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azrapanjwani's review
3.0
i still don’t really know how i feel about this one. relationships with family are complicated, and even more so when fame and money and complex relationships are thrown in. this book kept me curious and compassionate, and i hope jenny pentland is doing okay
jilliebeanreads's review against another edition
4.0
This is an honest, hilarious and often sad memoir about growing up in very unexpected places. Including fat camp for four consecutive summers.
It's everything you might expect from the daughter of a Hollywood comedian who, as it turns out, is also quite comical.
Oh. And it's very well-written, too!
It's everything you might expect from the daughter of a Hollywood comedian who, as it turns out, is also quite comical.
Oh. And it's very well-written, too!
kawooreads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
I grew up a child of the 90s in a white, working-class family, so of course I watched Roseanne. I thought the Conners were such a lively and relatable bunch who may have squabbled and experienced hard times, but developed thick skin and a sense of humor. Before I became an adult and saw the problematic behavior of Roseanne Barr, I thought she was an amazing TV mom. So when I got an opportunity to read Barr's daughter's memoir, I was excited. Finally, a look behind the scenes of a show and person who was such a big part of my childhood. Turns out, Roseanne Barr is a lot different than Roseanne Connor. While Pentland does an adequate job of conveying her strong relationship with her mother, the stories of fad dieting, toxic relationships, parental abandonment, and attempts to radically assimilate children through psychologically and physically abusive institutions and "camps", were quite disheartening. Pentland writes she feels her mother "did the best she could" in a time when she was a rising star who battled for creative control over her own life, but I can't help but feel angry and disappointed that the empathy and compassion I saw in one of my favorite TV moms was not echoed in reality by the woman who created her. I have never read a memoir by someone celebrity-adjacent, such as a child, and now I'm not sure I want to read more. Still, there is a lot of nostalgia, both good and bad, in this book and that should count for something. Also, the unforgivable actions of Tom Arnold, just ugh!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Dysphoria, Toxic relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Fatphobia, Eating disorder, and Body shaming
Moderate: Addiction and Abandonment
melissacushman's review against another edition
funny
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Funny—and highly concerning—stories of an unbelievably crazy life
heathero621's review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
medium-paced
4.0
I listened to this memoir on audiobook and again, I really enjoyed consuming it that way. I like celebrity memoirs, but this one was even a bit more interesting for me because it came from a celebrity's child. It was interesting to see how her life was, especially since we are very close to the same age. I didn't know much about her family and was fascinated by all of it. I feel bad for what she had to go through. The book had many funny parts to it and then some very serious parts and I thought that it was a good mix.
ammee411's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
informative
medium-paced
3.0
Feel weird rating someones memoir. But it was interesting, I didn't know much about Roseanne's kids
momadvice's review against another edition
dark
funny
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
This book's clever cover caught my eye, but it is the fascinating true story of Jenny Pentland’s childhood that made this book a real winner. Imagine your real-life becomes episodes for a sitcom. Most of us can’t fathom this existence, but the life of Jenny (and her siblings) became the show we know as “Roseanne. “
Jenny’s mom, Roseanne Arnold, is more of a compassionate side note, while the meat of this story focuses on Jenny’s anxieties from paparazzi encounters and struggles with obesity. In response to these trials, she goes through various programs, including those infamous wilderness camps and fat camps.
A couple of truth bombs about Pentland’s journey (both in these programs and with the paparazzi) may have yielded an audible gasp. I was also unfamiliar with Roseanne’s backstory, so the captured moments are pretty surprising.
Through even these sad and challenging moments, Pentland embraces the funny. I, indeed, will count this among my favorite memoirs.