By: Tori Spelling
Year: 2008
Genre: Biography
She was television’s most famous virgin—and, as Aaron Spelling’s daughter, arguably its most famous case of nepotism. Portraying Donna Martin on Beverly Hills, 90210, Tori Spelling became one of the most recognizable young actresses of her generation, with a not-so-private personal life every bit as fascinating as her character’s exploits. Yet years later the name Tori Spelling too often closed—and sometimes slammed—the same doors it had opened.
sTORI Telling is Tori’s chance to finally tell her side of the tabloid-worthy life she’s led, and she talks about it all: her decadent childhood birthday parties, her nose job, her fairy-tale wedding to the wrong man, her so-called feud with her mother. Tori has already revealed her flair for brilliant, self-effacing satire on her VH1 show So NoTORIous and Oxygen’s Tori & Dean: Inn Love, but her memoir goes deeper, into the real life behind the rumors: her complicated relationship with her parents; her struggles as an actress after 90210; her accident-prone love life; and, ultimately, her quest to define herself on her own terms.
From her over-the-top first wedding to finding new love to her much-publicized–and misunderstood–”disinheritance,” sTORI Telling is a juicy, eye-opening, enthralling look at what it really means to be Tori Spelling.
Oh, yeah, I went there.
I’ll admit it, I watch Tori Spelling’s reality show (my TiVo is set to record it!). And I’m pretty sure she would be a blast to hang out with. While she has writing credit with Hilary Liftin, the narrative voice seems to be all Spelling (based on the individual interviews from the TV show). She is funny, self-effacing, smart and honest. This is a quick and easy read for the beach or a rainy day.
Spelling is the first to admit she grew up with a charmed life. Money was no object and she was spoiled and loved by her father and the movers and shakers in Hollywood. She was also sheltered and not allowed to become independent like “normal” people are. She constantly had her father’s name hovering over her shoulder which made (and still makes) it difficult to find her own way as an actress.
I didn’t find the book a disappointment at all. Spelling shares the stories we all want to hear and what she remembers. She is the first to admit that her memories are her own and there is the possibility she could be wrong. She deals with the break-up of her first marriage honestly and with care for her ex’s feelings, but she doesn’t sugar coat it either. And she is pretty funny, too.
I have already ordered her second book, “Mommywood,” from the library. My only complaint is that I wish there were more pictures about some of the things she talks about!
While I probably wouldn’t read it again it was a fun read.
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars