I grew up watching the “original” (wow, that makes me feel old) “Beverly Hills, 90210.” Even though I was in elementary school when it premiered, I longed to be a part of the West Beverly crowd. I’d marry Dylan and Donna would be my ditzy, forever-virginal friend.
Years later, I’d read “Donna’s” first book, StoriTelling, and while I no longer wanted to marry Dylan (what even happened to him, anyway?) I wanted Donna as a best friend even more. The book was so conversational and sometimes confessional, I got to know what it was like growing up in the real Beverly Hills, why she married her first husband and then why she married her second.
By the time I finished StoriTelling, her newest book, Uncharted TerriTori, had come out. I immediately bought it on my Kindle app and finished it quickly. If I had to write an Amazon review for it, though, I’d title it “Fizzy but with an aftertaste.”
The book had the same conversational style as her first but there was an urgency behind it. A lot of the stories were straight from her reality TV show, even though I haven’t seen many episodes of that. And a lot of the subject matter had to do with the fact that Tori’s entire life is on display, and how she’s dealing with that. That kind of makes me feel bad, as a fan, because if I and others weren’t fans of hers, the paparazzi wouldn’t follow her at grocery stores. But if she really didn’t want this life, she could move somewhere remote, get a job out of the public eye and never be stalked by photographers again.
On the other hand, reality TV seems like it was made for her. She was famous practically since birth, had appearances in many of her dad’s shows and later found success in TV movies. But the TV movie market isn’t so lucrative anymore (ahem…ask her husband) so now she’s even more famous and making even more money by living inside a fishbowl.
I guess I just wish she could slow it down. She shouldn’t have to Twitter every single thing. She should be able to savor some of her success without having to run around to get more of it. I appreciate her trying to keep her fans in the loop but at the same time I think it might be better for her health and sanity to have more quiet time with her family once in a while.
That’s what I’d tell my best friend, anyway.
