Jessica Simpson (1)

While I'm not super familiar with Jessica Simpson's musical body of work, I'm pretty sure I've seen every episode of Newlyweds. The good news is that you don't need to know anything about her to enjoy this book. It's a goddamn delight, from the stories about her silly mess-ups to the objective analyses of her own shortcomings. Most of all, I am totally here for the naming of names (Lachey, Knoxville, and Mayer). I don't think it's that she has terrible taste in men. I think it's that most show more men, especially those in show business, are terrible. Anyway, I recommend the audio book. I couldn't stop listening. show less

Real Rating: 3.5* of five, rounded up because Author Simpson deserves all the plaudits in the world for wanting to help the people who used and abused her in spite of everything

Four short chapters, all in all a half-hour's read, that bid fair to do more good for people stuck in Plague Year Mode than all the well-intentioned and hamfisted punditry on the TV and internet.

Facing fear; parenting; breaking free of obsessive cyclic behavior. In short, letting go and letting yourself actually be show more free. These are excellent messages. Simpson is a poster girl for all of them. She's never been out of the public eye since her pop-star days, and her awful reality TV show with her abusive first husband is one of the primary reasons I don't watch the stupid things. (Except #GBBO.) The toll this took on her is well-documented if twisted into criticisms of her even then.

Author Simpson is to be celebrated for telling her side of things without rancor or self-pity...excessive rancor or unwarranted self-pity, I suppose...and this free-with-Prime read builds on that mature image.

I don't know if most people who read my reviews feel the need of this kind of cheerleading, encouragement, to make change and get inspired to seek their own best methods to accomplish this (that is the main take-away of this essay), but please...don't turn up your nose or look down it at a woman whose personal power, her control over her body, was utterly voided and who is now redressing that life-long wrong.

And for goodness' sake, stop voting for old white men whose purpose it is to make that heinous crime a legally protected abuse. show less

I was a teenager during the beginning of Jessica Simpson’s career, along with fellow female pop stars Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and Mandy Moore. I was never a fan of Jessica Simpson and preferred the latter singers. But celebrity gossip and memoirs are my guilty pleasure, so when I saw this at the library I snatched it up for a quick read. ⁣
As someone who speaks her truth, I applaud anyone else who does the same. Being a celebrity can’t be easy, and being one who reveals show more untold truths takes it to another level altogether. While I applaud Jessica for revealing unflattering things about herself and her past, this memoir came across as more troubling than honest to me. ⁣
Jessica is a very successful celebrity and entrepreneur, and tries to portray herself as a “regular country gal” and “humble”, yet her privilege shines as she mentions ad nauseam about how much her company has made and how many lavish trips she has taken. She hires a nanny for her children. She had two extravagant weddings with designer gowns. After an intervention for her alcoholism, her team arranges for her to immediately have a private doctor make a house call. I am in no way dismissing Jessica’s desire to get better, but other celebrities have entered rehab clinics, and this is a service that just doesn’t apply to normal people struggling with addiction. Jessica actually “just decides to stop drinking” and considers herself cured, which sounds problematic in of itself. Jessica does mention giving to charities and attending events for the troops overseas, but it does little to dilute the rampant privilege in her life. She also talks her husband Eric out of his dream job because “she doesn’t have her GED and started her own billion dollar company” so he should “just hire someone from that school to do the work for him”. Seriously?⁣
I also had an issue with her talk about body image. Jessica endures cruel commentary on her body image from a young age, which increases once she becomes a star. When Jessica is in her twenties, she becomes more confident and often defends her body image to critics and implores her female readers & fans to do the same, which is admirable. But later we learn that she has had two tummy tucks, and also accepted an offer from weight watchers to help get rid of her baby weight. After reading so much about her pleas to accept oneself, it was a cruel hypocrisy for her to submit to these procedures instead of choosing to love herself as she was, while continually imploring her readers to “love the skin you’re in”. ⁣
I do feel sorry for the trauma that Jessica had to endure when she was younger, and the issues that she faced with men like Nick Lachey and John Mayer, and especially her father. But I feel like she was holding things back throughout the book. I also know that Jessica is a Christian, but many parts of the book came across as too preachy for my tastes. ⁣ show less

We (and I mean ‘me’) delude ourselves into thinking famous people are wordly-wise and generally savvy. Here’s a short story that brilliantly punctured that thought bubble. In real life, Jessica Simpson is not Daisy. And it has the advantage of being true. It also reminds us how cruel and debasing the “movie star” industry can be.