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It's time to kick off the Celebrity Memoir track of Lemondrop's Book Club. Our first selection is Russell Brand's 2009 memoir "My Booky Wook." Even if you haven't read the whole thing, you can still interject comments while sipping on a glass of chardonnay (or vodka-Tang), just like at a "real" book club! And sign up for our Book Club mailing list for exclusive offers.
We'll have more juicy questions throughout the week -- the Pink Umbrella Incident will not go unmentioned.
Click here for the first question, then leave a comment; everyone who comments is eligible to win free books, Lemondrop T-shirts, and who knows what else.
Discussion Question 1: Is this guy famous or old enough for a memoir?
"My Booky Wook" came out in the U.K. in 2007, when Brand's career was beginning to take off in his homeland. The American edition was published earlier this year, when Brand had achieved, at best, B-list stardom. He's best-known here for hosting the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards (which he'll do again this Sunday) and his role in "Forgetting Sarah Marshall."
How famous does one have to be to have a "celebrity" memoir? Does Brand qualify, or does his tawdry tale of substance and sex abuse belong in the addiction-memoir aisle? How might the book be "better" if Brand had waited a few years for more material? Consider that Drew Barrymore's addiction autobiography came out when she was 15.
What do you want to read about in a celebrity memoir? Would you say that "My Booky Wook" fits your celeb memoir ideal? Why or why not?
What celebs do you think should have waited longer to have their "life" stories published? Who's simply not famous enough to warrant authordom? Whose memoirs would you pay to read right now?
Leave a comment to let us know what you think, then go on to the next question.
Comments:
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Tuesday 08 September
By heather
Brand is working on a sequel (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mandrake/5664049/Russell-Brands-expensive-new-booky-wook-is-shelved.html), but is this too much Russell? I wonder if Booky Wook 2 will have all the "good" stuff: liaisons with famous women, the whole "Sachsgate" incident, etc. Otherwise, is this just another book about a junkie? I wonder.
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Tuesday 08 September
By CJ
I want drugs and sex with other celebrities, also some kind of bottom where they are living in their car turning trix and doing crack on the sidewalk.
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Tuesday 08 September
By lauragilbert08
I enjoyed this book but felt it was tame for something that was promising a sordid life story of sex and drug abuse.
There weren't that many specific examples of debauchery, and then boom he's in rehab and we're supposed to know why. Or maybe there were examples like that, but I'm numb to them on account of reading "The Dirt" and am destined to be forever, like an addict himself, chasing the dragon of Motley-Crue-level antics.
I would read Dwayne Johnson's autobiography in a heartbeat, even though he already has one out. That was back when he was The Rock. He's a different man now.
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Wednesday 09 September
By Caitlin
Russell Brand has a celebrity memoir? I can't help but scoff at that. There's a definite difference between Drew Barrymore's addiction memoir & Brand's: at 15, Barrymore was a real celebrity. Brand is who knows how old and is still struggling for real fame.
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Wednesday 09 September
By Julieanne
Russell Brand is a huge, huge deal in the UK. Maybe not at David Cassidy "Could It Be Forever?" level (this is hard to find but essential for all celebrity memoir aficionadas).
If you're looking for rock bottom stories, you can read the kind of alcoholic showboating, obsessed-with-the-legend-of-my-own-drinking in "The Harder They Fall."
If it's sex you want, try "It Seemed Important at the Time," by heiress and mother of Anderson Cooper, Gloria Vanderbilt, in which she describes what sex is like with Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra, and other luminaries of the Bronze Age.
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Wednesday 09 September
By Xtina
Thanks for these suggestions! I am looking up as we speak!
Although....wouldn't we all love to have a memoir from Anderson Cooper? Let "The Silver Fox" tell us what life was like growing up as Gloria V's son and let us into his personal life a bit??? Give us the real 360, Anderson!!!
:)
Wednesday 09 September
By Sandy D.
