Audiobook Review: Pageboy by Elliot Page
Pageboy: A Memoir
Author: Elliot Page
Narrator: Elliot Page
Published: June 6, 2023
Audiobook: 8 hours 24 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Read: June 6-9, 2023
Jessica’s Rating: 3 stars
Book Description:
Pageboy is a groundbreaking coming-of-age memoir from the Academy Award-nominated actor Elliot Page. A generation-defining actor and one of the most famous trans advocates of our time, Elliot will now be known as an uncommon literary talent, as he shares never-before-heard details and intimate interrogations on gender, love, mental health, relationships, and Hollywood.
Jessica’s Review:
Memoirs are a hard thing to rate and review. It is someone’s life and they are telling their story in their way. And with Pageboy Elliot Page tells his story. I just didn’t really feel I learned much listening to him actually tell his story. And he does actually tell his story to the listener as he is the narrator for the audiobook.
The memoir is nonlinear so we are going back and forth through time throughout. It was at times a bit confusing and didn’t really seem to go where it was meaning to. Page does show how child actors are treated in Hollywood and it really isn’t something that kids should go through. Page even had a stalker at a young age. When he talked about that it was scary to hear, as it was early in the internet days where this stalker came from. And the things this stalker said to a young person are just scary!
Most of the memoir dealt with Page being a closeted lesbian to the public, but those in Hollywood knew. Page came out in 2014 as a lesbian with a speech that Ellen at the time made. Page does a lot of ‘kissing and telling’ with intimate details with many partners but there are two actresses that he names. I would assume he got permission to tell those tales/names. One relationship was mentioned more in depth. It also seems like Page may love the idea of being in love with all the details he shares over all the many ‘relationships’ he had.
Page makes it clear early on in life he knew that he was not a girl but a boy and dressing in ‘girl clothes’ didn’t work for him. That even went into acting jobs in Hollywood that he had. Page knew he was different from others when he was younger. Several times he asks others if they think he is trans when he was still Ellen. Maybe he was looking for support and acceptance from others.
We also see the bigotry and more that Page experienced before and after he was out as Ellen and a lesbian. We see the anger that Page had with his reactions to those which could make those situations worse.
There are some stories that Page starts that really don’t get finished and the last part of the memoir dealt with his top surgery. I was wanting to hear more of his transformation process, but it was just skimmed over. It just seemed like he was telling a lot of different stories that he may or may not have finished. He didn’t really seem to know where he was going with this memoir.
I do applaud Page for telling his story in the way he wanted even if it was not really for me. But I am also not the targeted demographic for this memoir being a heterosexual CIS female. I am sure there are those who are closer to the target demographic that will fully enjoy the memoir. Page was brave by coming out not once, but twice in his still young life and I hope he continues to be an example to others and increase awareness in the LGBTQ community.
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Audible Original: I Choose Darkness: A Holiday Essay by Jenny Lawson
I Choose Darkness: A Holiday Essay
Author: Jenny Lawson
Narrator: Jenny Lawson
Published: September 29, 2022
Audiobook: 38 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Date Listened To: October 22, 2022
Jessica’s Rating: 5 stars
Book Description:
From cheap costumes to creepy dolls to questionable candy, number one New York Times bestselling author Jenny Lawson weaves a hauntingly hilarious account of her ongoing—sometimes outrageous—Halloween life.
The holly-jolly holidays aren’t for everyone, least of all when you look back on that one Christmas when there were two definitely haunted dolls waiting for you and your sister under the tree. You have to assume that’s where it all started.
And so it was for Jenny Lawson. Now, she lives in the land of eternal Halloween, as evidenced by her interior decor and general state of darkness. (Although, if you ask her, her taxidermy zoo is less dark, more delightful. But not everyone has taste, so what are you going to do?)
This essay takes Jenny back to where it all started, from her humble beginnings as a trick-or-treater in the 1980s, on high alert for (logistically improbable) candy laced with razor blades and the (allegedly) ever-present threat of satanists on the loose. From there, she has risen from the candy-wrapper ashes of her childhood to claim her rightful lifestyle as the queen of Halloween.
Jessica’s Review:
This very short self-described essay popped up for free on my Audible, so I got it. I had no idea who Jenny Lawson is, so I didn’t know what I was in for but was very pleasantly surprised! Halloween is Jenny’s favorite holiday of the year and she reminisces and her childhood Halloween’s. And we must be close to the same age, babies of the 1980’s, because I have so many similar memories as her! From the hideous costumes offered to the fear of razor blades being put in candy: and yes, I remember my parents taking my sister and I to the hospital and our candy being x-rayed! I had a plastic orange pumpkin container that my candy was in. It was most likely done at the hospital that my mom worked at.
I really enjoyed this essay of Jenny’s Halloween memories and she even narrated! She tells it like it is, foul language and all! I am going to have to look up some of her other books she has written and even listen to the audio if she narrates those! She definitely seems to have a new fan to look at her blog!
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Book Review: Fan Fiction: A Mem-Noir by Brent Spiner
Fan Fiction: A Mem-Noir: Inspire by True Events
Author: Brent Spiner
Published: October 5, 2021
256 Pages
Reviewed By: Kim
Kim’s Rating: 4 stars
Book Description:
From Brent Spiner, who played the beloved Lieutenant Commander Data on Star Trek: The Next Generation, comes an explosive and hilarious autobiographical novel.
Brent Spiner’s explosive and hilarious novel is a personal look at the slightly askew relationship between a celebrity and his fans. If the Coen Brothers were to make a Star Trek movie, involving the complexity of fan obsession and sci-fi, this noir comedy might just be the one.
Set in 1991, just as Star Trek: The Next Generation has rocketed the cast to global fame, the young and impressionable actor Brent Spiner receives a mysterious package and a series of disturbing letters, that take him on a terrifying and bizarre journey that enlists Paramount Security, the LAPD, and even the FBI in putting a stop to the danger that has his life and career hanging in the balance.
Featuring a cast of characters from Patrick Stewart to Levar Burton to Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, to some completely imagined, this is the fictional autobiography that takes readers into the life of Brent Spiner and tells an amazing tale about the trappings of celebrity and the fear he has carried with him his entire life.
Fan Fiction is a zany love letter to a world in which we all participate, the phenomenon of “Fandom.”
Kim’s Review:
What an awesome book! It was fun and littered with Star Trek references that Trekkies all love! Plus, some hilarious 90’s stuff that today’s generation would never understand! There were some places where the story dragged a little, but overall, I had way too much fun reading it. I heard Brent reading in my head! Ok… I also heard Burton’s Dorn’s, and Frakes’s voices and I enjoyed it way too much! If you’re a Trekkie, just trust me, read this book!
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
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