Leslie Bennetts

Leslie Bennetts “Last Girl Before Freeway”: The Life, Loves, Losses, and Liberation of Joan Rivers” is the lone biography here. Bennett covers Rivers’ entire life, where she was Joan Molinsky, to her rise as a stand-up comedienne, her successes and failures, to her eventual death in September of 2014 during what was supposed to be a simple surgical procedure.

The book is comprehensive, and with a subject such as Rivers, who accomplished so much in her life, it flies by quickly. Joan Molinsky grew up in a household where her doctor-father, a kind and hard-working man, never made enough money for his wife, who feared poverty and always tried to keep up with the Joneses.

Joan was one of the first successful female stand-up comediennes, and the book is filled with anecdotes from younger female stand-ups who sing the praises of Joan’s generosity, even though Rivers often resented being called a mentor. She always wanted to be hip and relevant, and her fearless stand-up routines, which she continued weekly even up to her death, reflected that.

The early sections of the book rely on material from Rivers’ own writings (she wrote several books, including two memoirs), but once Bennetts interviews people who worked with Rivers, who knew her well, the book gives the reader a better overall picture of this complicated woman.

Rivers was driven, and her many self-reinventions, rising from the ashes of her failed Fox talk show after her very public falling out with Johnny Carson to become not only a successful stand-up comic but also a hugely successful businesswoman designing and selling jewelry in the fledgling QVC network, are an inspiration to anyone who has been knocked down in life.… (lisätietoja)

Joan Rivers was a paradox. She ran by her own internal compass and what may have seemed completely contradictory to the outside world made perfect sense to her. She broke gender boundaries in comedy but adamantly refused the title feminist. When she made comedic inroads for other women, she didn’t bring them up with her and was constantly competing. She hated her own looks but made a career out of making fun of how other women look. She was obsessed with the finer things and made friends with powerful, entitled people but was herself a crass, loud, Jewish woman. She was outspoken for gay rights but remained a staunch Republican. She was a member of the Writers Guild of America but refused to support the writers during their strike. It seems that regardless of the venue, Rivers loved to provoke people.

Bennetts interviewed dozens of people for this book to get first-hand perspectives of who Joan Rivers really was. She also often uses quotes from books written by Rivers herself. From childhood, through her struggles with marriage and her career, to becoming a mother, dealing with her husband’s suicide and the effect that had on her career, her resurgence as a fashion/insult comic and QVC jewelry slinger, and up through her last, still very productive years, Bennetts details the many lives of Joan Rivers.

Rivers was a woman who never stopped. Her all-consuming obsession with success and her pervasive fear that she could lose it all (again), kept her moving. Even until the last days of her life, she kept working just as hard as she always did. Love her or hate her (or both at the same time), she earned and deserves respect for her dedication and work ethic, for her refusal to accept no for an answer and to abide by the rules, and for her generosity.… (lisätietoja)

I highly recommend this book to women in general, but especially to mothers and prospective mothers. Bennetts presents a well-researched/documented argument persuading women to nurture their careers along with their children once they become mothers. In exploring the recent trend of impressively educated, highly accomplished young women sacrificing their careers to become stay-at-home mothers, she ponders the question: Why, when the future is unpredictable and women can so easily lose their husbands' income to divorce, disability, and death, are so many young women choosing to cheerfully hope for the best and voluntarily become dependent on their husbands?

She examines some social and historical reasons, including how the conservative media portray working moms as selfish and clamor for a return to more traditional gender roles. She argues that female dependency has very strong roots in western culture and there is a lot of pressure on women to stay at home.

Bennetts cautions about the various risks to women. At the same time, she details the many advantages to maintaining a career, discussing the financial freedom and the security that come from employment but also the less tangible rewards, such as intellectual stimulation, continuing to face challenges as you move further ahead in your career, earning respect and accolades from colleagues and bosses, the pleasure of lifelong learning, and acting as a role model for your children, among other things.

Overall it is a fascinating read and very important contribution.… (lisätietoja)