Paris The Memoir

Paris Hilton and I are only a year apart and being a lover of anything Hollywood or celebrity I was well aware of her growing up. But I have to admit I was more likely to be rolling my eyes and lip singing to Stupid Girls (which even she admits is a good one) than giving a damn.

So I’m not entirely sure what drew me to Paris The Memoir, other than all the pink, but I have to say…

I really loved it. She’s not at all what I would have expected and frankly even back then I couldn’t have imagined what she had been through. Plus I just have to say there is more self-reflection, understanding and acceptance in this memoir than a certain other much bigger royal memoir but that’s a whole other story.

Paris Hilton is probably best known for being her own brand. That’s the best way I can describe her. And the brand is pretty extensive. She’s also part of the famous Hilton family dynasty and legendary party girl at the turn of this century.

And she actually made me appreciate the “partying,” of course what one person might call “partying” is another person’s network building or survival or both.

Anyway I could see why she did it even apart from genuinely enjoying it and that she took things out of it, learned from it and now has a great career as a DJ amongst other things.

But a very large part of the book is about her time at CEDU schools and Provo- high schools where generally well off parents sent “troubled” teens that have since been exposed as highly abusive. She talks about cavity searches, days in solitary confinement and a nightly process all the students where subjected to of being verbally abused by other students and teachers until they broke.

It’s really upsetting stuff that I can’t imagine would help anyone let alone impressionable terrified kids. I mean in order to get her to the school the process was to have two men grab her out of her bed in the middle of the night and while she struggled she noticed her parents watching from their bedroom door.

So she also naturally talks about the long hard road to peace and understanding and accepting her parents decisions.

Personally I like memoirs where a person has lived a life, full of good and bad, and comes through the other side with acceptance and understanding. She owns her mistakes and she’s not afraid to call out others in a rather gentle and polite manner and some like Sarah Silverman have come back and said, yeah she’s right I wouldn’t have said what I said now.

It’s a hopeful sign we can all find that one day.

I admit overall Paris just wasn’t what I expected in a really good way. The book can go off kilter in some places but she warns you about that in the beginning and that it’s just her ADHD. It comes off very conversationally and in some places almost like your talking to a big sister whose been through it.

I don’t know if she used a ghost writer but if she did it’s a damn good one.

Recommend: Yes.

Five stars.

All the cute little dogs.

Also a good choice if you are looking for a vacation/beach/summertime read 🙂