Paris: The Memoir by Paris Hilton
Introduction
I didn’t know very much about her before I read Paris: The Memoir by Paris Hilton, and everything I did know was bits and pieces of gossip that I learned from the tabloids. This book was so surprising in so many ways and I’m really glad I checked it out from Libby. Paris has been through so much in her life so far, and I think her stories are relatable and will help readers feel less alone.
About the Book
From the woman who is credited for launching what we know as the celebrity focused, “brand” driven, social media obsessed popular culture of today, comes an honest and surprising memoir that reckons with that truth, and shows that there is so much more to Paris Hilton than you might believe.
I was born in New York City on February 17, 1981, three days after Valentine’s Day.
From the time I was a toddler, my brain skipped and flickered with the chemical imbalance of ADHD. Sometimes it was too much.
I’m not bragging or complaining about it, just telling you: This is my brain. It has a lot to do with how this whole book thing is going to play out, because I love run-on sentences—and dashes. And sentence fragments. I’m probably going to jump around a lot while I tell the story.
I came of age during the most turbulent pop culture period ever.
The character I played—part Lucy, part Marilyn—was my steel-plated armor.
People loved her. Or they loved to hate her, which was just as marketable. I leaned into that character, my ticket to financial freedom and a safe place to hide. I made sure I never had a quiet moment to figure out who I was without her. I was afraid of that moment because I didn’t know what I’d find.
I wrote this book in an effort to understand my place in a watershed moment: the technology renaissance, the age of influencers. I also wrote this book so that the world could know who I am today. I focused on key aspects of my life that led to what I am most proud of–how my power was taken away from me and how I took it back, how I built a thriving business, a marriage and a family.
There are so many young women who need to hear this story. I don’t want them to learn from my mistakes; I want them to stop hating themselves for their own mistakes. I want them to laugh and cry and embrace every aspect of who they are with fearlessness and pride. We all have our own brand of intelligence, and, girl, fuck fitting in. (from Amazon.com)
My Thoughts
As I mentioned up above. I did not know much about Paris before I read this book. I remembered her from The Simple Life and from various articles written about her over the years, but not much else. I had wanted to watch her documentary This is Paris back when it came out but I haven’t had the chance yet.
I feel like this memoir is probably very similar.
It doesn’t feel right to “review” a memoir, especially one with so much trauma in it. So I’m just going to share a couple of things that I found especially interesting.
Paris is so different from what I expected.
It would be so easy to judge her based off of the different stories that tabloids have written about her over the years, but that would be unfair. She write about so many different situations in her life and it’s so fascinating. An example is, we get to learn the real story behind the iconic photo of Paris, Lindsay Lohan, and Britney Spears in the car! Lol.
She is very involved in causes that are important to her.
It is mentioned in great depth in this book that Paris was sent by her parents to a school program for troubled teens. It was presented to her parents as steered straight type program, but the abuse that Paris went through there was just awful. She works now to stop these types of programs. She also raised money for breast cancer after her grandmother, fondly nicknamed Gram Cracker, passed away after her battle with the disease.
She Really Covers It All.
This story isn’t linear in any way. She tells different stories from her life that occur at different periods of time. And yet she manages to wrap it all up into neat little chapters. I really enjoyed her way of storytelling. She discusses her childhood, her family relationships, her teen years, discovering herself after turning eighteen, and more. Paris doesn’t hold back and I think that’s part of what makes this such a gripping book.
Do I Recommend this Book?
Yes. I highly recommend it. I listened to the audiobook and it was so delightful. Paris reads it herself and that made it pretty special. I love when a celebrity reads their own memoir. I just think that this book will totally surprise you and entertain you at the same time.
Do you enjoy memoirs? Check out more of my memoir reviews here.
xo Marian
