A few years back I went on HUGE memoir kick. Some of the people could be considered famous and others became famous only after writing their book. I don't know what it is exactly about memoirs that I seem to be drawn to. I guess it probably comes down to the fact that I am like a lot of other people, a snoopy lookie-loo.
Reality t.v. has certainly shown us that people not only want to watch others but that people want to be watched. I will raise my hand and admit to watching my fair share of reality t.v. before we canceled our cable but am thankful that I don't really have the time or access to get sucked into it all anymore. The only reality show that I sort of miss is Intervention on A & E and I think that could be said that that particular show borders on being a documentary. At any rate, I think people write memoirs for the same reason that people choose to be on reality t.v.; they want to share themselves. Now, some people are a little more noble than others. Some people want to share bodily fluids and their undying love after meeting someone only 2 hours before. Some people want to share how smart or tough or whatever in order to win some sort of competition. But some people, want to share their story and hope by sharing their story a greater understanding is gained for themselves and for their readers.
Here's the Story is just such a memoir. I got this book as a gift from my secret santa from work and it has been sitting in my "to read" pile since then. If you don't know, Maureen was the one that played Marcia on The Brady Bunch. I knew her more from Celebrity Fit Club. (yeah...I know....I already disclosed my reality t.v. watching...) After the last few books I have read, I decided to go ahead and move this one to the top of the pile.
This book isn't going to win any kind of major awards but I doubt she thought it would when she was writing it. A lot of the book is about Maureen trying to break free from Marcia and be Maureen. She all the things you hear about teen stars doing when their show gets canceled...drugs, partying, sleeping around, etc, etc, etc.... Like many her family had interesting dynamics which resulted in a lot of insecurities.
What struck me most while I was reading this book is how we all in some way would love to shed some of our past. Let go of some of the things that used to be who we were but aren't who we want to be anymore. Get behind from the shadow. I think about the person I was in high school and just wish that I could have been a little more of me now than I was.
The flip side of that is that I probably wouldn't be me without all the things leading up and I am sure that is very true. But there have been times that I find myself in a situation with people that I revert back to who I was when those relationships were formed. Generally when that happens, I get kind of upset with myself because I wasn't being me. I was being an old me...not that it's bad necessarily, but I just think this me is more fun and real.
For me, I just battle (if you can even call it a battle) my own differences. I can't imagine being "followed" by a character that you played that is nothing really like you but that is what Maureen has had to do her whole adult life. Very little of the book is actually about her time playing Marcia Brady. Most of it is about how playing Marcia Brady affected her and her relationships with people, given her family history and her own personal demons.
I tore through the book fairly quickly and it was a good read. It was typical memoir of stories and lessons learned. Now...time to go through the "to-read" pile and decide what's next.
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