The Bookworm - Paris: The Memoir, by Paris Hilton [review/thoughts]

 PARIS: A MILLION MEANINGS IN A SINGLE NAME

Heiress. Party girl. Problem child. Selfie taker. Model. Reality star. Self-created.

The labels attached to Paris Hilton.

Founder. Entrepreneur. Pop Culture Maker. Innovator. Survivor. Activist. Daughter. Sister. Wife. Mother.

The roles Paris embraces as a fully realized woman.

Paris rose to prominence as an heiress to the Hilton hotel empire but cultivated her fame and fortune as the IT Girl of the aughts, a time marked by the burgeoning 24-hour entertainment news cycle and the advent of the celebrity blog. Using her celebrity brand, Paris set in motion her innovative business ventures, while being the constant target of tabloid culture that dismissively wrote her off as “famous for being famous.” With tenacity, sharp business acumen and grit, she built a global empire and, in the process, became a truly modern icon beloved around the world.

Now, with courage, honesty, and humour, Paris Hilton is ready to take stock, place it all in context and share her story with the world. Separating the creation from the creator, the brand from the ambassador, Paris: The Memoir strips away all we thought we knew about a celebrity icon, taking us back to a privileged childhood lived through the lens of undiagnosed ADHD, a teenage rebellion that triggered a panicked – and perilous – decision by her parents. Led to believe they were saving their child’s life, Paris’s mother and father had her kidnapped and saw her sent to a series of ‘emotional growth boarding schools’, where she survived almost two years of verbal, physical and sexual abuse. In the midst of a hell we now call the ‘troubled teen industry’, Paris created a beautiful inner world where the ugliness couldn’t touch her. She came out, resolving to trust no-one but herself as she transformed that fantasy world into a multibillion-dollar reality.

Recounting her perilous journey through pre-#MeToo sexual politics with grace, dignity and just the right amount of sass. Paris: The Memoir tracks the evolution of celebrity culture through the story of the figure at its leading edge, full of defining moments and marquee names. Most important, Paris shows us her path to peace while she challenges us to question our role in her story and in our own.

Welcome to Paris...

 i freely admit that I've always had a soft spot for Paris Hilton [even though I'd get loads of crap for doing so during my younger years - people are way too judgemental & too hive-minded]; ever since she became known in the UK press I've regularly kept up with her public life and have always supported her creative output [shows, YouTube channel, books, acting & singing], as well as a few of her other various business ventures [perfumes, handbags, shoes, hair tools & I still have one of her watches in my jewellery box].

Obviously I was always going to get around to picking up the memoir from her at some point.

Maybe I was looking into situations around her too deeply and was applying behavours & emotions from my own life onto her, but I've also always felt that she has been unfairly treated & judged by the media & public and has been hiding some serious trauma underneath a bubbly air-headed blonde persona & purposefully dumb remarks on TV, so I'm thrilled that she finally has reached a stage in her life where she feels brave and comfortable enough to unburden herself and let some of the pain out of her head. Hopefully it will help her in her ongoing healing process.

I found the memoir to be very interesting & surprising at times, but there is definitely some really heavy content here which did slow down my reading speed - I ended up spending almost a week reading it, so that I could digest it in small chunks & properly process everything going on before continuing. I don't want to get into spoilers here, but yeah, make sure that you read the official book blurb carefully before picking this up - this is no Confessions Of A Heiress II light & frothy type of book.

It is worth noting that Paris has ADHD and the nonlinear writing style of this memoir as she keeps going off on tangents reflects that, which takes some getting used to and may affect some people's engagement levels. I have a couple of close family members with ADHD so I just assumed that I'm used to it and that the writing style wouldn't bother me, but I do admit that I still found it to be a teensy bit tiring at times and I'd need to put the book down & listen to music and chill out for a bit. That's my only real issue with the book - the editor could have maybe pulled the parts together so that the information flows straighter. 

 I don't think that it is really fair to be too critical when it comes to sharing opinions on memoirs from people; it's not my place to decide what emotional subjects someone else wishes to deeply revisit and then publicly share with the world, however I will still admit that I was a teensy bit disappointed that there is 

nothing in here [I have the first hardback edition] about her relationship & breakup with Nick Carter, which I was constantly bracing myself for... I really wanted her first-hand account on how it all played out, since the media, public and Nick's friends & lawyer have long since felt it fine to all repeatedly have their say. 

I'm linking to the book on Amazon because it is cheaper then anywhere else at the time of my post.

Hardback: £9.29

Kindle: £2.99

Audible: £2.99

Paperback: £20 (I don't think it's an officially  updated edition, since the name of the publisher is different)