2020’S BEST CELEBRITY MEMOIRS

BY: Ramona Duoba

Celebrity memoirs are often a candid and revealing portrayal of the real person behind the public face. They provide a glimpse into the lives of individuals we admire as we wonder if they’re “just like me.” If memoirs and autobiographies were once reserved for established politicians, military leaders, and business titans, that is no longer true. Movie stars, TV stars, athletes, and pop stars are all penning their stories, and publishing companies enjoy the profits. For those who find memoirs a worthwhile read, Provokr has gathered a list of ten notable celebrity-written books of 2020.

Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey:

From the academy award-winning actor, McConaughey’s memoir shares a volatile, unconventional, but loving upbringing in Texas. His parents divorced each other twice and married one another three times as they raised three sons to understand the value of hard work and not to “half-ass” it. He explains that his book is “a guide to catching more greenlights and to realizing that the yellow and reds eventually turn green, too.” He shares his first journey to the Amazon after a wet-dream adventure and then another spiritual trip to Africa. Filled with notes, pictures, and journal entries, McConaughey seeks to understand his life, “I’ve been in this life for fifty years, been trying to work out its riddle for forty-two, and been keeping diaries of clues to that riddle for the last thirty-five. Notes about successes and failures joys and sorrows, things that made me marvel, and things that made me laugh out loud.” His coming of age film Dazed and Confused gave him his first break, Dallas Buyers Club earned him an Oscar, and his famous catchphrase “Alright, Alright, Alright” remains a fan-favorite line.

 

Let Love Rule by Lenny Kravitz:

American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actor Kravitz has sold more than fifty million records over his career. Now he tells the story of his life. “My life is all about opposites,” he writes. “Black and white. Jewish and Christian. The Jackson 5 and Led Zeppelin. I accepted my Gemini soul. I owned it. I adored it. Yins and yangs mingled in various parts of my heart and mind, giving me balance and fueling my curiosity and comfort.” He covers varied experiences stretching from Manhattan’s Upper East Side, Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant, Los Angeles’s Baldwin Hills, Beverly Hills, and then France, England, and Germany. He was a creative kid who struggled in school, dealt with tension at home, and turned to music as his salvation. The cast of Lenny’s characters is his father Sy Kravitz, a news executive, his mother Roxie Roker, a television star, and actress Lisa Bonet with whom he shares daughter Zoë Kravitz.

 

One Life by Megan Rapinoe:

Olympic gold medalist and two-time Women’s World Cup champion, Rapinoe’s book, scheduled for release on November 10, reflects on her choices, her victories, her failures, and a candid discussion of her journey into social justice. After the 2011 World Cup, she was discouraged by how few athletes were willing to discuss their sexuality. Rapinoe decided to come out as gay and use her platform to advocate for marriage equality. She used her public persona to bring attention to critical issues, and in 2016 she took a knee during the national anthem in solidarity with former NFL player Colin Kaepernick. It was to protest racial injustice and police brutality—and she was the first high-profile white athlete to do so. The backlash was immediate, but it couldn’t compare to the overwhelming support. Rapinoe became a force of change, both on and off the field.

 

The Meaning of Mariah Carey by Mariah Carey:

She is a global superstar and pop-icon and the first artist in history to have her first five singles reach number one on the Billboard 100. In her book, Carey shares her struggles with race, identity, class, childhood, and family trauma during her rise to stardom. “This book is composed of my memories, my mishaps, my struggles, my survival, and my songs. Unfiltered,” Carey shared in a posting on social media. “Writing this memoir was incredibly hard, humbling, and healing. My sincere hope is that you are moved to a new understanding, not only about me but also about the resilience of the human spirit.”

 

Open Book by Jessica Simpson:

Released earlier this year, Simpson’s memoir is candid and revealing. She writes honestly about her career as a pop singer, her marriage and divorce from Nick Lachey, her reality TV show, and her dysfunctional relationship with John Mayer. She reflects on becoming a fashion mogul with a billion-dollar company. Simpson is also open about the sexual abuse she experienced as a child and her battle with addiction.

