Rating: 7.5/10
On Nov. 19, singer Cher released “Cher: The Memoir, Part One,” which covers her life from her family history to her established superstardom.
The singer held multiple events promoting this first portion of her two-part memoir. Part one is over 400 pages long, and the second is expected in 2025. Not only is she releasing a second part, but she will also be releasing a new album, which will likely be her last.
Cher begins by detailing her mother’s childhood of poverty, relationship struggles and addiction while trying to make it in Hollywood. Her mother was used by her family to make money because of her talented voice.
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“Often when I think of my family history it sounds like the opening of a Dickens novel, but it’s true,” Cher writes.
The circumstances around her mother’s life are referred to throughout the book as reasoning for Cher’s mindset and actions.
The primary focus of the memoir is family, both the one Cher was born into and the one she made. Even with dark subject matter, she maintains her witty tone.
“Addiction doesn’t just run in my family; it gallops,” Cher writes, making light of her family’s hardships with her unique form of dark humor.
This teasing tone continues throughout the book. Cher tends to write as if she is in conversation with the reader, capitalizing whole words and asking rhetorical questions.
“I was born under the sign of Taurus on the cusp of Gemini, so it’s like there’s three of us in here,” Cher writes.
She recalls seeing Jesus above her bed as a child and states, “I missed my chance to become Saint Cher.” This quippy writing style is reminiscent of her skits with ex-husband Sonny Bono on “The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour.”
Bono is one of the main focuses of Cher’s memoir, as she describes their relationship from their first meeting to their divorce. Readers learn the flaws in their marriage, like extreme jealousy and Bono’s habit of infidelity.
However, together, the two rose to fame. She writes through their career highs and lows, intermingling the memories with her feelings at the time.
“It often feels like there are two Chers in me — the one who’s anxious about going on stage and the other who feels completely at home in the spotlight,” Cher writes.
The distinction between Cher’s public and private persona is well-documented in this memoir. She writes about feelings she has never before explained publicly, like her contemplation of suicide during her divorce from Bono.
Cher has been intimately involved in the Hollywood scene since she was a teenager. She details her experiences and friendships with numerous celebrities: Mick Jagger, Tina Turner, Lucille Ball, Jimi Hendrix, Hugh Hefner, Salvador Dalí and Jack Nicholson are just a few.
Cher recounts many of her experiences with these celebrities, as well as the wild situations she found herself in simply because she was famous — like dining with Jimmy Carter soon after his inauguration.
She puts the story into perspective by including sections of laminate photographs throughout the book. Each section correlates with the people discussed previously, allowing the reader to put a name to a face, which can be helpful when there are so many.
Cher left very little unsaid from incredibly detailed descriptions of everyone involved in her life. While the details provided access to many aspects of her life, on occasion, they felt overwhelming.
The sheer amount of information on houses, boyfriends’ families, friends and locations made it difficult to finish all 432 pages. Interesting pockets of stories were hidden in an unfocused memory stream.
However, Cher thrives when describing specific episodes of her life, and her memories of events and conversations are entertaining and witty. Many stories are memorable and tie into her life throughout the memoir, making it seem like a true insight into Cher’s life.
