Loved this book. I love her writing. Usually, when I am asked if I have ever read a book that changed my life, I'm a little stumped, trying to think of the perfect book. I think this one would fit that category. This book has made me really look at reality TV, specifically where the exploitation of children is involved, in a whole new light. Not that I've ever been into anything with families (such as John and Kate Plus 8 or Super Nanny), but I have seen snippets of each show and I've read about them in various online articles, etc. This book has made me really think about the impact it must have on the children, seeing cameras on the walls of their homes, the places where they should feel most secure and comforted; to have some strange director person telling you how to respond and how you should act in an everyday family situation; to have a parent who cares more about money than allowing you to be upset with the fucked-up situation in which you find yourself, and so on. It's crazy...reality TV is madness and I will never look at it the same way. As some would say, reality TV is not reality at all and this book might make you think about that before you watch another show and judge those real people for what they are doing. Chances are, they're doing it in a number of takes, until the director is satisfied. That's not reality, that's scripted life and I think it is disgusting that any parent would do that to their child.

This part has nothing to do with this book: In the same vein as parents who do or do not exploit their children for fame and fortune, I applaud celebrities who respect their kids and try to keep them out of the spotlight, to keep them from appearing in the pages of gossip magazines or on celebrity baby websites, or their own reality shows (Housewives of Whatever, Kardashians, Spelling-McDermott, etc.), the ones who say that their children did not ask for this life, therefore they should not be exposed to flashing cameras while they go about their everyday business, the ones who do NOT post pictures of their kids on Instagram or Twitter, or sell their baby photos to the highest bidding magazine. I get it that some parents feel that they have control if they just offer their 'first baby' pictures to 'respectable' publications but more power to the ones who don't play the game at all. I'm looking at you, Kristen Bell and Dax Shepherd. If parents do not advocate for their own children, who will??

The parents in this book are FUBAR. F.U.B.A.R.