User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
Overdrive Public Library Audiobook....read by Demi Moore
Demi Moore talked rapidly. The hastiness and hurriedness in her voice, often felt as chaotic and stressful as the stories she told about her life.
Over and over — we hear phrases from Demi saying....
She felt rejection...
She felt abandoned...
Didn’t feel confident...
Felt intimidated...
She felt insecure...
Family members were critical of her
Her mother acted more like a bratty sister to her than a mother.
She had less experience than others...
Determined to do better....
Had to get in shape...
MUST get in shape...( biking, hiking, excessive exercise)
Demi felt proud of her nude-pregnancy photo on Vanity Fair...( but sounded as if she was justifying the photo)....she said it was a brave-bold photo....especially from somebody who struggled with body image as much as she did.
She felt the public had a distorted view of her..
She felt too much ‘ill-will’ came her way....and it was unfair.
Deep down - the only people Demi trusted were her children.
Do they trust her?
DEMI NEVER HAD A PROBLEM GETTING A PART...
But.....one minute Demi would say how insecure she was - the next minute she was patting herself on the back.
Demi has been called selfish, a prima donna, and a bitch.
Negative press pissed her off!
We get LOTS OF BLAME, ACCUSATIONS, AND JUDGEMENTS! I wondered if Demi could hear herself? I wondered if this was the book she wanted her children to read? I wondered why I was reading it?
DEMI SOUNDED ANGRY, RESENTFUL, & DEFENSIVE about things that were done TO HER....
She sounded as if she ‘needed’ to tell the world ...she was treated unfairly.
I HAVE NO IDEA, MAYBE DEMI WAS TREATED UNFAIRLY....
but....
*MAYBE*......she had something to do with her own failures and the criticism she received.
Demi did sound a little bitchy!
I’m sorry Demi was raped - age 15. She could bitch all she needed to about the slimy asshole as far as I was concerned. Tell the world what she learn:
[she would protect her daughters better than she was protected by her mother...not let grown men be alone in a house unsupervised]...
but I wondered how did this book protect her children?
I would be horrified to hear comments about my mother’s book... if I was her children.
Demi’s bitching was simply tiring!
I didn’t see how her blaming benefitted her one ounce....
Other than a paycheck.
I liked the movie “Ghost”...( who didn’t)....
I liked “St. Elmo’s Fire”....
I liked “A Few Good Men”
“Striptease” was atrocious and disastrous...
BUT... again with the blame...
Demi’s sharing about her movies...were focused on blame & justifications.
I took what Demi wrote about Bruce & Ashton with a grain of salt.
I cringed hearing Demi point the finger at the men her children had the right to love.
Public slandering isn’t flattering to anyone.
I couldn’t help but wonder... was Demi selling herself out - for a buck? Was writing this book for a paycheck?
It wasn’t much different than the tabloids. Only this time - Demi was generating the gossip.
This book is almost an open ‘invitation’ for the readers to judge and evaluate Demi’s character.
My god... I hope it was worth it to her.
...we learned about Demi’s crappy childhood....her crappy parents-and their lack of healthy boundaries...her teenage years...( frantic moves from one home to another)...
...drugs...music...abuse...her career...her marriages...her pregnancies, her children, her favorite place to live ( Idaho), ....and lots of chatter about Demi’s public image- from her perspective.
Overall....this book felt self indulgent - whiny.....
Some of the things Demi wrote was just poor taste.
Demi Moore, the once highest paid actress in Hollywood.....disclosed private details and name dropping that became off-putting.
In my opinion this book taps into the ugly sides of humanity...
for ‘both’ the author and reader.
Who really benefits? Did I?
Or....
Did I simply feed my cheap voyeurism-side!
Guilty... yep, voyeurism!
But the lasting experience isn’t enlightening or nourishing to my soul.
A low 3 stars
Rating: really liked it
Inside Out by Demi Moore is a 2019 Harper publication.
A compelling and revealing memoirI waffled back and forth on this one. Initially, I talked myself out of reading it, then changed my mind when I saw it had generated a little buzz and I noticed most of the reviews were positive.
