Celebrity autobiographies: am I supposed to take these seriously?

Celebrity autobiographies: am I supposed to take these seriously?

I thought about writing a review for this one, but writing reviews of autobiographies just feels a little weird to me. What am I going to say, “I found your life boring AND your writing sucks too”? I wouldn’t say that about Dave Grohl’s The Storyteller, but I’m not going to write a whole piece talking about how much I love the man (as much as I would like to). Anyone else feel weird about reviewing autobiographies?

There was something I was thinking about, however, while listening to this audiobook. Grohl talks a lot about how he believes much of his success comes from manifestation at a young age, really believing and thinking he was going to make it and then putting in the effort to do so. At one point he says something to the effect of if you work hard enough and believe in what you’re doing, you can make it.

Now, to reiterate, I fucking *love* Dave Grohl. Do I think he manifested his fame and success? I think he’s an extremely talented guy who just got lucky on many occasions in his life. On some level I love the idea that if you think hard enough about something, it will come to fruition. So, while I was listening to this, I was thinking, yeah, I can get behind this. But I was also thinking, dude, you are a super-rich rockstar with Paul McCartney’s phone number. I’m pretty sure you don’t have to manifest much. I don’t fault Dave for this. He’s a musician, so he’s probably just naturally inclined to this kind of ideology anyway. And he seems incredibly nice. So he gets a pass.

It did get me to thinking about the celebrity autobiography in general. I mean, it’s obviously another way to get money and add to their stardom, right? Who sits down and says, “I’m going to write a book today” unless they absolutely love reading and writing. Which is fine–I’d probably do the same thing, if I’m being honest. Sometimes I do think, though, man did this celebrity really need to write a book about themselves? Is anything in this book even real? Or, do I just like this book because I love the celebrity? Does it even matter?

I didn’t think this while reading this book. Dave Grohl has had a super interesting life, but I wonder if I would have been interested if I hadn’t already known I love him. All I know is that he definitely deserves the level of fame he has, AND he seems like a really sweet dad.

Some other celeb autobiographies I read and enjoyed:

Do you guys read autobiographies of celebrities you aren’t fans of? Do you like the idea of them, or do they piss you off? Still unsure, though I have read quite a few in my life. Can’t say I don’t enjoy them.

5 thoughts on “Celebrity autobiographies: am I supposed to take these seriously?

  1. Fell off the wagon and read this. An interesting read because of the slant – that you didn’t have your heart in it. Conclude you’re worth checking out now and again. How about reviewing Chilton’s Motor Repair Manual or some such? Something I would be interested in having someone do the prelim checkout for me to give me an idea if I wanted to read it myself.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. I…I had no idea David Grohl wrote an autobiography and now that’s on my TBR list, thanks!

    Mindy Kaling is an amazing storyteller; have you read or listened to her shorts from Amazon Original Stories? They’re little vignettes of her life told hilariously–I listened to them on lunch breaks at work last year and they were fantastic!

    Liked by 1 person

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