The Book of Joan: Tales of Mirth, Mischief and Manipulation

Genre: Non-Fiction

I gave this book ***

This is the true-life story of Joan Rivers as told by her only child, daughter, Melissa Rivers. Joan died unexpectedly of complications from what should have been a simple procedure at the age of 81. Melissa says, “In our family we used to laugh through the pain…” and so, she thought, this book was the best way to honor her mother’s memory. Melissa shares a little about her mother’s childhood, but mostly we learn that, as an adult, Joan was a force to be reckoned with. She worked well into her 70’s and continued to love traveling for work where she headlined shows all over the country and ran several successful businesses. Melissa proudly shares her mother’s accomplishments and achievements, but is also very honest about the nature of their relationship. The two clearly had a special bond, but Joan was judgmental and not always accepting of her daughter’s choices. Nonetheless, it’s beautiful to see the love and respect the two shared.

This book was enjoyable enough. With a lot of name dropping and red-carpet gossip, this felt, at the same time, amusing biography and gossip journal. Joan was an interesting person and full of dichotomies: she was loving to her daughter and yet extremely judgmental; she thought it important that Melissa have impeccable table manners, but crudely teased Elizabeth Taylor when she gained weight (so much so, that when Johnny Carson asked Joan if she felt bad about the jokes, Joan replied, “No! I’m not the one shoving potatoes down my throat!”), she loved fine things and wasn’t a spendthrift, but she stole items from the first-class airline amenities, she made silly jokes and yet attended Dartmouth College. I can’t say that I was personally a big fan of Joan’s humor, but I can’t argue with her intelligence and spunk. May we all be that spunky when we reach our 80’s!