Carla P. reviewed on + 59 more book reviews
I really liked this book, but I think I liked her first book, http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17... better. Though, in this one she had less fear of the truth, wasn't afraid to get raw, and admit not only other's shortcomings, but her own...
Again, I was struck by the fact that she was so brilliantly intelligent, yet emotionally wounded, a poetess, a feminist, a mysticist, a flower child, a mother, a queen in her own world. All of these different parts of her enveloped her and sometimes threatened to take over who was truly "Roseanne".
I was shocked, actually, how the first season she had to fight so hard to get her character to be... well, HER. She had to fight tooth and nail not to be yet another Samantha or June, not to be what the act that had GOTTEN her the show was built around. Her biggest supporters were, at that time, John Goodman and Laurie Metcalf. They stood by her when the rest of the studio loathed her for speaking her mind and fighting for her own truth. And, then there was Tom Arnold, who I actually gained a little respect for after reading this.
He was with her before she was a star, her best friend, her writing partner-- a man who silently was in love with her, but she was married to an emotionally manipulative drunk, who tried to constantly use her own children against her, and actually held secret meetings with the studio brass to conspire against her, as well as The Enquirer and her own children, telling them that their mother must love her "little job" more than them because she was no longer a stay-at-home Mom. (Despite the fact that he, himself, when left to watch the kids was oft times too drunk to even get them to school...) Of course, that's different than the general consensus at that time, that he attached himself to her coattails after her fame...
Though, things with Tom weren't all roses, either. She was in denial about his coke habit, but eventually through him getting help, was able to face her denial about her own, abusive and parasitic family. And that her father molesting not only her and her sisters, but her DAUGHTER, and saying "Call it molest, I can live with that-- that's just a woman being hysterical"... well, that was just sickening.
But she seemed to have come out the other end stronger for it-- though, she was still married to Tom at the end of this book, so I don't know what happened next... but all in all, despite her ascervic (and sometimes quite raunchy) wit), beneath that is a very strong, intelligent, and LOVING person, who I hope now is doing well.
Again, I was struck by the fact that she was so brilliantly intelligent, yet emotionally wounded, a poetess, a feminist, a mysticist, a flower child, a mother, a queen in her own world. All of these different parts of her enveloped her and sometimes threatened to take over who was truly "Roseanne".
I was shocked, actually, how the first season she had to fight so hard to get her character to be... well, HER. She had to fight tooth and nail not to be yet another Samantha or June, not to be what the act that had GOTTEN her the show was built around. Her biggest supporters were, at that time, John Goodman and Laurie Metcalf. They stood by her when the rest of the studio loathed her for speaking her mind and fighting for her own truth. And, then there was Tom Arnold, who I actually gained a little respect for after reading this.
He was with her before she was a star, her best friend, her writing partner-- a man who silently was in love with her, but she was married to an emotionally manipulative drunk, who tried to constantly use her own children against her, and actually held secret meetings with the studio brass to conspire against her, as well as The Enquirer and her own children, telling them that their mother must love her "little job" more than them because she was no longer a stay-at-home Mom. (Despite the fact that he, himself, when left to watch the kids was oft times too drunk to even get them to school...) Of course, that's different than the general consensus at that time, that he attached himself to her coattails after her fame...
Though, things with Tom weren't all roses, either. She was in denial about his coke habit, but eventually through him getting help, was able to face her denial about her own, abusive and parasitic family. And that her father molesting not only her and her sisters, but her DAUGHTER, and saying "Call it molest, I can live with that-- that's just a woman being hysterical"... well, that was just sickening.
But she seemed to have come out the other end stronger for it-- though, she was still married to Tom at the end of this book, so I don't know what happened next... but all in all, despite her ascervic (and sometimes quite raunchy) wit), beneath that is a very strong, intelligent, and LOVING person, who I hope now is doing well.
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