Well written up until the 2nd half when she goes on and on about Matthew Broderick. Enough already! (For all that detail and Matthew's dislike of premiers, how is there no description of a premier for Ferris Bueller? Did they attend?)

I appreciated all the medical and the psychological trauma stories. The 'nose' got appropriate coverage. I found all of it well written although it would have been aided by photos or diagrams. But I have not taken medical courses so I had to look up terms. She had so many photos of herself - better versions of which I could trivially find online if I wanted to. I don't know why she couldn't have had some photos that were actually useful to the reader.

I don't have as much of a problem with the final chapters as other reviewers here have noted. I suppose it helped that they are mercifully short. But those chapters and a few others could have been helped by an editor removing the repetitive stuff.

Bottom line: I was pleased by how well she writes. In summary, her book is a solid 3 stars. Not the greatest and I'm not about to recommend it to friends but a good read nonetheless. ( )

Great memoir! I felt that Jennifer Grey was genuine, and sure had a jagged life compared to her Dirty Dancing character. I loved reading about her loyalty to her daughter, and how she stated her story without judging or being angry at those who wronged her. Great read! You will learn a lot about actors and acting. ( )

A very candid and disarming account of Jennifers life. Enjoyed reading about the movies, actors and actresses that were the "A" listers in the 80s and 90s. Wouldn't say that I was a fan of Jennifers, however, I did enjoy her famous if not by now infamous role of Baby in Dirty Dancing, so it was great to read about the background to the movie and stories the Jennifer shared. I admire Jennifer as a strong woman working in a tough industry who persevered and achieved great heights of fame and fortune, struggled with the trappings that so many have succumbed to and again preserved to become a wife, mom and veteran actress. Overall, well worth the read. ( )

Jennifer Grey wrote and narrated an excellent memoir. The prologue opens with a detailed account of her infamous nose job. She chronicles her childhood, early adulthood of being engaged to Matthew Broderick and Johnny Depp, and mature adulthood of being a wife and mother. I’m a fan of the movie Dirty Dancing and love catching bits and pieces when it airs on TV. I’ve always wondered why Jennifer Grey didn’t do more acting and felt sad for her that her career didn’t erupt like Patrick Swayze’s. Well, this memoir put all of that to rest for me. For one, she had more acting jobs I wasn’t aware of. More importantly, I admire how she views her life and the course she is on. I ended the book feeling very happy for her and lucky that she shared her life with me. ( )

Best for:
Fans of the actress.

In a nutshell:
Actress Jennifer Grey - best known for her role as Baby in Dirty Dancing - shares stories from her life, from childhood until now.

Worth quoting:
N/A

Why I chose it:
Someone was raving about it.

How it left me feeling:
Ambivalent.

Review:
How does one handle having a major success in their field and then ultimately not being able to reproduce it? What is it like when people who don’t know you are commenting on how you look, and making assumptions about you? And when telling one’s own story, how much of what other people have shared or confided can be shared in something as public as a memoir?

I think most of us know Jennifer Grey from her iconic role in Dirty Dancing, though some might recognize her as the recast Mindy character on Friends, who ended up marrying Rachel’s ex Barry, or as Ferris Bueller’s long-suffering sister Jeannie. In real life, she is the daughter of Broadway royalty, and also dated many of the hottest actors in the 80s, including Matthew Broderick and Johnny Depp.

One thing many people might recognize is that she had a nose job. She talks about this extensively at the start of her book, and provides context and background that I think most people just didn’t know, and judged her on. I found that to be interesting, because so much is fraught when it comes to talking about appearance, especially when it seems like someone has made changes to their appearance to meet certain white western beauty standards. But also … its her own face? Even if she had wanted the nose she ended up with (spoiler alert: she didn’t), why is that really any of our business?

Something that stood out to me most though was more of a meta observation about the nature of memoirs. It is someone telling their own story, as they remember it, with sometimes years or decades of time passing from when an incident occurred and when they are sharing their reflections. It’s their story, of course, and they get to own it, but I do think about how fair is it to people who may have passed in and out of their lives — possibly playing a major part, possibly just sharing one small but what they considered intimate moment — that their lives are shared as well?

For example, Matthew Broderick does not come off particularly well in this book, but the stories are about a relationship they had 30+ years ago. Is her recollection accurate? And even if it is, is there any space to consider how he might have changed in those 30 years? Do people, when reading these books, allow for that type of growth, or will they think Broderick of the 1980s is the same as Broderick of the 2020s? Does that matter? Should it?

I’ve read loads of memoirs (13 last year alone) but this was one of the times where those questions really stood out to me.

I didn’t know much about Grey before reading this book, and I don’t think I have much of a changed opinion of her. She’s been through some things, had some absurd adventures, and seems to really know herself as she enters her 60s. So that’s cool. She also talks extensively about motherhood, and stopping working as an actress to raise her daughter as an older first-time parent, and people with children might relate heavily to that. While I’m not sure I’d recommend this, I think people who are fans will find it interesting.

Recommend to a Friend / Keep / Donate it / Toss it:
Donate it ( )