Curiosity got the better of me and so I borrowed it from the library. However, the audio version was available on Scribd and I ended up listening to the book instead.
I’ve never been a fan of movie, or TV stars, in the same way I am with musicians or authors. I liked many of the movies Demi starred in-
Ghost being my very favorite of all her roles. I think she is a good actress, but I wouldn’t call myself a fan, necessarily.
Naturally, I was aware she was controversial at times, that she had married and divorced Bruce Willis, and then married Ashton Kutcher- a relationship that came under a great deal of scrutiny in the tabloids. In other words, I knew the simple basics and that's about it.
Much of the information regarding her childhood and upbringing was news to me. I didn’t even know she had once had a role on a popular soap opera early in her career. Before long, Demi had captured my rapt attention as I digested all this information.
Her narration is top- notch. Occasionally, in the beginning of the book she did speak a little too rapidly, as though she were in a hurry to finish the task. However, as the book progressed, she found a rhythm and her inflections were sincere and very believable.
When it comes to celebrity memoirs I feel a little more justified in expressing my personal opinion about the author, since after all, this is not a biography, written by a third party or without authorization.
Some of my impressions are:
I’m not a psychologist, but I did see patterns in Demi’s life. I don’t know what the official word might be, but she did seem to have a predisposition towards addiction. Alcohol, drugs, food, shopping- she seemed to replace one addiction with another.
Like most of us, Demi has made some questionable choices, personally and professionally. She has been the object of criticism from all sides on occasion. While this book is her opportunity to tell her side of the story, I thought she held her resentments in check for the most part.
While some celebrities mentioned in the book felt compelled to set the record straight- on mostly minor things- and some may have felt compelled to defend themselves- but ultimately took the high road- I thought Demi did a good job in telling her life story. She was hard on some people, sometimes understandably, sometimes not, but she was also forgiving. She didn’t sugarcoat her foibles and owned her own s**t.
Overall, this memoir is very well-done. Demi has pulled herself up out of some dark places more than once and appears to be in a good place right now. Often times, a memoir will lesson my opinion of someone, but in this case the opposite was true.
4 stars
Rating: really liked it
Periodically I find and listen to celebrity memoirs. I like the audiobooks because generally the author narrates it and the book feels gossipy, funny, heartfelt. The books are also slightly voyeuristic, and if the author shares little moments, vignettes, which allow the reader to feel they are friends sitting together over coffee sharing life experiences.
Rob Lowe, for instance, has two books which made me smile throughout. I felt like I remembered the stories. I felt like they were something we shared. And Portia de Rossi shared a tough, smart story of her eating disorder which allowed me to develop a compassion for her that wasn't previously there. So I was hoping that this book would be similar, but I was a bit disappointed.
The pros: Moore's memoir deals with childhood trauma and it’s aftermath very well. She is open and truthful. She exposes the issues of her birth family which were mostly caused by alcoholism and abuse. She shares the way these issues made her feel worthless and how hard it was during her life to escape the fear that came from her background. In this way it was more similar to de Rossi's book.
The cons: When the book gets to the part of her life -- the 1980s -- when she was most famous I felt it failed. It didn't feel gossipy in a light-hearted and fun way, but rather it felt gossipy and mean-spirited or selfish. There were a couple moments in particular that I hated. One of those is this: she brought up a sexual relationship with Jon Cryer which was quite selfish in nature. She stated that she took his virginity (which he says isn't true, but that doesn't matter). To me, this is an invasion of his privacy. It isn't her story to tell. True or not, he gets to tell the story of his own sex life. The story even came off as a bit mean-girlish, as though she was the hot girl and he wasn't the hot guy, so of course he was a virgin and he was lucky to have her. It just didn't feel positive.
And then there was her discussion of Ashton Kutcher. I realize that the end of their marriage was one of the more difficult periods of her life and that there may be some resentment. And honestly her discussion of infidelity didn't bother me at all. But there was a scene where she blamed him for the fact that she chose to drink alcohol again after being clean and sober. This really bothered me. It is not responsible to put that burden on any other human being. I understand that we can trigger one another and that is especially true in close relationships. However, it is important that we take ownership of our own failings, weaknesses, addictions...
