The Golden Age of Celebrity Memoirs: From Prince Harry to Al Pacino, Pamela Anderson and Michaela Obama

(Left to right) Actor Matthew Perry, former US First Lady Michelle Obama, actor Al Pacino and singer Cher.

I could live without knowing about Al Pacino’s penis or Josh Brolin’s unnatural attraction to his mother. Or that it took Barbra Streisand 10 years to write her memoir (it can also take that long to read, about 1,000 pages). And now I can’t un-know these things. Recent books by these stars continue the trend of sharing more of their less-examined lives, and perhaps say something about those who read them.

Glamor sells. Similarly, trauma and pain also occur. Parental abuse is the way forward for millions of people (especially if you’re already a millionaire). We may be in the golden age of the celebrity memoir, where the genre stands between nonsense and seriousness, where sincerity is sometimes fake and authenticity is just another word for fake. The genre cannot go back into the trash without alienating its new readers, nor can it go in the other direction without losing its essentially gossipy value. Behind every celebrity is a terrible story, and behind them is a publisher waiting with a check book.

Actress and singer Barbra Streisand says it took her 10 years to write her memoir ‘My Name is Barbra’. , Photo Credit: Getty Images

This shock-spur signals a cultural change. A generation ago, the best memoirs contained gossip, and humorous lighthearted lessons. You skipped through entire pages, laughed at the jokes, and passed them to someone sitting next to you on the plane. A good example is Steve Martin’s born standing (2007).

Candid beyond social media

Now, Britney Spears’ the woman inside me is abundant, such as the new York Times said, “the kind of revelations that send gossip-site algorithms into overdrive: most notably her relationship with Timberlake, with whom she was “pathetically” in love, and who she more or less aborted when she became pregnant. demanded”. Readers consider such acknowledgment as their right.

Giving up all this is a game of time. Celebrities are actually saying this is my story, I will tell it the way I want to tell it, I don’t care about your judgment or approval. The reader’s response is to ask for more. Celebrities live their outer lives on social media, allowing their memoirs to shed light on their inner lives.

Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake in New York, 2001. , Photo Credit: James Deveney

The breathless prose, the calibrated revelations, the studied name-dropping and the casual insults of friends and colleagues are all geared towards one purpose: to present celebrity as supernatural and normal, worthy of worship and million-dollar fees. If we are to believe the advertisements, celebrity style is all about tough childhoods, hard work, deep insight. It symbolizes overcoming obstacles, fighting circumstances and spreading happiness. This is a global press conference committed to going beyond social media posts.

This kind of celebrity branding is a win-win situation all around. Celebrities are paid millions, some of which the ghostwriter can access, publishers sometimes expect that, in return, readers will be excited about ‘revelations’, and those who survive the books are still required to do media interviews. You get to read the juicy parts and book excerpts.

The first volume of singer Cher’s memoirs begins: “Often when I think of my family history, it sounds like the beginning of a Dickens novel.” It took us seven years, and a lot of ghostwriters, to get the singer and actor down to 30^th Year. Cher is 78 years old and her fans are looking forward to volume two in the new year. His life, the publisher tells us, is “too vast for just one book”. Cher herself is less satisfied, saying she “has to explain or give the money back”.

We live in an age where reality can be whatever we want it to be. My struggle is always bigger than yours, my trauma deeper and more clinging. The memoir by Spears and the late Matthew Perry — who was paid a $15 million advance — told us more than we wanted to know. Perry’s friend, lover and terrible thing He limped along until his unfortunate death caused it to hit the bestseller list.

You Know What to Expect from Paris Hilton’s Memoir ParisThe subtitle is: ‘A true story of resilience in the face of trauma and success that rises above it all.’ Aah! Poor little rich girl. Perhaps more resilient and traumatized than children bombed during wars?

American socialite and media personality Paris Hilton at a book signing in London in March 2023 Photo Credit: Getty Images

I am also selling hope

Of course, not all celebrity memoirs follow the struggle-success-stardom-sex pattern. Michelle Obama’s to become – Did the publishers really pay Obama $65 million for his efforts? , According to one review, it has less trauma, more hope. Apparently written by a committee headed by a friend, it sold 14 million copies in two years.

Ghostwriters – like most ‘collaborators’ – become celebrities in their own right. JR Moehringer who wrote Prince Harry Excessive And Andre Agassi is also haunted by a ghost open essence of work distilled into one New Yorker the piece they talked about to give advice Prince Harry, “This is not the story of your life. It is a story spun from your life, a particular series of events chosen because they have the greatest resonance for the widest range of people…” And, in another place, “…(the ghostwriter) is a provide an important public service, helping to promote the publishing industry, as most of the titles on this week’s best-seller list were written by someone other than the named author.”

And so back to Pacino’s penis. At 10 o’clock, he tripped over a fence and “the iron bar hit me right between the legs”. But no damage was done. He became a father last year at the age of 83.

The author’s latest book is ‘Why Don’t You Write Something I Might Read?’ Is.