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katrinapavela · 6 months

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A thoughtful review of Kerry Washington’s Memoir: Submitted by a reader

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Your Questions as a Lens Into Thicker Than Water

Katrinapavela, because you set up really excellent questions about Kerry Washington’s book, I’m taking the liberty of writing to you in a non-public way (at least I hope it’s non-public; I am not much of a Tumblr maker) since I’m especially interested in the questions that you posed about “Scandal” and what might be explored in the book, and about her “comfort” with Tony Goldwyn. But these are not things that I want to have a “public” conversation about. And I will, of course, understand if you don’t have time to read this and/or don’t want to respond. I think that I just need to get this off my chest, and your questions were an invitation to me to think deeply about the book.

I’ve read the book now and see that your questions are a great doorway into the reasons why I’m so disappointed with the book. In many ways, your questions are so much more interesting than much of the book.

The parts of the book where she talks about her younger self and the trauma she endured, the problems with her body dysmorphia, the complicated family dynamics including the difficulties of her parents’ relationship and the revelation of the sperm donation that made her existence possible—all of those things are fascinating, compellingly written about, and even revelatory.

But so much of the book is superficial to the point that there are parts that read as though written by a not especially interesting ghost writer for a politician’s narrative of the self.

I found troubling the lack of attention to any of her relationships outside of cursory mentions and some details about her acting—in movies with Jamie Foxx (for example), the almost non-existent adult friendships that have been so much a part of her life, and the short shrift given to her “Scandal” time—the things your question about the show sets out, and especially her inattention to what everyone knew and endlessly wrote and talked about: the romantic core of the show, Olitz. And amidst the superficialities to which I just alluded, the lack of depth in her descriptions of her time with Nnamdi—including their wedding and their parenting of Isabelle and Caleb—jumped off the page. Well, if such enormous omissions can be said to jump off a page (but then I’m a poststructuralist so lacunae are endlessly fascinating to me).

In other words, I did not expect a tell-all given how guarded KW is, but I’m actually shocked by how little—again, apart from her attention to her very young and her college aged self and her parents—this book offers as a doorway into KW’s thinking and feeling. She has been more open in some interviews and even in “Scandal” cast panels at PaleyFest, for example. She has been a more interesting commentator on her life and personality in some magazine articles when she has talked about her journey to understanding her arrival at a sense of possibilities. I’ve read a lot about her, and much of this book lacks the depth that her articulate summations of herself have hinted at in those places.

Finally, and I know that I’ve gone on much too long to be writing to someone I only know from Tumblr, it was the one-two-three punch of seeing her skip over David Moscow entirely, of her offering renditions of her conversations with Nnamdi that could have come from a fanzine (especially their dating and their wedding), and her choosing to mention Tony Goldwyn only twice in 305 pages when he, more than anyone else associated with “Scandal”—including Rhimes herself—was instrumental in “making” the Kerry Washing/Olivia Pope narrative that built her into the star that a vast audience came to know.

Your question about their comfort, the “physics” at play in their observable connections, was a beautifully worded way for me to think about the conundrum represented by the book: there are vast mysteries of work, of character, of connections with people who were and are central to the public and private Kerry Washington, yet they are curiously missing from a memoir that she and interviewers in the past weeks have touted as open, as revealing a great deal of vulnerability.

I teach literary and cultural studies, and I know just how much a “memoir” plays fast and loose with memory, with reconstructions of the details of a life, with walking a careful path between what one can bear to say and what one chooses to hold close. And perhaps my disappointment would be less had I not had my expectations raised by how smart she has been over the years in managing the interstices between how she responded to often unreasonable public demands of her and how she wanted to craft her image.

This book, again with the exceptions of her attention to her younger self’s traumas and her parents’ difficulties, was a real let down for me.

Anyway, thank you, for your work on this blog.

#kerry washington #thicker than water memoir #celebrity memoir

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odettecarotte · 5 months

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Two book pairings I have enjoyed recently:

Britney Spears, The Woman in Me, followed by the chapter on Hysterical (Histrionic) Psychologies in Nancy McWilliams's classic Psychoanalytic Diagnosis: Understanding Personality Structure in the Clinical Process, 2nd edition.

Two wildly different takes on consent, both life-changing: Betty Martin will teach you how to feel consent in your body with The Art of Receiving and Giving: The Wheel of Consent and Avgi Saketopoulou will fuck up all that you didn't want to know about consent with Sexuality Beyond Consent: Risk, Race, Traumatophilia.

I will be quote-blogging these for my own pleassure, edification and future reference, and maybe yours as well!

#britney spears #the woman in me #celebrity memoir #nancy mcwilliams #mommy #psychoanalytic #betty martin #wheel of consent #affirmative consent #avgi saketopoulou #sexuality beyond consent #currently reading

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taylorvaughnsaidso · 6 months

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rich coming from the guy who built his whole career around tearing her down.

