Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Stori Telling by Tori Spelling

Yes, I wanted this book. Yes, my Mom bought it for me for Christmas. Yes, I read it in nearly one sitting (OK, maybe two). And, yes, I loved this book. Here's why:
I've been a fan of Tori Spelling since I was a teenager, watching Beverly Hills, 90210. One of my favorite characters was Donna, mostly because she was on the show from the beginning to the end, and the series finale showed her finally marrying her longtime boyfriend, David (awwww.....yes, I'm a romantic at heart!). I also watched Tori Spelling on some of her Lifetime movies - which were always dramatic and wonderful. The one I recall the most vividly is Mother, May I Sleep with Danger. I mean, you just can't get any more brilliant than that! So, Tori Spelling has been marketing the heck out of herself in the past few years, and I've been mostly just curious to read about what her life is like. Stori Telling is a memoir, of sorts, which chronicles her life up until a few years ago (when she so famously left her first husband for her now husband Dean McDermott). I haven't watched any of her more recent reality shows (Tori and Dean: Inn Love, etc.) so I have no idea what her life has been like. I've never really read a celebrity autobiography before, and I must say that I really enjoyed it. I can see why she would really want to write this book - she's very frank and honest (as far as I can tell) and she seems almost desperate that you like her and that you identify with her in the book. She is determined to convince you that she's as "normal" as they come, and I can somewhat see where she's coming from. It's interesting that we somehow always think that celebrities have things "figured out", so to speak. We always think they are so together, perhaps more so than we are ourselves (I mean, why would we always take their advice on diet, exercise, or how to live our lives if we don't think of them as some sort of superior human, right? also, I am ignoring, for the time being, such celebrities as Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears who have publicly broken down and struggled - perhaps we don't see them as "having it together"). Spelling actually addresses some of the most painful parts of her life with candor, including the ultimate break-up of her first marriage, several somewhat abusive relationships, as well as the relationship she has with her mother (which has been played out in the tabloids to no end!). One thing that struck me is that Tori Spelling seems to have experienced a lot of things I experienced in my life, but just so much more in the public eye. She had a couple crappy boyfriends who tried to take her money. I remember having boyfriends who always asked me to pay for things (like dinner or the movie), but I didn't have millions to lose. I only has twenties, if that. I've fought with my mother (although she portrays her mother as being so out of touch with reality that I can't really identify with that) but it's never been front page news. I've experienced a really rough break-up that was ugly and difficult and harsh, but it wasn't in the tabloids. To a certain extent, I kind of felt bad for her. She never really grew up, and she was never really allowed to. And the way she dealt with things was inane, at best. At another extreme, this book is somewhat about "finding" yourself, which is a journey most of us are on most of our lives. In this book, Spelling find her voice, her place in the world, and her cojones, so to speak, which is a wonderful tale. I'm not sure how much of this tale is true, but it's a great, light read, and it sheds some light on the way "the rich folks" live, which was interesting. But it's not deep, meaningful literature, if that's what you're looking for. At this point in time, I'm looking for lovely fantasy with some bits of drama, which is exactly what Spelling delivers.

1 comment:

Randi said...

Chrissie hearts 90210