Books I have Read Recently:
Five Men Who Broke My Heart:
This book follows a married writer/teacher who decides to look back on her most significant relationships and catch up with each of her exes. I was extremely bothered by Shapiro’s marriage [the husband is selfish & absent] and assumed she would end up leaving her husband by the end. In fact, I hoped she would leave her husband for a specific ex. And not just because it would have made for a really interesting book [oh it would have been really juicy!] but because I think that they were meant to be. Sorry Shapiro’s husband!
The book was interesting in that sometimes we are so unable to step outside of our perspective/biases that we end up with a completely distorted view of how things actually are. The book was good but I really did not like Shapiro. She came off as neurotic, petty, immature, selfish crazy woman. Seriously, calm the eff down. Also, I would like to think I will have all my shit together by the time I am 40 but some of the books I have read recently have made me doubt that is true. I guess everything doesn’t just fall into place as you get older. Sad.
Jackie After Jack:
This is a sequel of sorts to Jack and Jackie which focuses on Jackie’s life after Jack’s assassination. It was interesting and filled with lots of tidbits and gossip which serves to paint a rather unflattering portrait of Jackie. Since Andersen has written extensively on the Kennedy clan I don’t doubt the validity of his claims, especially since the book was released years after Jackie died.
Although I liked Jackie, after reading this book I think she was sort of awful. She was a terrible wife to her second husband, cheap, a compulsive spender and had affairs with numerous married men including Bobby Kennedy. She was obviously a loving mother but that being said, she was absent, pushy and she contributed to Caroline developing an eating disorder [she herself suffered from anorexia & bulimia]. If you are even remotely interested in Jackie or the Kennedy family I would certainly recommend you read this. And even though it is rather long it is a really fast read.
Living Oprah:
I remembered hearing an interview with Okrant so when I randomly happened upon this book I decided to check it. I figured it would be something in the vein of The Happiness Project which I really enjoyed. Well, this book is nothing like The Happiness Project. Okrant decides to spend an entire year doing everything Oprah tells her to do but the book doesn’t tend to get too in depth in what she dictates or their effect on the author. For example, she joins Oprah & the audience on their one month vegetarian cleanse but doesn’t get specific about how much weight she lost, if it was more expensive than her normal grocery bill, if her cholesterol improved, etc. Also, most of what Oprah dictates is shallow and stupid. Obviously, that does not apply to everything but certainly her telling people they need to see Australia, Sex & The City 2 and various other films star studded celebrities stop by to promote.
The most interesting parts of the book for me were when Okrant delved into critiquing the show, it’s message & Oprah herself. I completely agreed when Okrant argued Oprah is all about living your best life and maybe your best life shouldn’t include constant critiques of our bodies. This is something Oprah more than anyone should understand given the intense scrutiny on her weight fluctuations. I also thought it was fascinating when Okrant pointed out how hypocritical Oprah’s spiritual message is given the overall message of consumerism that floods the rest of her empire (buy this to make your life better! Buy this to find happiness!)
Something small that bugged me about Okrant was how she would complain about being broke but “needing” to run out and buy whatever book/movie ticket Oprah recommended. Since she was also ordered to be mindful of the environment and waste why couldn’t she just check these books out from her local library? Small problem to be sure, but it still bugged me.