The book closes in a positive way, where she discusses her personal growth and shares the closeness she has with her daughters. But it came too quickly. She failed to show the steps that she took to repair her life. They were touched on, glossed over... it makes it look like it came easily. And if your book is about how hard childhood trauma is but that it is recoverable, then I believe the most important aspect of the book is to show how it happened for you. That element should have the most pages dedicated to it.
Rating: really liked it
Demi Moore’s memoir
Inside Out details the life of the well-know actress from her rocky childhood into adulthood with a successful career, her high-profile relationships, and numerous battles she dealt with: family issues, body image issues, addictions, and self-worth. Now in her mid-50s, Demi reflects on the experiences that have shaped her as a person.
It’s somewhat surprising how successful Demi’s acting career was considering how much her parents well, to be blunt, sucked. It’s hard for me to feel sympathy toward people who choose not to help themselves when it’s obvious they need it, particularly when there’s little to no regard for two kids or their well-being. I was definitely getting
The Glass Castle vibes in parts of
Inside Out.
Demi also details some of her experiences working on several movies and other projects she’s been involved with over the years. Though I was really young when a lot of them were hits, I found these parts of the story interesting.
She discusses her relationships, most notably with Bruce Willis, the father of her three daughters, and then Ashton Kutcher. With so much toxicity in today’s world, it’s nice to see Demi and Bruce were, for the most part, able to maintain a strong family unit and co-parent well together after they split.
Though I definitely don’t agree with all of her decisions, Demi has overcome a lot and I appreciate the honesty she shares in
Inside Out. I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Demi herself, which I would recommend.
Rating: really liked it
3.5 stars
I wouldn't necessarily say I'm a Demi Moore fan, but I did walk away from this book with some newfound respect. Despite the millions in the bank and stunning good looks, she hasn't had the easiest life. She shares a lot of her struggles in this memoir and I'm sure putting yourself out there like that is difficult.
Demi might not appear in as many blockbuster movies as she did at the height of her fame, but she certainly still has A-list fame recognition. There was a lot of press for this memoir and so I assumed I had heard all of the "juicy" gossip bits ahead of time. However this book had a few stories that even I, a self-proclaimed pop culture junkie, had never heard including how 16 year old Demi had dinner with Roman Polanski a few days before he fled the U.S. after being convicted of raping a 13 year old girl. And on a much lighter note how the heck did I never know she and Bruce Willis were friends with John Goodman?
Survivor is a good word to describe Demi. She had a pretty messed up childhood, has been thru 3 divorces, has experienced both box office successes and disappointments, has had periods of estrangement from different family members, and battled addiction. And yet, she's still standing. She seems to be in a pretty good place right now and I would imagine writing this memoir proved to be a cathartic experience.
For the most part I think she did open up about her life and to me it didn't feel like she was doing so to assign blame or anything. In my opinion she didn't demonize her ex-husbands but instead showed some of the good and bad parts of their time spent together. Now I do think though she was fairly vague about some of the things that might have led to her daughters and Bruce not speaking to her for a few years. That's really the only instance in which I felt there was more to the story that she wasn't willing to share.
I am left with the impression she is trying to be the best version of herself she can be, and at the end of the day, isn't that the best any of us can do?
Definitely recommend if you enjoy reading celebrity memoirs. It was a fascinating read as it felt like you got an inside look into the life of a Hollywood star and also just regular ol' Demi, the woman who is pretty content living in Idaho.
Rating: really liked it
I had no idea this is Demi Moore’s first memoir. In less than 300 pages, she shares her life. I both read and listened to this one via @librofm because Demi narrates it herself, and that made my experience nothing short of top shelf.
I also had no idea Demi Moore had such a challenging upbringing. Her family consisted of her on and off again, always fighting parents; a nearly absent, self-absorbed mother, a father who grappled with mental illness, and a younger brother with whom she was incredibly close. The light of her life was her grandmother who offered her some consistency. Demi shares it all, without sugarcoating it, baring her innermost thoughts.