 

Chiffon Trenches by André Leon Talley:

The indomitable creative director of Vogue during the magazine’s rising dominance as the world’s fashion bible, Talley’s memoir is a who’s who of the last fifty years of fashion. He tells the story of how he not only survived the brutal style landscape but thrived—despite racism, illicit rumors, and all the other challenges of this notoriously cutthroat industry—to become one of the most prominent voices and faces in fashion. He shares his struggles over the decades, along with intimate stories of those he turned to for inspiration (Diana Vreeland, Diane von Fürstenberg, Lee Radziwill, to name a few). He also covers his Southern roots and abiding faith, which have guided him since childhood.

 

No Time Like The Future-An Optimist Considers Mortality by Michael J. Fox: 

Most people know Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly, the teenage sidekick of Doc Brown in Back to the Future; as Alex P. Keaton in Family Ties; as Mike Flaherty in Spin City; and through other movie roles and guest appearances on TV shows including The Good Wife and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Diagnosed with Parkinson’s at age 29, Fox has been involved in Parkinson’s advocacy work, raising global awareness of the disease and finding a cure through The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. His previous best selling memoirs, Lucky Man and Always Looking Up, dealt with how he came to terms with the illness. This new autobiography reassesses his outlook, as events in the past decade presented additional challenges.

In No Time Like the Future: An Optimist Considers Mortality, Fox shares personal stories and observations about illness and health, aging, the strength of family and friends, and how our perceptions about time affect the way we approach mortality. Fox’s memoir is scheduled for release on November 17th.

 

A Very Punchable Face by Colin Jost:

“Listen,” he writes in the introduction, “I know why people want to punch me.” He goes on: “I look like a guy who’s always on the verge of asking, Do you know who my father is? Even though my father was a public school teacher on Staten Island.” Jost is the head writer at Saturday Night Live and co-anchor of SNL’s Weekend Update and a stand-up comedian. He’s been nominated for an Emmy award 13 times and lost every time. Oh, and he just married actress Scarlett Johanssen. Jost’s book is a series of essays, from growing up in a family of New York firefighters to commuting three hours a day to high school and “seeing the sights” (like watching a Russian woman throw a stroller off the back of a ferry), to Harvard at the same time Facebook was created. Jost shares how he has navigated the world like a slightly smarter Forrest Gump. He tells the stories like how Jimmy Buffett saved his life, how Czech teenagers attacked him with potato salad, how an insect laid eggs inside his legs, and how he competed in a twenty-five-man match WrestleMania (and almost won). He goes behind the SNL and Weekend Update scenes and gives insight into life on the road as a stand-up comic.

 

I’m Your Huckleberry by Val Kilmer:

Published ahead of next summer’s highly anticipated sequel Top Gun: Maverick, when Kilmer returns to the big screen as Tom “Iceman” Kazansky—the enigmatic actor pens his memoir to reveal himself. Featuring vivid prose, snippets of poetry, and rarely-seen photos—Kilmer reflects on his career, including becoming the youngest actor ever admitted to the Juilliard School’s drama department and campaigning to win the lead part in Oliver Stone’s The Doors. He shares candid stories of working with Marlon Brando, Tom Cruise, Robert Downey Jr., and Robert De Niro, and recounts high-profile romances with Cher, Cindy Crawford, Daryl Hannah, and former wife, Joanne Whalley. Kilmer chronicles his spiritual journey and lifelong belief in Christian Science. He describes his travels to far-flung locales such as a scarcely inhabited island in the Indian Ocean where he suffered from delirium and was cared for by the resident tribe. He also reveals details of his recent throat cancer diagnosis and recovery. 

 

I want to be where the Normal People Are by Rachel Bloom:

Co-creator and star of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Bloom’s upcoming book is a collection of hilarious essays, poems, and amusement park maps. She covers insecurity, fame, and anxiety. Bloom says she has felt abnormal and out of place her whole life. In this exploration of what she thinks makes her “different,” Bloom realizes that many people feel the same way, even people she always thought of as “normal.” Bloom writes about things that could have broken her but didn’t. “Over time, I became resentful of these normies/happies/reggies/ those too cool for seventh grade conflated run-of-the-mill middle school awkwardness with “bullying.” So in adulthood, I started to call them out on their shit. “Oh, I’m sorry, were you excluded from Sarah’s birthday party that one time? Fuck you. I routinely found notes that said “ugly” and “loser” in my locker. And no, typos don’t make the insults hurt less. I warsh they did!” Bloom’s book is available on November 17th.