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. 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. We get to learn about her difficult childhood and teenage years, and how her complicated relationship with her mother shaped Demi into the insecure woman that learned from a very young age to hide her troubles behind a dazzling smile. Her difficult early years also taught her independence and strong, and professional work ethic. One thing is for sure, every single accomplishment in her life, Demi has earned.

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." 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. 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.Demi Moore had a very broken and dysfunctional family because of whom she started early with sex, drugs, and alcohol. However, she learned all the lessons, changed her habits and focused on becoming the best paid actress of her time. 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... 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.

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.

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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.

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. 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?

Then she details all her fears, insecurities, and body image issues which she struggled all her live with. She spoke so beautifully of her three husbands, she pointed out her mistakes, their mistakes and the reasons why everything happened. She is very honest about her feelings, very fair towards both Bruce Willis and Ashton Kutcher, very loving to her daughters, and incredibly supportive of women in this cruel industry. I loved her stories about the infamous Vanity Fair cover when she posed naked and pregnant, about her roles in A few Good Men, Striptease, and GI Jane - all movies and moments where she depicted strong women who were supposed to be regarded as such, but she was trashed in the media for various stupid reasons. 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. There is a step in Twelve Step recovery — the 4th step — that asks that we take a "searching and fearless moral inventory," of ourselves. Demi Moore got sober in the mid-1980s, but never spoke very publicly about it. There were hints, always, in interviews she gave. She told one reporter she was currently reading, The Sermon on the Mount, a book that every 12-step recovery person would know. It was a foundational book by Emmett Fox and widely read by the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous. In the 80s, 12-step recovery became widespread. Those of us in recovery knew of the many celebrities who were sober, including Demi.

A Best Book of the Year: The New Yorker, The Guardian, The Sunday Times, The Daily Mail, Good Morning America, She Reads 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’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. 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.I didn't make it a mission to read her memoir, but I borrowed the audiobook from the library and after listening to it, I am very happy I did. 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 memoir was articulate, unputdownable, engaging, honest, and emotional. Even though I haven't experienced most of what she's been through, I could completely relate and empathise with her feelings, and found myself nodding in agreement and murmuring under my breath, marvelling over the actress’s ability to express her thoughts so well. Demi both owned and took responsibility for her mistakes, but never placed the blame squarely on her shoulders, because as the saying goes, ‘It Takes Two to Tango’. The memoir begins with stories from Moore's tough upbringing, including her mother's first attempted suicide and the time Moore was raped at the age of 15. Moore's parents' battled with alcoholism. Moore recalled using her fingers to dig pills out of her mother's mouth, which was just the first of several suicide attempts her mother made before she died in 1998. Moore called this event as a life-changing moment that ended her childhood. She learned that the man she grew up calling dad, Danny Guynes (who later died by suicide), was not her biological father. [16] 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."