I admire that Demi Moore told her story. Addiction, divorce, successes and lows, it’s here, and I appreciated the concise manner in which the story was written. Memoir fans will enjoy this, especially those who love an author narrated memoir. Demi’s sincerity shines through each chapter.
I received a gifted copy. All opinions are my own.
Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com and instagram: www.instagram.com/tarheelreader
Rating: really liked it
My reviews can also be seen at: https://deesradreadsandreviews.wordpr...
4.5 Stars!
I’ve enjoyed many of the movies that Demi Moore has starred in. I’ve read the tabloid stories and wondered how much of what I read was true. It was nice that the information was coming straight from Demi. Of course, there are always other sides to almost every story. But overall, I didn’t feel like Demi trashed anyone. She just told her truth.
This was a deeply personal look at Demi’s life and career. A childhood filled with trauma leading to insecurities and abandonment issues. Even as her career grew she battled issues like addiction and low self-esteem.
Money and fame really can’t buy happiness.
I was especially gripped by the last few chapters. I was honestly in tears and find myself tearing up even now as I remember some of the things she shared.
But Demi survived. And by all accounts, it seems like she’s now thriving.
I think this is one of my favorite memoirs and I’m glad I made the choice to listen to the audiobook. I loved that it was narrated by Demi.
Highly recommended!!
Rating: really liked it
I really enjoyed listening to Demi’s memoir. It was nostalgic for me having had the pleasure of watching her career unfold as I grew up. I listened to this straight through, I couldn’t put it down.
Rating: really liked it
A wonderfully honest book, throwing it all out there. So much has happened to this woman and yet she is still strong and hopeful. This is an inspiring story from a woman that I can't admire more.
Rating: really liked it
Lack of space prevents my including pictures here. To see the review with pics, go to my blog: https://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot....
Demi Moore - born Demetria Guynes in Roswell, New Mexico in 1962 - is an American actress and film producer. Demi had an unruly upbringing with her nomadic parents, Ginny and Danny Guynes, who were always dodging trouble and bill collectors. Demi writes, "My dad was driven to succeed. He worked hard and he played hard. Sometimes too hard." Danny drank, got into fights, and scammed and conned people. Demi recalls, "Both of my parents had what you might call a relaxed relationship with the truth but I think my dad actually got joy out of feeling he could get one over on someone."
Demi's brother Morgan was born when she almost five, after which the Guynes' left New Mexico. Demi observes, "Soon after [Morgan] was born we left Roswell for California, the first of a series of moves that would define our childhood. My mother figured out that my dad was having an affair, so she did what she'd been taught to do by HER mother when your husband is fooling around. She got him away from the problem. It did not seem to occur to the women in my family that if you took your cheating husband along when you left the problem came with you wherever you went."
This happened again and again, propelling the family from place to place. Throughout their childhood, Demi and Morgan attended at least two new schools a year, and it was often more than that. When the family periodically returned to Roswell, "It felt like coming home."
Ginny and Danny were continually getting drunk, having affairs, breaking up, and getting back together. All this confused and disturbed the children. Demi remembers the constant fighting, screaming phone calls, and her mother stalking around the house sobbing histrionically. She says, "I felt they were equally to blame for the chaos in our lives." Eventually, Ginny and Danny divorced, but still got together frequently, unable to make a permanent break.
All this was too much for Ginny, who - when the family lived in Pennsylvania - tried to kill herself. Demi writes, "I remember using my fingers, the small fingers of a child, to dig the pills my mother had tried to swallow out of her mouth while my father held it open and told me what to do." This turned out to be the first of Ginny's many suicide attempts, and Demi remained constantly on the watch, feeling she had to 'help her parents clean up their messes.'
Living with unreliable parents made Demi a snoop, which led to the discovery that Danny wasn't her biological father. Demi's biological father was Charlie Harmon, Ginny's first husband. Danny wanted to keep it secret because he thought Demi wouldn't feel the same way about him. However once the truth came out, it was Danny who withdrew from Demi, spelling the end of their close relationship.