#britney spears #justin timberlake #britney spears: the woman in me #pop culture #gossip #celebrity memoir #celebrity gossip

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stargirrr1 · 4 months

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#it girl #fashion #2000s #2000s fashion #girlblog #coquette #maison margiela #girlblogging #bella hadid #girlhood #cat marnell #julia fox #down the drain #celebrities #celebrity memoir

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jolandbooks · 2 months

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"The Woman In Me" by Britney Spears

*Warning: These are just my thoughts on the work. I would not discourage anyone from reading a book please form your own oppinions.

Growing up I knew who Britney Spears was, I mean who did not? She was an amazing pop singer, known for being wild and having a drug problem. I remember seeing pictures of her shaved head, people said she shaved it to avoid giving a hair sample for a drug test. I am old enough to recall the #FreeBritney movement. A core memory for me was the "Leave Britney Alone" video from the early YouTube days. When the news of her conservatorship ending broke I recall friends celebrating online and much fan fair. As a casual enjoyer of her music I was vaguely aware of her situation but I never knew the extend of her plight.

When "The Woman In Me" came out the internet was a buzz, I recalled seeing this work everywhere and people saying how powerful of a read it was. I finally got my hands on it and over the last two weeks I read "The Woman In Me" and here are some of my thoughts.

The book starts out with a family history focusing on the women in the family. From violent emotional outbursts to self deletion, there is clearly a history of mental illness which is an overarching theme. Growing up her family was poor, her father was abusive, and her mother was erratic. This is a difficult situation for any child and Britney found her solace in creativity, specifically writing, music, and dancing. Her passion for singing and dancing got her on Broadway before the age of 10 and on mickey mouse club after. After a brief stent in her home town during middle school where she played basketball she sang for a record company and became a huge celebrity. From then on her private life was over, she was scrutinized by the public and the paparazzo was all over her.

No one can prepare you for fame, you life changes in ways that you cannot imagine. When she talks about her relationship with Justin, how his family was so stable her her family was so abusive and cold it highlights the disparity between the rich and poor. This concept does not only refer to monetary security but also emotional security. Britney was raised monetarily and emotionally poor, the lack of a solid foundation of caring encouraging people in her life is the greatest tragedy of this whole story. She was not prepared to be ogled by grown men as a teenager, she was not prepared to be hounded by paparazzo, she was not prepared to be put under a societal microscope and be blamed for corrupting the youth. The lack of an emotional foundation and people to confide in, in my opinion, contributed heavily to depression and sparling. Before I move on I wanna make it clear that Justin did cheat first and he did not receive the cultural backlash that should have followed. Also I'm insinuating that Justin has a much more stable home and family life than Britney which, in my opinion, contributed to his success.

Fathers protect your children, is a phrase I often heard growing up. To children the father is a protector and a shield against the world. Britney did not have a shield, her father was abused by his father and he intern abused his children. He inflicted emotional, verbal, phycological, legal, and financial abuse on Britney. Abuse by a parent/guardian is such a betrayal of trust. As a child you want to trust your parents, as an adult you want to believe that even if the whole world is against you your parents have your back. But not for Britney, her father used her like a work horse to enrich himself through a conservatorship that should not have existed in the first place. Also, warning tangent, the abuse of the legal and medical system accounted here is atrocious. Based on what I have been reading a conservatorship of Britney should have had shaky legal ground to proceed. Did they drug test her? Was her fathers history of abuse and financial situation taken into account when appointing him? The system seems ripe for abuse and I hope its changed soon.

Ok rant done back to the work, now under these conditions of restricted freedom and being controlled more than a toddler the next logical step would be to get out as soon as possible. But remember this person is being held captive by their abuser who removes access to the outside world and anyone who would be willing to assist the abused person. To add to this Britney has children who were used as leverage over her to make her comply with their demands. The extend to which her children were used to control and manipulate her echo the tactics of the past employed by men to control women.

I read this work and it reminds me of so many instances in the past. Here we have a wonderful, kind, talented, and beautify woman forced to bow and bend to the will of a man who exploits her body for his own gain. If this is not a pimp I don't know what is. This book made me mad, it was emotionally taxing, I know alot more about conservatorships now and I pray this happens to no one else.

I give this work 5 kittens out of 7.

