Review: My Love Story by Tina Turner

So, you think you know Tina Turner. The abusive ex-husband, the legs, the solo stardom and Simply the Best.

In this memoir, which was written with assistance due to Tina’s stroke, Tina talks about her past and the battles she’s always fought and won. Yes, there’s a frank chat about Ike Turner and the abuse she suffered at his hands, but also the continuing love story she shares with her second husband, Erwin, and how he literally saved her life with a donation of a kidney.

Yes, a kidney transplant.

This autobiography describes Tina’s recent health struggles: her stroke, intestinal cancer and renal failure. She doesn’t dwell on these issues, rather she focuses on the positive aspects of her life as she has always done.

The book is written conversationally, as if the reader is sitting in Tina’s lavishly decorated home in Switzerland enjoying a cup of tea. Tina has worked hard all her life and is proud to display the rewards she’s reaped. In her case, it’s beautifully decorated homes with photographs she doesn’t care about the cost to acquire. It may sound arrogant or haughty, but Tina’s style is not like that at all. She name drops her famous friends but in a way that oozes love and gratitude, not a “Look at me” attitude. It is quite refreshing to read; other autobiographies tend to focus on name dropping for the sake of name dropping.

The reader is lead through Tina’s extraordinary life, from her beginnings as a child in a tiny town named Nutbush, to being racially vilified on tour with an abusive and unfaithful husband, to her escape, solo stardom and retirement. It kind of reads like a goodbye to public life, although Tina acknowledges she will never fully retire as there is always something to keep her in the public eye.

Tina Turner’s public image is larger-than-life and this is how the book reads, although the private Tina also comes through, especially in the later chapters. She acknowledges all the fans who have come up to her thanking her for sharing her story and giving them the encouragement and power to leave their own abusive relationships. In its own way, this memoir does the same. Not only for her story with Ike (like everyone knows) but also health battles and finding one’s own voice to move forward. Tina’s life has not been easy, yet she speaks of each challenge as a way to move forward and live life to the fullest with optimism and love.

Recommended for fans and people who need a little encouragement to never give up.

8 out of 10 bookmarks.

Review: Back, After the break’

You remember Andrew G? The long haired lout who once presented By Demand on Channel [v] and now hosts The Bachelor/ette and changed his name along the way? Yeah, that guy.

This is a brutally honest memoir about his life, specifically his battles with addiction and mental illness. When we think mental illness, we don’t often think about the successful people who suffer from it. Yet here we are, having an open and honest conversation with one of Australia’s biggest success stories.

Andrew G, as he was once known, has been battling anxiety since childhood. His parents overcame some tremendous struggles: things this generation of Australians have no idea bout and hopefully will never experience for themselves. Anxiety led to an addiction to eating, and later, alcohol and sex. Diagnosed with PTSD in the aftermath of being in New York during September 11, 2001, Andrew’s addictions spiralled out of control and affected every area of his personal and professional life.

This is the story previously only hinted about. Only relatively recently has he spoken about these addictions, and battles with mental illness yet the public were completely unaware of. It’s a brave memoir, recounting specific incidents which have caused he and his friends, coworkers and loved one much embarrassment and hurt. Yet we know how it ends: Osher is still a popular personality on Australian television (and sometimes radio). He continues to fight his mental state every day.

The autobiography is well written and openly honest. He doesn’t shy away from the gory details (although I was disappointed to find he left out the decision and process of cutting off his butt-length hair). The Kindle version has some minor errors, such as not leaving spaces between words (I don’t know if the print version contains the same errors). Osher (or his ghostwriter?) writes conversationally, making for an easy read. The pacing is perfect, and his life is interesting enough without the reader feeling like a voyeur to a celebrity’s car crash life.

I think this footnote from Osher’s book sums it up nicely:

I give the book 9 out of 10 bookmarks.