Luckily, Demi had relatives in California who were almost surrogate parents. When the Guynes' lived in Redondo Beach, her Aunt Deanna and Uncle George (Danny's brother) were a "huge comfort." Demi recalls, "They gave us rides when we needed them, fed us, listened to us when we had problems."
Though Demi's parents let her down time and again, she kept hoping her mother would change and become someone she could count on. It never happened. When Demi was 15, her mother would take her to bars, and Demi felt like she was bait for men, as well as Ginny's designated driver - though Demi had no driver's license. Demi observes "[Ginny's] self-absorption and suicide attempts came at my expense." As a result Demi made up her mind to NOT be like her mother.
While Demi was still a young teenager, however, she was driven to self-destructive behavior, like partying, hanging out with older boys, and giving in to their sexual demands. Thus Demi succumbed when her mother pimped her out to a middle-aged restaurateur named Val Doumas. Val was waiting inside the apartment when 15-year-old Demi got home from school - having received a key from Ginny - and just took it for granted the teenager would have sex with him.
Demi felt soiled by the episode, and even worse when Doumas later asked, "How does it feel to be whored by your mother for five hundred dollars?" Demi, who later became the mother of three girls, laments "That's NOT what a mother does."
It took a long time for Demi to realize she'd been raped. She says, "For decades, I didn’t even think of it as rape. I thought of it as something I caused, something I felt obligated to do because this man expected it from me. I had let him expect it from me. I was an easy mark for a predator." In Demi's view, the assault contributed to her subsequent substance abuse and anxiety problems.
The family's frequent moving and adjusting to new environments - as the Guynes' pinged around New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Ohio, California, and Washington - had a profound effect on Demi. She writes, "It's possible that all the adapting I had to do primed me to become an actress. It was my job to portray whatever character I thought would be most popular in every new school, in every new town."
Adolescent Demi became interested in acting when she met 17-year-old actress Nastassja Kinski at an apartment complex in California. German-born Nastassja had trouble with written English, and Demi helped her read her scripts. Demi admired Nastassja's beauty, talent and success, and thought of her as a role model.
By the age of 16 - when Demi was in an alternative high school and taking acting classes - she couldn't put up with her mother any longer. Demi moved out of the California apartment she shared with Ginny and moved in with a 28-year-old acting student named Tom Dunston. Soon afterwards, Demi left Dunston for 29-year-old musician Freddy Moore, a guitarist for the band 'The Kats.'
To make a financial contribution to the household, 17-year-old Demi agreed to pose for nude photos to be sold to magazines in Japan. Demi writes, "Fortunately, the photographer turned out to be very professional, even as he was encouraging me to strike all sorts of provocative poses. I was comforted when he told me about a Japanese law prohibiting photos showing pubic hair. I could tell myself I was only posing seminude, which seemed much better than the alternative." In any case the nude photos were Demi's ticket into fashion modeling, which provided a small income while she pursued acting.
When Demi was almost 18, her father Danny - who was an alcoholic with liver failure - committed suicide at the age of 36. Demi notes, "His blood alcohol level was so high that his death had to be ruled an accident. He was too drunk for the insurance company to label it a suicide. Consequently they were obliged to make a small payout, which dad left to Morgan. I guarantee you my dad had done his research and knew precisely how much he had to drink to make that happen. It was his final scam, one for the road."
A few months later Demi married Freddy Moore in a little Spanish church in Los Angeles, with Aunt Deanna and Uncle George in attendance. That's when the actress became Demi Moore. Demi's career started to pick up, with fashion modeling, a commercial, and a part in the soap opera General Hospital. But things weren't all rosy. Demi recalls, "On the surface I was hitting all my marks, but my internal compass sought outlets for my self doubt. I started drinking." This was the beginning of Demi's on-off drinking and drug use, which went on for many years.