#book review #booklr #books & libraries #book blog #the woman in me #conservatorship #britney spears #free britney #britney bitch #essay writing #celebrity memoir #celebrities

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jenni3penny · 8 days

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MARCH 2024: READING LIST

Things My Son Needs to Know About the World, Fredrik Backman, 3.75/5.0, Memoir & Humor, 193pgs

Thornhedge, T. Kingfisher, 4.0/5.0, Folk Tale & Fantasy, 114pgs

Can You Ever Forgive Me: Memoirs of a Literary Forger, Lee Israel, 4.25/5.0, Literary & Humor, 129pgs

Taste: My Life Through Food, Stanley Tucci, 4.25/5.0, Biography & Cooking, 302pgs

The Little Book of Bob: Life Lessons from a Streetwise Cat, James Bowen, 3.5/5.0, Memoir & Humor, 176pgs

Arch-Conspirator, Veronica Roth, 4.0/5.0, Mythology & Literary, 112pgs

***

MOST ENTERTAINING: Can You Ever Forgive Me: Memoirs of a Literary Forger

LEAST ENTERTAINING: The Little Book of Bob: Life Lessons from a Streetwise Cat

PAGES PER MARCH: 1,026 (-2,959)

PAGES YTD: 8,902

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agameofbooksblog · 8 months

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#booklr #books #bookstagram #book review #five star review #beyond the wand #tom felton #harry potter #celebrity memoir #memoir

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walrusmagazine · 5 months

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When Britney and Pamela and Paris Tell All

Memoir writing offers women defined by their images a space to speak. But we’re seldom satisfied with what they give us

Still, the moments when money and fame finally do come calling are dazzling—like in Love, Pamela, when famed producer Jon Peters sets Anderson up in his Bel Air mansion with a Mercedes 420 SL, or when Britney gets the call that she’s the first woman to debut with both a number one album and song and she no longer has to subject herself to mall tours. These victories are so enamouring that they temporarily render past indignities worth it. But they also make a fall from grace that much more painful. Anyone studied in the celebrity memoir knows the fall is almost inevitable; the half-life of a bombshell is so fleeting, a woman can’t really last in the public eye for more than a few years before her admirers turn cannibalistic and appetites for access can no longer be sated.

Read more at thewalrus.ca.

#Celebrity memoir #Britney Spears #Pamela Anderson #Paris Hilton #Trigger warning #illustration #Fall Books #Ariella Garmaise

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theultimatenonbinarynerd · 2 months

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February 2024 Reading Wrap Up

The Calendar

Unfortunately I sadly had to break my 405 reading streak as I have been terribly ill with presumably the 100 day cough. I was just too tired and ill to do anything. I'm on the mend but unfortunately February's reading ended on a low because of this.

Finally finished Will which was such a relief. I was worried it was gonna clog up February but thanks to a unexpected a + e trip I luckily got to finish it quicker. Its a very good memoir but it tried to balance being a self help and account of Will Smiths life and as a result made it very overwhelming. Might Reread this again in the future but we shall see.

Still as of this post Reading through Black Spire but I hope I'll be able to finish it in March, we shall see. Its not a perfect story and really confusing without reading Phasma but still pretty decent especially on the world building. Fazbear Frights 4 is easily the best novel out of the bunch I have read. It focuses on the themes of Family and Fixing Past Mistakes but still expands and keeps to the og lore. Coming Home is the best out of the three short stories.

Man so far I'm loving the 8th Doctor Adventures and agree it was absolutely necessary to jump into Big Finish through this series due to the similar style to New Who. I hope the 2 hour stories are as good. Just purchased Dark Eyes 1 and Out Of Time 1 this month and excited to build up an exciting Big Finish catalogue to listen too. Horror Of Glamrock was a very unique and interesting story as well as incoperating rock music in a fun way. It makes me excited to see what other fun new ideas Big Finish have done with their stories. Miss Bernard Cribbins and it was nice to hear him on audio again. Immortal Beloved used Greek Mythology in a fun way and is definitely one of the best Big Finish audios I have listened to so far. It debated the ethics of cloning and appealed to older Whovians in a brilliant way. Paul MacGann was excellent in this and I feel like this audio allowed him to really develop the complexity of his character. No matter the audio length I vow to devour Big Finish in one day.

I think that this month was so crammed full of books due to how many shorter 200+ books I read. It took about 7 days too read the incredible Doctor Who novel, The Way Through The Woods and Different Not Less, 12. Both absolutely fantastic like I mentioned. I knew Different Not Less would hit hard but I didn't realise just how hard.

Overall a good reading calender that will hopefully improve in March now that I'm feeling a lot better.

February's Stats

Looks so much better than my January Stats layout that I did. Credits to LeeBee Reads as her templates are so much better for showing off Storygraph Stats. Wish I'd shrunk things down a bit but apart from that all good. With that being said let's break down the Stats from left to right.

So in February I read and listened to in total 6 books. 4 Books and Two Audio Dramas. Pages wise I managed to read 1,123 which is 168 pages up from February 2023. An absolute huge improvement which I'm proud of myself for. Then I listened to 2.27 hours between both Big Finish Stories I delved into. Nevermind 2023, February compared to January this year was alot better despite falling off at the end. I'm excited to see what March will bring me in terms of pages and listening hours.

