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Audiobook Review: Paris: The Memoir by Paris Hilton

Audiobook Review: Paris: The Memoir by Paris Hilton

Unveil the true Paris Hilton in her memoir—a compelling journey from media persona to a resilient woman with an insightful story to share.

I’ll admit that in the early 2000s, I was the first to line up and make fun of Paris Hilton. Maybe I was jealous of her success and money, or maybe I was just a giant brat, but for whatever reason, I wrote her off as an annoying celebrity and nothing more. Over the years, I’ve softened on Paris. But it wasn’t until I listened to her audiobook that I began to understand how wrong I was about her. At times, she was perhaps misunderstood; at times, she may have invited the drama and the attention, but underneath was a fragile, troubled, victimized young girl just trying to hold it together. Read more about the audiobook below and why I gave it four out of five stars.

Until, in a revealing documentary, Paris Hilton disclosed that her childhood was shattered by two years of strip searches, isolation, beatings, restraint, and brainwashing within the now infamous “troubled teen industry,” Paris Hilton was simply the billionaire heiress America had watched grow up on television, on the internet, and in tabloids. But there was always more to Paris Hilton than met the eye. Yes, she is the media personality, DJ, entrepreneur, model, singer, actress, and icon beloved all over the globe. And yet…

Paris is the story people have always wanted Paris Hilton to tell–the story of who she really is. In this revealing and thought-provoking book, Hilton will separate the creation from the creator, the brand from the ambassador, and show the woman who grew up with incredible privilege but was also trapped in a world of unreasonable expectation at a moment when young women were humiliated for sport in a gossip economy on steroids. Paris recounts her perilous journey through pre-#METOO sexual politics with grace, generosity, and plenty of fun, rising above a series of heart-wrenching challenges to find healing, lasting love, and a life of meaning and purpose.

The parallel story arcs in Hilton’s braided narrative come to full bloom as a watershed portrait of the Aughts, challenging each of us to question our role in her story and her role in ours. The result is an intimate and unexpected memoir about persona and personification, the price of being young and disobedient, and the complexity of manifesting your dreams after watching part of yourself disappear. [goodreads.com]

Paris: The Memoir explores various aspects of her life, including all the wild times of the 2000s and 2010s. However, the book also dives into her time spent at camps for troubled kids and the abuse she endured, both physically and emotionally. I appreciate how open and vulnerable she’s become over the years. But even more, I appreciate her new mission to prevent other troubled teens from experiencing the same horrors she did.

If you’re looking for more ammo to use when ridiculing Paris Hilton, I suggest you look elsewhere. After Paris: The Memoir, I now have more respect and grace for a woman I saw as “famous for nothing.” She’s a hustler in the best sense of the word, and there’s a lot we could all learn from her. I recommend this book to anyone curious about Paris or anyone who loves a good story about strong women standing up for themselves.

(There is a print version of Paris: The Memoir, but I recommend the audiobook to hear the words in Paris’s own voice.)

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