In Demi's personal life, she was sabotaging her marriage to Freddy by cheating and indifference. At the age of 20, when Demi was in Brazil filming the movie Blame it on Rio, she partied non-stop, slept with her male roommate, and started using cocaine. Demi and Freddy's marriage ended when she got back to California.
In the next few years Demi made a series of films, including No Small Affair, St. Elmo's Fire, One Crazy Summer, About Last Night, We're No Angels, Ghost, The Butcher's Wife, A Few Good Men, Indecent Proposal, Striptease, and G.I. Jane. Demi talks a bit about each movie, discussing things like the plot; her role; preparing to play the role; her co-stars; the director; how the film did at the box office; the reviews; audience reception; etc. Demi also talks about what was going on in her private life.
While filming St. Elmo's Fire, Demi was sent to rehab to kick alcohol and cocaine. But these addictions were replaced by body image issues, an eating disorder, and a compulsion to exercise. Demi says, "I was torn into a tailspin of terror and self-loathing. All my anxieties just shifted over to food. I used food as a kind of punishment for everything I thought was wrong and dirty about myself."
In her love life, Demi had sex with Jon Cryer, a one-night stand with Rob Lowe, and got engaged to Emilio Estevez before she met and married Bruce Willis, who was already a huge star.
Demi found some peace with Willis, and they soon had a baby daughter named Rumer and a home in Haley, Idaho. Demi says "[Haley] became my oasis. The place where I felt more at home than I ever have anywhere else. I still do. There's something about being surrounded by the Sawtooth Mountains, where the air is clear and cool and there's almost no noise at all, that soothes me and gives me a sense of peace."
During her second pregnancy, big-bellied Demi posed for a nude cover photo for Vanity Fair magazine - a picture she thought was artistic and beautiful. The photo was roundly excoriated, however, and the scathing article that went with it made things even worse. Demi writes, "I was portrayed as selfish, egotistical, and pampered, and that being Mrs. Bruce Willis had gone to my head, swelling it unmercifully." There were assertions that Demi was catered to on the set of The Butcher's Wife (where the interview occurred) and that she was a prima donna surrounded by sycophants. Demi reports, "The article had a subtle negative impact on my career."
Demi's success worsened her relationship with her mother. Ginny started selling stories and pictures of Demi to the tabloids, and - after Demi's nude photo shoot - Ginny started posing for nude photos herself "in a desperate bid for attention." Demi notes, "Ginny's behavior with the tabloids was what put me over the edge. I think it 's because I saw the potential this particular brand of lunacy had to hurt my kids." Demi broke off all contact with her mother after her second daughter Scout was born, and didn't speak to Ginny again for eight years.
Demi's soaring career also had a negative impact on her relationship with Bruce, who started to get agitated about her working away from him. Bruce's attitude gave Demi 'insight into his assumptions about gender roles and work.' Nevertheless, the couple strategized to make their careers and marriage succeed.
At one point, Demi was paid 12 million dollars for the movie Striptease, which made her the highest paid actress in Hollywood. This still wasn't close to Bruce's remuneration of 20 million dollars for a film, which is typical of the double standard regarding men's and women's salaries. Still, jealous critics dubbed Demi "Gimme Moore" while remaining shtum about Bruce's payday. (This is infuriating to me!!)
Demi and Bruce went on to have a third daughter, Tallulah, but their relationship was suffering. Demi notes "We were disconnected from each other emotionally. Our life was all about logistics surrounding the kids, and while Bruce was always proud of me doing well I don't know that he was always comfortable with the attention that came with it."
After Demi made GI Jane, she learned that her mother was dying from lung cancer and a brain tumor. Demi went to stay with her mom in Farmington, New Mexico, and came to 'an understanding' with Ginny before she died. During this time, Bruce and Demi ended their union, though they continued to co-parent successfully. To provide a stable home for her girls, Demi decided to put her career on hold and become a full-time mom. Demi settled into her home in Idaho, took care of her daughters, and pledged not to use alcohol, drugs, or food to get through her divorce.
