie's and Mannequin, but I thought it was downright rude that he didn't mention Kim Cattrall once - at all. Not her name, no reference to her being his co-star, nothing. Mannequin might have been a silly movie, but it wasn't a movie without her in it. I don't know how you devote several minutes to talking about it and not mention her.

Less Than Zero sounded harrowing to film and he's very sweet about Jamie Gertz.

Overall, he seems hugely pretentious and someone that lucked into an acting career. He ends with the anecdote about some old acting teacher of his and a situation and conversation that is almost certainly made up. He constantly talks about his drinking problem and at one point says he didn't develop it as a reaction to something that had happened to him in childhood, but never really goes into why he thinks he did develop an issue. If you are going to make it that much of the book then at least go into it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am working my way through the Brat Pack memoirs. Have listened to:

-Rob Lowe - Stories I Only Tell My Friends - pretty good. I thought he came across as a bit un-self aware, petty, and sexist. Not like hard core misogyny, but I think if he had had a beautiful daughter instead of sons he might have caught a clue. He breezes over his sex scandal with an underage girl and had the audacity to then be angry with the Democratic party for freezing him out. Um.

In that vein, he spends a lot of time being pissed about his treatment on the West Wing and weirdly weaves himself into JFK Jr's story and death. And he's still hugely pissed at the guy that wrote the Brat Pack article and ended that with some quip about the writer enjoying "their [the Brat Pack's] women." That was gross.

Still, the anecdotes and his story are really engaging. His recounting of shooting The Outsiders was fascinating. That's the one that really stood out to me. That and his clear infatuation with Demi Moore, who seems aware and much less infatuated than him. His recounting of his childhood/growing up in Ohio and Malibu, is interesting reading, especially his conversation with Martin Sheen about Coppola.

-Demi Moore - Inside Out - really good. Great chronicle of her messed up childhood. I don't feel she really owns her fame/success in the book - in a very female way. No one gets to that level of fame without actually running their career. She makes her body issues a major part of the book, but it doesn't seem to me that she's over it in any significant way. And she seems to gloss over whatever made her daughters not talk to her for something like three years.

I feel like she revealed a lot without pointing fingers - like Adrian Lyne screaming at her for being too skinny in Indecent Proposal. Her desperation to be in shape for A Few Good Men. The reaction to GI Jane. The reaction to her pregnant Vanity Fair cover. I think she's sort of an attention whore, but not more than any other actress. I felt like she left the reader to fill in the lines/interpret the reaction to some of those events.

Her story of her life with Bruce Willis is really interesting, and of her life with Ashton Kutcher, although I understand he was pissed about some of it. She lets Willis off the hook quite a bit I think - Kutcher was basically in charge of her kids when she went on location somewhere. He was like 25 at the time. That was bizarre.

-Andrew McCarthy - Brat - meh. Title says it all I think. He wasn't in that famous Brat Pack article. Was pointedly left out and only merited an insult in it, and yet...Brat. The recounting of his childhood and even most of his time at NYU is painfully boring. But his recounting of being cast for Class - and then living with Jacqueline Bisset and her lover!! was bonkers. I couldn't tell if he actually never slept with her or he was too nice to say so, but wow. Also, a similar recounting of a story with Liza Minelli.

Seems like he never really fit into Hollywood but either wasn't successful enough on stage to leave it or didn't want to. Even though this is the third memoir I've listened to about the Brat Pack, not one of them really has a whole lot to say about Making St. Elmo's Fire. McCarthy maybe has the most - the director screamed at him and Sheehy for not being passionate enough in their sex scene and he went after him, which was interesting. He didn't make friends with everyone else on set. And seems to hate Emilio Estevez to this day. Throws a good bit of shade.

He has good stories about Weekend at Bernie's and Mannequin, but I thought it was downright rude that he didn't mention Kim Cattrall once - at all. Not her name, no reference to her being his co-star, nothing. Mannequin might have been a silly movie, but it wasn't a movie without her in it. I don't know how you devote several minutes to talking about it and not mention her.

Less Than Zero sounded harrowing to film and he's very sweet about Jamie Gertz.

Overall, he seems hugely pretentious and someone that lucked into an acting career. He ends with the anecdote about some old acting teacher of his and a situation and conversation that is almost certainly made up. He constantly talks about his drinking problem and at one point says he didn't develop it as a reaction to something that had happened to him in childhood, but never really goes into why he thinks he did develop an issue. If you are going to make it that much of the book then at least go into it.

Thank you! I love memoirs and also loved Demi's. I was thinking of reading Andrew and Rob's but I think I will skip after your description!

Did you read Jennifer Grey's? I know not a brat packer but similar time. I liked hers a lot. She throws Matthew Broderick and Johnny Depp under the bus but they deserve it.

[Anonymous]

PP, I loved Rob Lowe’s memoir and I’m not a huge brat pack fan. So many good stories from the 80s. I agree that he is a little happy with himself. But honestly, he should be. He gave up the Hollywood craziness for a long marriage to a woman he loves and two kids who seem to be on a decent path. I found his book really entertaining.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How is Jeannette McCurdy’s book?

In addition to being depressing, it is not particularly "good" as far as memoirs go. There is no sense of time. Most of the stories lack any kind of anchoring - what year does this take place? How old were you? What were your siblings/father doing during this time? What year in school was it? These are questions that do not get answered. She also seems to have dealt with these issues SO recently that writing a "recovery" book is very premature.

I agree. I had so many questions about her relationship with her brothers, especially after her mother died. I will say, I expected it to be funny and it was certainly NOT. The timeline issues bothered me too. She was terrible about filling us in on how old she was.

I liked it, it made me wonder what is wrong with every parent who puts their kids in show business and how it should pretty much not be allowed.

[Anonymous]

The Stranger in the Woods, Michael Finkel (a biography)
Somebody's Daughter, by Ashley C. Ford (memoir)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Educated

She needed to wait a few more decades before writing this. It's more like trauma drama than memoir.

Agree with the posters who mentioned Katherine Graham's memoir.

I loved reading a memoir by a historiographer -- the self-awareness really affected the way I read other memoirs as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Growing Up by Russell Baker was great

This is an especially interesting read if you live in Western Loudoun, particularly in the Lovettsville area.

[Anonymous]

I'm reading Bad Mormon by Heather Gay right now... it's a fast read but surprisingly well-written (she's a Real Housewife) and overall a engaging interesting story from a former Mormon.

[Anonymous]

I really enjoyed Truth Be Told by Bev McLachlin, who served as a Justice on the Canadian Supreme Court for decades. Fascinating woman and really engaging narrative. I also learned a lot about Canadian law -- so philosophically different from American law, even though the systems have a lot of similarities.

[Anonymous]

Confessions of a Prairie B_ by Alison Arngrim. Fair warning that there’s sexual assault discussed. I don’t know if she’s a writer or had a ghostwriter but it’s so funny (save the part I warned about; that’s just pure trauma) and so well written. I hated Nellie Oleson with every fiber of my re-run watching being, but unlike some parts in which you can clearly see why an actor was cast, she seems to be the opposite.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Growing Up by Russell Baker was great

This is an especially interesting read if you live in Western Loudoun, particularly in the Lovettsville area.

Didn't it take place mostly in Baltimore?