Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old: Thoughts on Aging as a Woman
Brooke Shields. Flatiron, $29.99 (256p) ISBN 978-1-250-34694-0
“As I hit my midfifties, I grew increasingly curious about the disconnect between how this age feels and how it is portrayed in our culture and society,” writes actor and model Shields (There Was a Little Girl) in this candid memoir-in-essays about aging in the public eye. In “Sex and the Middle-Aged Woman,” Shields forcefully dismisses the notion that older women lose their sex appeal (“News flash, I’m not actually on this planet for the sole purpose of making you feel virile”). “Parent Trap” addresses her complicated relationship with her alcoholic mother, as well as her conflicting emotions about her daughters “becoming young women” while she dealt with the challenges of menopause. Though most of the book deals seriously with the contradiction of feeling “personally empowered and systematically dismissed” in middle age, Shields also demonstrates a flair for comedy, including in a hilarious, self-deprecating saga about peeing her pants while being transported to the hospital in an ambulance with Bradley Cooper. Striking a tone that’s both wise and approachable, Shields encourages women of all ages to reclaim their power. It’s hard not to be inspired. Agents: Albert Lee and Pilar Queen, UTA. (Jan.)
Details
Reviewed on: 01/21/2025
Genre: Nonfiction
Compact Disc - 978-1-250-36396-1
Hardcover - 352 pages - 978-1-250-38972-5
Library Binding - 978-1-4205-2197-9