In 2003, Demi revived her career by making Charlie's Angels Full Throttle. While Demi was in New York doing advanced press for the movie she met Ashton Kutcher, and it was kismet!! Demi and Ashton had an instant connection, though she was 15 years older than him. (People made a big deal out of this, but had nothing to say about Bruce Willis marrying a woman 25 years younger than himself. The hypocrisy is stunning!!)
Demi writes a good deal about her relationship with Ashton: the early euphoria; their decision to wed; a miscarriage when Demi was almost six months pregnant; their attempts to conceive again, including fertility treatments and IVF; incorporating threesomes into their sex life; and their eventual divorce.
During her relationship with Ashton, Demi fell off the wagon after years of sobriety. She writes, "Unlike what people imagine about addicts, that you have one drink and everything comes crashing down, in my case it was a gradual downward spiral. The decline in my sense of competence mirrored by substance abuse." When Demi got dead drunk at her 45th birthday party, and started passing out in a hot tub, Ashton was furious.
Things only got worse when Demi started using Vicodin, and the actress made up her mind to detox all by herself. She remembers, "It's one of the hardest things I ever had to do in my life. Going off opiates is agony. It's unimaginably excruciating. You can't sleep because your body hurts too much. It's like the worst flu you ever had times a hundred."
Ashton wasn't compassionate, got busy with other things, and became less and less present. Eventually Ashton cheated - twice - and the couple's marriage ended. Around this time, Demi's use of alcohol and recreational drugs increased, leading to an estrangement from her children. Demi writes, "The girls were angry I'd become so dependent on Ashton. I was addicted to him is the best way I can put it, and I did all the things that addicts do. I prioritized by addiction over my needs and the needs of my family."
It took years for Demi and her girls to reconcile.
Demi is philosophical about her failed relationships, and doesn't badmouth any of the men she dated or married. To recover from her third divorce, Demi worked with a therapist and went to rehab. In time, she became stronger and came to understand what went wrong. She observes, "I took care of everyone but myself. I had to figure out what I needed and wanted."
After Demi and her daughters healed their rift, they had a wonderful Christmas in Idaho, complete with everyone's cats and dogs - and matching pajamas Demi bought as gifts. Now, at the age of 56, Demi is stronger than ever, and poised for the next phase of her life.
For more anecdotes and celebrity gossip, read the book.
Rating: really liked it
"Is this life? I wondered.
"Because if this is it, I'm done. I don't know what I'm doing here."Demi Moore's bio opens with her having a dark night of the soul. A very dark night. With her 50th birthday approaching, her personal and professional life in disarray, Demi ponders how she got to this point.
None of her three beloved daughters are speaking to her. She has two divorces under her belt. Her health is playing up. It seems that everything and everyone is conspiring against her, and she wonders why she struggled so hard to end up somewhere which was so far removed from where she wanted to be in her life.
I had no idea that Demi's early years were so tumultuous and fractured. It was certainly an unconventional and chaotic childhood, with parents that lived on the thrill of the high drama of their love-hate relationship. Constantly on the move to "escape" problems. Never settled. Jumping from one set of issues to the next.
I'm sure this constant angst and doubt about her self worth and never quite belonging anywhere helped Demi hone her acting skills from an early age. Being the
new girl at school repeatedly from repeated moves, Demi had to rely on her instinct to work out how best to fit in. To be the chameleon who could blend seamlessly into her surroundings.
This is something she carried well into adulthood. Always the need to be someone else, to put on a "face" for what she expected other people wanted to see. It's a tough habit to undo. To truly be free to be yourself.
"What did I need to do to be accepted? Was it best to stand out or blend in? It would be decades before it occurred to me that I could be whoever I truly am, not the person I guessed other people wanted to see."I think she's gorgeous. There are so many of her movies which I saw at the cinema. This book shows that no matter how beautiful, rich, thin, talented - you name it - you are, most people still suffer from human frailty. They hurt. And they medicate their insecurities in various ways. Drink, drugs, dieting. Fame & fortune don't necessarily make someone immune from the hurts of life. If anything it quite possibly compounds them, as their lives are lived under a microscope. Back when Demi started her career the press/paparazzi, and now social media, are there to document every single beautiful and ugly moment.