In terms of Genre, Science Fiction absolutely devoured once again but that can be expected considering how much Big Finish I've been listening too. Whilst Young Adult dominated last year, I definitely think Science Fiction is gonna be the winning genre of 2024. In second place was of course Memoir as I managed to finish Will and Different Not Less. Two very informative and life changing memoirs. But with Science Fiction, Memoir, Video Games, Young Adult, Self Help And Horror. February sure was an interesting month when it came to genres.

My profile has not changed much at all. As much as I have started to branch out and look at more Non-Fiction Recs unfortunately my profile will remain mainly reads Fiction. Like I've tracked and compared to Fiction I only have 80 Non-Fiction on it so yeah. My most popular moods are Adventurous, Dark and Mysterious which is again definitely not changing anytime soon but we shall see. I definitely need to balance my Dark and Lighthearted moods better as much as I would love to claw into exclusively dark books. And again I will try to get myself into longer and more faster paced or slow paced books but unlikely to change.

Onto moods, no second place this time as three moods impressively decided to tie. Those moods were as followed; Mysterious, Informative And Funny. Not suprised there as literally most of my reading in February was mutiple genres and types. Ignoring my audio listens it was literally half and half between fiction and nonfiction material so I'm not shocked at their being no winning mood this time round. Will definitely not be the case in March though I'm sure of it.

Finally we have Star Ratings. Thankfully no books went below 3 stars as wether it due to enjoyment or of a good quality nothing this month had mostly slaps. Three Five Stars in one month is very impressive, than again Last Year was the same when I got to experience the wonderful Loveless and Leia Princess Of Alderaan back to back. February tends to be a good month for me which is a huge trend I've noticed. A 4.58 average rating is really good and makes me excited for what March might bring.

Good stats and a fabulous template to use.

Finished February Reads/Listens

Again I can't help find myself smirking at the fact that the month with more books read and listened to is the shortest month of the year.

February was really good and I'm hoping it only gets better from here. Will was a really good memoir and whilst I don't agree with his political views 🍉, I do recommend borrowing this from the library as it has a lot of valuable life lessons and lots of Will Smiths character. Probably gonna borrow it off my brother again in the far future. Just to see how I feel about it with a reread.

I'll include them together but I'm absolutely in love with what Big Finish has to offer and have a future wishlist ready for when my wallet can afford it. Horror Of Glamrock and Immortal Beloved were very entertaining and creative stories that I've never really seen Doctor Who do before. I'm very much going to dive more into the format and might even try some of the BBC audio novels. I've also gone to really care about the 8th Doctor and Paul MacGanns portyal. Gonna try get some reviews out soon and highlight more of the ones that are avaliable for free on Spotify.

From Audio to Physical. I finally managed to pick up my first 11th Doctor adventure and it was absolutely fabulous. The Way Through The Woods is such a well built up mystery that pays off super well and doesn't go too out there. Una McCormack knows how to write Amy, Rory And The Doctor and they all get their moments to shine. It was also super fun and wild and the location was perfectly eerie. Absolutely worthy of five stars and one novel I'd highly recommend to other whovians. Up next for Doctor Who books I'll be re-reading Prisoner Of The Daleks and exploring the 9th Doctor adventure The Deviant Strain.

Different Not Less is another amazing memoir that hugely hit hard and deep. As a newly diagnosed Autistic person back in March 2023, I knew that this was absolutely one of the first books that I had to pick up. Hearing Chloés story really gave me a lot of comfort and hope I didn't know I need. She also perfectly balances out her two reader audiences of Neurotypical readers wanting to learn and Neurodivergent people wanting to understand there self. Fabulous book that I will be rereading without a doubt in the future. Completely recommend this wether Neurotypical or Neurodivergent.

Fazbear Frights: Step Closer, was absolutely the best out of the four books I read. It still had a lot of faults don't get me wrong but it was so much better than the other three. If the Epilogues didn't exist this is the one I'd recommend out of all of them. Coming Home was the best out of the three stories in the book, it made me super emotional and I almost cried. It had a twist I was not expecting and incoperated some of the og lore in such a brilliant way. I'm honestly happy to end there as I am not willing to force myself through all Twelve of these when not all the stories are good. Eventually I plan to read the first few Tales books and we'll have to see what they are like in comparisant.

Conclusion

Overall a very fun reading month jam-packed with absolutely fabulous content that I'd recommend. I'm excited to see how March will compare and what it will bring.

If you want to check out my full reviews of all of these books mentioned you can find me on Storygraph and Good Reads.

Storygraph: melsage1823

Good Reads: Melody Soundy

That's it for now, I'll pop back in April for an update about March.

-Melody-

They/Them

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