He's a celeb, definitely. I enjoy memoirs even by non-celebs, so I think if he has something interesting to say it's still worth a look. Other celeb memoirs/bios I loved were David Navarro's photo book "Don't Try This At Home" (what a hot mess) and "Courtney Love: The Real Story" by (my fave horror author) Poppy Z. Brite. I also highly recommend Jeannette Walls' "The Glass Castle" - it's an outstanding read. Next on my list, "American on Purpose" by Craig Ferguson.
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Wednesday 09 September
By Sandy
Mr. Brand definitely qualifies as a celebrity, seeing as how he's very popular in the UK. Still, from a book that promises "sex, drugs, and stand up", I was expecting much more debauchery. Perhaps "The Dirt" and "The Heroin Diaries" have jaded me but if you're looking for the raunchy, then those are the books to read.
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Wednesday 09 September
By Mandy
Oh my God this sounds so amazing it kills me to not have it in front of me right now. My fave memoir, hands down, is Vanna White. Because, dude. It's Vanna. Also: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TPnoiCmv7w
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Wednesday 09 September
By NDS
I think he is famous enough in the UK to have written this as a celebrity memoir. Considering that the dressing up as Osama bin Laden thing made him infamous over there and that was in 2001. I have not read any other celebrity memoirs so I don't know how this one would compare. I actually thought this had PLENTY of debauchery but I have not read "The Dirt" but I probably will now. I actually found this to be really unsettling actually considering I was expecting it to read like his stand up act... and it ended up being much darker.
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Monday 21 September
By Seana
I think he should write a memoir every 5 years- before the drugs make him forget it all. It could be smashing and hilarious at the same time!
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Wednesday 09 September
By amdssweetie
I haven't picked up this book yet, but I love Russell Brand. I wanted to buy the book before it was even published in the US. With that said, I believe Russell is famous enough to have a memoir and I think it came out at the perfect time. His drug-abusing past and womanizing are part of his public persona, so having them documented before he hit the US was probably in his favor.
What I enjoy reading in celebrity memoirs is truth. I don't care much for name dropping or giving out graphic details that may invade another's privacy, but elaborating on former scandals or public acts from their own point of view and not sugar-coating it is always a plus for me.
I think Charlie Sheen would have a pretty interesting story to tell (if he hasn't already).
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Wednesday 09 September
By lauragilbert08
That's a good point, amdssweetie, Sheen could probably get a book deal just by submitting his divorce papers to a publisher. I think the part where he chainsaws his six-foot wedding portrait in half is the most poetic part.
Thursday 10 September
By Norm Grise
I love this web site. I never know what to expect next. Keep up the good work!
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Thursday 10 September
By Raymond
A few times I had to remember that this was NON fiction. He's overcome a lot in his life and shared it all-- every disgustingly-funny honest tidbit.
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Thursday 10 September
By B-a-lee
Is he cute? It's hard to tell. I don't want to read this unless it's chock full of all kinds of needle-in-arm, 10-week bender, self-strangulating, sordid details. I'd say otherwise he's not quite famous enough. At least on this side of the pond.
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Thursday 10 September
By B-a-lee
Is he cute? It's hard to tell, even after seeing him on the big screen. I say not famous enough (at least on this side of the pond), unless the book is chock full of needle-in-arm, 10-week-bender, self-strangulating, sordid details. Is it?
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Friday 11 September
By Renaispissed
This book makes me angry. Why should I care? I wish there was something I could knock over right now. Who cares? Blah blah British guy we're supposed to care about. He bombs on the MTV awards and now he's hosting again. it's like that whole david beckham-spice person thing. we....don't...care.
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Friday 11 September
By renaispissed
i like how it says Sept 11th at top of my comments. makes me sound even more superficial! love it!
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Friday 11 September
By lauragilbert08
9/11 never forget -- the day rena took a stand against russell brand! (for those of you who haven't read the book, her comment is also topical -- he got fired by mtv for coming to work dressed like bin laden on or about 9/12.)