Book of the Week: If You Have to Cry, Go Outside

I was so excited to receive a copy of Kelly Cutrone's new book, If You Have to Cry, Go Outside and Other Things Your Mother Never Told You, to read and review.  I love Kelly from The Hills and The City (and now her own show Kell On Earth) and its always been obvious to me that this is a lady who demands respect and is a real breath of fresh air.  Sure, she can be tough and critical at times, but it seems to me that she wants the best for (and from) her employees and she wants the people she's training to succeed.  So Kelly doesn't have a lot of patience for idiots and incompetence, I don't think that's one of her faults.

Part memoir, part advice book, If You Have to Cry is Kelly speaking directly to young women trying to succeed in their personal and professional lives.  If you're looking for behind-the-scenes gossip about her reality shows this isn't the read for you.  Instead, this is Kelly discussing how to deal with insecurities and fears and trying to impart some of the wisdom she's gathered over the years to others who aspire to succeed as she has.

"You can't truly feel joy if you've never felt heartbreak.  You can't really know what its like to be filled unless you've been empty." [p 48]

I'm not one for self-help books, but this one doesn't come across this way.  Its just frank advice, make of it what you will.  Kelly counsels you to follow your dreams and find your "tribe" -- people who share your dreams and encourage them, "but beware, tribal relationships are a two-way street.  As you forge your own tribe, you'll become a member of other tribes and, ultimately, if you're lucky, a tribal elder yourself.  This means you'll be compelled to give and give, even when nothing's in it for you."  [p 24]

"Women should spend as much time look for a religion of their own as they do trying to find a hot guy..." [p 75]

This book never seemed preachy to me, probably because Cutrone lays down her own life experiences as examples and seems sincere in wanting to share the lessons she's learned during her struggles and successes.  Kelly takes you from her childhood in Syracuse to building her own thriving business (more than once) through to her drug addiction and the joys and struggles of single motherhood.  The book--like Kelly appears to be--is smart and funny and wonderfully blunt.

"If anyone really wanted to change the world they'd bring in the fashion bitches because no one gets things done faster.  If we went about saving the world like we go about producing fashion shows, well, let's just say New Orleans after Katrina would have been sorted." [p 83]

via Fashionologie

"You look at your child and you just know from the beginning she's going to break your heart...You know she's going to steal your credit card and your cell phone and lie to you...But you love her and you want for her anyway and its the most beautiful, selfless love; you instinctively know you'd do anything for her regardless of what she chooses to do to you." [p 114]

If you like click here to browse inside.  Has anyone else read this one?  I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.

4/5

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Alla Prossima

Book of the Week: This Charming Man

So, Monday morning again.  A good day if you're from New Orleans.  This week I read This Charming Man by Marian Keyes, the first time I've read anything by this author.  I have no idea how I've gone this long without discovering Keyes considering she's sold about a kajillion books and has apparently been translated in over 20 languages.

The charming man of the title is rougish and handsome politician Paddy de Courcy and the book explores the impact of one event (bachelor Paddy suddenly getting engaged) on four very different women.  There is stylist Lola who goes into a tailspin, retreating to the requisite quirky small town to lick her wounds and recover her sanity, understandable as she is Paddy's girlfriend but not his fiance.  Then there is Marnie, a troubled wife and mother, who has never really recovered from her first love (Paddy) and her twin sister, Grace, a journalist who wants the inside story on the engagement.  And finally, Alicia, the actual fiance who happens to be a blast from the sisters' past and just may be getting in over her head. 

I liked this book a lot, but it wasn't at all what I expected.  Keyes' crafts a story that is both poignant and literally laugh-out-loud funny, with the right mix of mystery, suspense and romance.  Keyes deals with issues that range from alcholism to abuse to adultery and manages to produce female characters that are more than just stereotypes.

The book begins with the following...

What!  You too?  I thought I was the only one. - C.S. Lewis

Everyone remembers where they were the day they head that Paddy de Courcy was getting married...I was extra surprised and that was even before I knew who the lucky woman was...Anyway, Jacinta Kinsella (boss) needed a quick piece on the engagement so I had to put my personal feelings to one side and be a professional. -Grace Gildee

It would have been nice if you asked me first. - Alicia Thornton

I was on the net, checking e-bid for owl handbag (by Stella McCartney, not just any 'oul' handbag) for a client to wear to a wildlife charity thing when I saw the headline...I went into shock.  Actually thought I was having heart attack.  Would have called an ambulance but couldn't remember 999.  Kept thinking 666.  Number of the beast. - Finnola "Lola" Day

Don't you dare be happy, you bastard.  That's what I thought when I heard.  Don't you dare be happy.  - Marnie Hunter

The structure of the book, with past and present events rolled out from the point of views of all four of the women, is interesting and its a testament to Keyes that all four voices are unique and even the side stories are engrossing. Personally, I enjoyed Lola the most.  Even unbalanced and sadly stuck on a man who never deserved her in the first place I found her sweet, funny and relatable.

4/5

I saw When In Rome this weekend (worth it just for Josh Duhamel who I have crushed on since he was Leo on All My Children) and I couldn't get over how cute Kristen Bell looked.  I also loved the Van Cleef & Arpels jewellery she wore, like the Alhambra sautoir necklace below.

Alla Prossima