What we have here is one of those seedy-underbelly memoirs. There was a movie in the 1990s called Kids that a lot of people thought was edgy, raw and therefore, good. It was not. It was Rosario Dawson's big break however - which I think is why people remember it. Anyway, this memoir is like Kids times 1000, with some acid thrown on top for good measure. Shuttled between Italy and New York, the book details Fox's relationship with her parents (who had a volatile marriage, to put it mildly), her growing up much too fast, running the streets of New York, an abusive relationship with a drug dealer, her own drug habit, her partying, her work as a dominatrix, her relationship with a sugar daddy, her own trips to jail and psychiatric hospitals, and finally her modelling and acting careers. If you want some rubber-necking sleaze, this is it. But it's also well-written with an impeccable sense of place. I can't say I'm now a Julia Fox fan per se, but she can write - and I hope she continues to do so.
Final Grade = B+
I highly recommend consuming The Woman In Me via audiobook. Much hay has been made over Michelle Williams' impersonations of Justin Timberlake and Mariah Carey, but it's her ability to convey the emotional vulnerability and rage of Britney's story that steal the show. Getting her to read this was not only genius, but a triumph.
I'll be frank, this isn't a particularly well-written memoir. The early portion, detailing Britney's childhood and rise to fame, feels very paint by numbers (I did this, then this happened, so on and so forth). The main course doesn't arrive until the Timberlake break-up and her marriage to Kevin Federline. Look, a lot has been made about Timberlake being a douche (which really - people are surprised by this?) and on the outside looking in I think most of us knew Federline's game early on - but I walked away truly understanding why Britney allowed herself to get sucked in by these two leeches. Bless her heart, she's a people-pleasing nice Southern girl who had terrible examples at home. The kind of girl who wanted to perform and make people happy. The kind of girl who wrote thank-you notes and called adults (regardless of their age) "sir" and "ma'am." The kind of girl who took all those good Southern manner lessons to heart.
She didn't stand a chance.
On top of all that, throw in the rise of the paparazzi, the Internet gossip machine and having 2 babies in 2 years? Maybe if she'd been more of an ice queen like Madonna - then maybe things would have spun out differently. But here was a young woman drowning and instead of throwing her a life preserver, a safe haven, the people around her were tossing chum into the water for the sharks.
Her account of the conservatorship is jaw-dropping and horrifying. Her words show a vulnerability and rage in these chapters that is breathtaking. Again, is it well written? Not really. Quite frankly, I've read better (see Fox's memoir above). But there's a viscerally raw honesty in Britney's words, coupled with Williams' reading, that is impossible to ignore or dismiss.
It's a slim book (only 6 hours on audio), but it packs a wallop. I hope it's the first step in many of Britney taking her life back and making no apologies, to or for anyone, ever again. Live your best damn life girl.
Final Grade = A
