Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old
Thoughts on Aging as a Woman
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3.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
From generational icon Brooke Shields comes an intimate and empowering exploration of aging that flips the script on the idea of what it means for a woman to grow older
Brooke Shields has spent a lifetime in the public eye. Growing up as a child actor and model, her every feature was scrutinized, her every decision judged. Today Brooke faces a different kind of scrutiny: that of being a “woman of a certain age.”
And yet, for Brooke, the passage of time has brought freedom. At fifty-nine, she feels more comfortable in her skin, more empowered and confident than she did decades ago in those famous Calvin Kleins. Now, in Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old, she’s changing the narrative about women and aging.
This is an era, insists Brooke, when women are reclaiming agency and power, not receding into the shadows. These are the years when we get to decide how we want to live—when we get to write our own stories.
With remarkable candor, Brooke bares all, painting a vibrant and optimistic picture of being a woman in the prime of her life, while dismantling the myths that have, for too long, dimmed that perception. Sharing her own life experiences with humor and humility, and weaving together research and reporting, Brooke takes aim at the systemic factors that contribute to age-related bias.
By turns inspiring, moving, and galvanizing, Brooke’s honesty and vulnerability will resonate with women everywhere, and spark a new conversation about the power and promise of midlife.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
In her honest and heartfelt memoir, the iconic actor Brooke Shields wants all women to feel as empowered as she does. From achieving epic fame at a perilously young age to navigating the business as a woman over 40, she lets us in on all the stories that have made up her fascinating life. Some are shocking (the public comments Tom Cruise made about her postpartum depression are jaw-dropping) while others are truly wholesome (hearing her talk about making Matthew Perry laugh while filming Friends made us tear up a bit). Most interestingly, Shields balances her deeply personal stories with real statistics and insights on the issues that fire her up, like aging, medical care, and the beauty industry. Ultimately, Shields’ memoir will leave you optimistic about the confidence and power that come from experience.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"As I hit my midfifties, I grew increasingly curious about the disconnect between how this age feels and how it is portrayed in our culture and society," writes actor and model Shields (There Was a Little Girl) in this candid memoir-in-essays about aging in the public eye. In "Sex and the Middle-Aged Woman," Shields forcefully dismisses the notion that older women lose their sex appeal ("News flash, I'm not actually on this planet for the sole purpose of making you feel virile"). "Parent Trap" addresses her complicated relationship with her alcoholic mother, as well as her conflicting emotions about her daughters "becoming young women" while she dealt with the challenges of menopause. Though most of the book deals seriously with the contradiction of feeling "personally empowered and systematically dismissed" in middle age, Shields also demonstrates a flair for comedy, including in a hilarious, self-deprecating saga about peeing her pants while being transported to the hospital in an ambulance with Bradley Cooper. Striking a tone that's both wise and approachable, Shields encourages women of all ages to reclaim their power. It's hard not to be inspired. Agents: Albert Lee and Pilar Queen, UTA.
