avieherman's reviews
104 reviews

I absolutely love Consuelo Vanderbilt, I’ve read a novelization of her life and a biography of her (Consuelo and Alva). This book wasn’t all I’d hoped it would be, though I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect. 

The writing itself was good and sharp, if a little stuffy at times. 

I was hoping it would be more personal/emotional and talk more about feelings and relationships, but, published in the 50s, it is far from contemporary confessional celebrity memoirs.

 She explains towards the end:

“My readers will, I trust, forgive this digression, remembering family feelings they no doubt themselves indulge; and since these memoirs have, against my wishes, become a personal record, rather than simply the picture of a period I had at first envisioned, something must be said of those dear to me.” 

In fact, I would have preferred if the entire book had focused on those dear to her and if it had indeed been a personal record.

As it was, it was interesting. I was most interested in the early chapters, describing her early life and then marriage, detailing the work of running her large estate. And the final chapter on the dramas of the second World War was very “exciting” and had a lot of forward motion. The chapters in the middle felt like they dragged on, sharing little of her own feelings and “those dear to her,” but focusing instead on a whole host of people she hosted and was hosted by. Interesting, but not really what I was most interested in. The sharpest bits were direct quotes from specific people. 

Really enjoyed this book. I love a good flawed, struggling and relatable MC. It felt a little longer than it needed to be, (I felt the climax came a little late and the denouement felt a little rushed) but it was well written and flowed very well — I didn’t want to put it down. 

I loved seeing her struggle and be a bit of an unreliable narrator, but also her unreasonableness always felt so reasonable and understandable — it brought you right into her head. And I loved the hopeful but realistic ending so much. 

Fave quotes: 

“‘Alright,’ I said. ‘I’m angry that my threshold for discomfort is so low. Like, I can function totally normally as long as there is no uncertainty in my life, but if I’m waiting to learn the outcome of something, the entire day is fucked.’
…
‘Unfortunately,’ I continued, ‘my threshold for what counts as “something” is very low, so we’re talking, like, responses to emails, likes on a tweet, results of a routine Pap smear… this year has been like having a rash, continuously, for months. And also? I’m angry about glamping.’” (Page 298)

“I wandered into the kitchen and told my father I was experimenting with inferiority…

‘This sounds very basic,’ I said, ‘but you don’t have to say everything you think and feel to everyone around you all the time. Even if you want to. You can keep it to yourself. Sometimes, that feels better.’” (Page 311)

I found the brain science stuff fascinating, but it’s too deep and slow and dense and heavy for this moment in my life, especially while I’m in the thick of the struggle of coaxing a child into learning how to read. 

I found the pace of this book a little too slow and reflective for my tastes at the moment. At times the language feels too rich to feel completely immersive and relatable. While I also live a life of privilege, it kind of felt like the author was living on another planet with the flexibility her life seems to afford for all sorts of adventure — I don’t think this would have been irritating if the book wasn’t trying to position itself as being instructive for what we need to thrive. It was interesting and I enjoyed it, but the way it vacillated between the practical and philosophical, it felt ungrounded and trying to do too much, without quite achieving what it seems to have set out to do, so it didn’t quite hit the spot for me.

I enjoyed listening to this. I enjoyed some essays a lot more than others. Her antics kind of stressed me out and I didn’t totally appreciate her humour, but her more serious chapters about mental health really resonated and offered a sense of comfort at not being alone and they radiated hopefulness. 

The writing is as mediocre as you’d expect. The beginning was entertaining in its understatedness. I’ve never been a huge Britney fan or followed her much, though I like her music and I’ve always felt that she was mistreated and misrepresented in the media. As the book progressed it got more compelling and I really felt for her and all that she was put through by her family and the media. It ended on a very hopeful note and left me rooting for her, hoping that she has found peace and interested to see what she works on next. It also let me appreciate her music and career in general in a new light. 

The entertainment industry can be toxic and the media is a nightmare, but the more accounts I read, especially from former-child stars, the more I feel that their families are often the biggest problems. 

I enjoyed listening to this while cross stitching and doing stuff around the house.

I liked Wong’s first two comedy specials a lot, but am losing/have lost interest in her. I’m fine with bad language and graphic sexuality, but she often seems gratuitously crass. This book also didn’t age very well, in light of her recent-ish divorce. There is so much about her relationship with her husband that feels sad/ick knowing that the relationship ended. 

In her 3rd comedy special, when she spoke about her divorce, I started to wonder if maybe she was the problem there and these thoughts arose during this book as well… the afterword written and read by her husband was so much more well written and genuine. From what she has said and his own writing, he seems so wonderful and she comes off as selfish and obnoxious…

Engaging and enjoyable read/listen. I listened to the audiobook over a few days while playing Tetris on the couch with sick kids. 

I liked the conversational tone and hearing it read in the author’s voice. 

This is my first time listening to this genre in audiobook form — I didn’t really like listening to fiction, I think I prefer this kind of memoir as an audiobook and will listen to the author’s other book (Highlight Reel?) next. 

I’m very interested in anti-MLM discourse, but this is my first time hearing it from the perspective of someone who had previously been very successful in an MLM. I enjoyed this fresh perspective and I liked that it was informative, relatable, nuanced, and non-judgemental.