|
I grew up watching Valerie Bertinelli and admire her career and candidness, but I don't think her ghost-writer did her justice - there just wasn't any reason to turn the page. If you're looking for a rather bland glimpse of how Valerie's career launched, her marital struggles with rocker Eddie Van Halen, or a cursory discussion of weight issues that so many of us do battle with daily, then this book is passable at best. But if you're looking for inspiration of any kind, skip it.
That had to have been an out of control environment, and I concede that only 1 person in a million could live that life style untouched. I have to believe that people whose names she dropped in this book (often). I can relate to tidbits of information in the book. If something seemed like a fun time and she could justify it in her mind, she went for it.
It is a sexual tell-all with none of the titillation. Just an average woman in her late 40's, and no one would give ten cents for her "story." She simply has VERY LITTLE to offer the reader.I am convinced this book was written because no one was giving Bertinelli any attention, and this seemed like the way for her to get it. Well, she succeeded in getting another "15 minutes of fame," but I don't see her keeping the spotlight. She just has no depth and really nothing to offer to anyone who is trying to grow/improve in any part of their life. Any respect I had for Valerie Bertinelli, is now GONE. She tries to protray herself as the simple, down-to-earth girl next door. It's just dull.I really wanted to read and enjoy this book after seeing Bertinelli in an interview on the Today Show in Jan 2010, but I was pitifully disappointed. Something I can relate to; I'm about her age.
Bertinelli did suffer from teenage body-image issues. Today, Bertinelli would be the Lindsey Lohan or Brittney Spears of our time. Fast food advertisements have more practical, healthy advice about "Losing It" than this book. But, if she hadn't been a "star" in the '80's (and truth be told, if she hadn't married Eddie Van Halen), then today she would be a nobody. It is not about weight loss or self discovery. Bertinelli got to keep her squeaky clean image because she grew up in the '80's, when the internet and paparazzi were not as sophisticated.
But truth be told, she liked to sleep around (a lot) and she partied without abandon. And I concede that stardom probably ruined her: she was exposed to so much at such a young age AND she was living in California on her own in her late teens (what were her parents thinking.). And except for the fact that she married a major rock star, her life was not that extraordinary. cringed the first time they read it. It is a boring, chronological essay on her life.
This book is a peek into the lives of the 2 young, hot stars of their day. It took me straight back to the 80's and my own wild youth. I remember Valerie Bertinelli so well growing up; she was the girl you could relate to on TV. If you are too young to know or just don't remember, people were MUCH slimmer just 25-30 years ago. I recommend this book to those who grew up with her. Everything today has been supersized, including clothing sizes, so that no one need feel like a failure or sized out of their favorite clothing line. Don't be so hard on her, she does enough of that.
She is only human, after all, and she is even more relatable now. Not so.
And yesterday's size 1's and 3's were much smaller than today's. I wondered at the time how she would adapt to his lifestyle (the stories were rampant) and she had just enough of the girl-next-door appeal to make me believe she would somehow rise above it.
I understand her obsession with her weight. We couldn't believe her good luck in marrying THE most gorgeous rockstar of that time and we all would have traded places with her in a hot minute.
Thank you for writing this book, Val. It was normal then for girls/women to be a size 1 or 3.
Face it, folks, we're fat and Valerie's obsession with her weight in an industry that glorifies the woman who manages to do the impossible, KEEP HER WEIGHT DOWN,is not only understandable but the everyday reality for most stars.
She had it all a hit TV show, famous friends, a rock star husband, and a booming TV movie career, though I was unaware of all that went on behind the scenes. Strip away the TV show and husband's career and you have an average woman trying to keep her life together.
her parents strict rules helped her avoid the downfall of many other child actors (though she got away with her fair share) & She was not the goodie two shoes she portrayed on TV. I learned two things.
Just finished this book last night, it took me only three nights to read. It was a normal woman's honest story and struggle.
I have already ordered her second book. It was a lovely look into a young stars rise to fame.
She opens up honestly about her drug use, marriage problems, infidelity, and of course her struggle with food.
Her writing skills are somewhat lacking,with all that money she had, why did she not go to school and learn to write, or better, got a degree and become a positive role model for some. why not just come out up front and say that what this really is, is an advertisement book for Jenny Craig. That way, we can all move on learn about how to lose all the fat we accumulate over the years. I suppose,like most guys from that era, were completely disappointed to hear about Valerie's various sexual escapes. or eight.and so on, and so on. sure, many guys put her in a peddle-stall, but hey, she is only human, and who can have just one sexual encounter, gota have at least five,or six,or seven,. in fact, this whole book book is nothing but.A better title should have been loosing it(my virginity) over, and over and over.It seems like it goes on and on, until she gets to her point, weight loss.
|