What appears to be a charmed life from the outside looking in, could instead be a goldfish bowl.
"...sounds like the perfect life. But as I would soon find out, if you carry a well of shame and unresolved trauma inside of you, no amount of money, no measure of success or celebrity, can fill it." I admired the honesty throughout this book as Demi shared her story. At times her truth was brutal. The weight, sobriety, trust, promiscuity issues. Her extremely difficult and upsetting relationship with her mother, which only healed after she passed. Demi's thoughts on spirituality and the Universe as she started to sober up were insightful. I get it. The need to hand things over to a greater power.
The
Epilogue is particularly touching. I get the sense that Demi is finally in a comfortable space. Both in her body and in her place in the world. Just as the book opens with her questioning her life, the ending has her pondering and
accepting it. The good, the bad, the highs and lows. The people she has loved and the people she is yet to love.
And the
Acknowledgements section is beautiful. She gives her heartfelt thanks to people who mean the world to her. It's extremely touching (and often humorous).
For me Demi ends the book on a positive note. There is still so much joy to look forward to. There is a sense of serenity. I wish her well.
"I belong. Here, in myself, in this house, on this planet."
Rating: really liked it
“But we all suffer, and we all triumph, and we all get to choose how we hold both.”
Because I have to read celebrity memoirs for my job, I tend not to enjoy them as much as I would with other genres, but Demi Moore held back nothing, and it was well worth the read. She details everything from her tumultuous relationships with her mother and father, her past drug addictions, her relationships and everything in between. I normally skim these, but I was very interested in all the stories she had to tell. It’s very sad, but by the end it was definitely uplifting. Highly recommend if you’re into memoirs.
Rating: really liked it
3.5 starsI was curious to hear Demi Moore’s story in
Inside Out. I definitely learned a lot more about her in this than I knew before. I never knew the kind of life Demi lived before she became famous. Her childhood was beyond difficult and she brought some of those issues to her adulthood. Demi has overcome a lot. It was interesting learning about her relationships with both Bruce and Ashton and hearing more about her acting days and the struggles she went through. She did a great job narrating her story. I recommend this if you’re a big fan of Demi’s or are looking for a heavy/hard hitting memoir.
Audio book source: Hoopla (library borrow)
Story Rating: 3.5 stars
Narrator: Demi Moore
Narration Rating: 4 stars
Genre: Nonfiction/memoir
Length: 6 hours and 31 minutes
Rating: really liked it
3.5 stars
When I think of Demi Moore I always think of the movie Ghost, which is equal parts sad and uplifting, much like this book. Demi narrates the audiobook, so I recommend going that route if you like audio books.
The beginning of the book focuses on what it was like growing up with parents who weren't really adults themselves. I found that dynamic to be more interesting than even her life as a young famous Hollywood actress. Though I did find her insights into her marriages also pretty captivating.
Rating: really liked it
"My story is mine alone."INSIDE OUT depicts Demi Moore's life as a child, actress, mother of three daughters and wife to three husbands.
It's hard to believe that any woman as talented and beautiful as Demi could have any self-doubt or insecurity issues, but as I delved into her novel, I can now understand some of her struggles.
To say she had a tumultuous, unstable childhood is being kind. Her upbringing was crazy, unpredictable and could be compared to the schedule of a traveling circus with discovery of shocking secrets along the way. Tough life for a kid and teen especially when you do not have the support of your parents....mother in particular who often left you on your own and treated you as an object that can be used as bait.
Demi admits to having kidney disease, alcohol, cocaine and prescription drug abuse, undergoing treatment for same, and a sexual assault at the young age of 15. You won't believe how that came about.
Anyway, despite everything, Demi professes to have loved her mother and has tried to be the kind of mother she never had. She is by no means perfect and has made some poor decisions in her lifetime, but has also survived a lot. I haven't seen all of her movies, but particularly enjoyed A Few Good Men and Ghost.
INSIDE OUT is a fast, revealing read with a good variety of photographs at its conclusion.
