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balletbookworm's review against another edition
3.0
An interesting look behind the Hollywood glamour by a woman (the first to win an Oscar for producing) booted from the ranks, after producing three major movies of the 1970s, for two sins: being addicted to freebase cocaine and being female (sometimes it’s hard to tell which is the greater sin). Nobody comes off looking good in his memoir, including the author who, despite getting clean, etc, is extremely fat-phobic and has some trouble avoiding problematic slurs in talking about gay men or non-whites. The other problem with this book is that it veers between third-person past-tense POV for sections set (presumably) in 1989 and first-person present tense POV for all parts set in the past. Which makes it very hard to follow at times - where was the editor?
a_baltazar's review against another edition
1.0
Did you know that people did drugs in Hollywood? Prepare to hear about it to infinity and beyond.
riverdeboz's review against another edition
1.0
Arrogance and narcissism on drugs hating everyone. Four days of my life wasted reading about it.
octavia_cade's review against another edition
1.0
Loooong, self-indulgent and repetitive rant that I expected to be far more interesting than it was. Phillips can create a turn of phrase well enough but she was in dire need of a decent editor. Basically I read this to tick off a task in the 2018 BookRiot Read Harder challenge, and I figured the reputation this book had for gossip and drama and sheer horrified fame might make for an entertaining read. It didn't, much, mostly because all the people in here seem so small and desperately unpleasant. In the end I'm left with the impression of a vast and shallow hell that ultimately verges on tedium. (No wonder these people did so many drugs, they all sound bored out of their tiny minds.)
I'm torn between shelving this as autobiography or memoir. Technically I suppose it's the former, as there's a small section on Phillips' childhood, but 98% of this giant tome is the time she spent in Hollywood, and it has the sort of highly styled and emotionally focused tone that I expect more from memoirs. Eh. Could be either, I reckon.
I'm torn between shelving this as autobiography or memoir. Technically I suppose it's the former, as there's a small section on Phillips' childhood, but 98% of this giant tome is the time she spent in Hollywood, and it has the sort of highly styled and emotionally focused tone that I expect more from memoirs. Eh. Could be either, I reckon.
stepcast16's review against another edition
1.0
I couldn't even finish this book & actually only read about 20 pages. It is a rambling mess & so hard to understand who she was even talking about. It was really annoying & I agree with the other reviews- definitely needed an editor!!
rebjam's review against another edition
1.0
I remember the furor created by this book . .but why? I guess its 10 years later and the fact that Goldie Hawn has dirty hair is not that shocking to me. But the writing. .the prologue is intriguing but then the author switches from writing about herself in the 1st person to a novelesque form in 3rd person, back to 1st. . .obviously the drugs scrambled the brain.
mermaidx's review
4.0
Enjoyed it back when I was film-industry obsessed... but honestly I never finished it..
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