The Meaning of Mariah Carey
Book by Mariah Carey
DETAILS
Publisher : Andy Cohen Books; Illustrated edition (September 29, 2020) Language : English Hardcover : 368 pages ISBN-10 : 1250164680 ISBN-13 : 978-1250164681 Item Weight : 1.3 pounds Dimensions : 6.6 x 1.23 x 9.45 inches Best Sellers Rank: #23,935 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #3 in R&B & Soul Artist Biographies #23 in Popular Music (Books) #763 in Memoirs (Books) , The Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller The global icon, award-winning singer, songwriter, producer, actress, mother, daughter, sister, storyteller, and artist finally tells the unfiltered story of her life in The Meaning of Mariah Carey It took me a lifetime to have the courage and the clarity to write my memoir. I want to tell the story of the moments - the ups and downs, the triumphs and traumas, the debacles and the dreams, that contributed to the person I am today. Though there have been countless stories about me throughout my career and very public personal life, it’s been impossible to communicate the complexities and depths of my experience in any single magazine article or a ten-minute television interview. And even then, my words were filtered through someone else’s lens, largely satisfying someone else’s assignment to define me. This book is composed of my memories, my mishaps, my struggles, my survival and my songs. Unfiltered. I went deep into my childhood and gave the scared little girl inside of me a big voice. I let the abandoned and ambitious adolescent have her say, and the betrayed and triumphant woman I became tell her side. Writing this memoir was incredibly hard, humbling and healing. My sincere hope is that you are moved to a new understanding, not only about me, but also about the resilience of the human spirit. Love, Mariah Read more
REVIEW
This book was a pleasure to read. I could not put it down. I felt like Mariah Carey took my hand and personally took me on a narrated journey where we walked through different scenes of her life. There are lots of fascinating “behind the scenes” stories and tid bits about the entertainment industry, Tommy Mottola, artists such as Da Brat, Ol’ Dirty Bastard (aka ODB), Prince, Diana Ross, Luther Vandross, etc. For example, Luther Vandross advised Mariah Carey to protect her voice which is also her instrument and therefore Mariah enjoys warmer climates when she is recording. I knew that Mariah Carey’s mother was a Juilliard trained opera singer, but I never knew that Mariah and her mother had a very strained relationship. The mother daughter relationship is complicated (all relationships are) but it is extremely painful and confusing when one’s own mother intentionally hurts you. Mariah talks about her complicated relationship with her mother in the book. She talks about the things that she did for her mother out of love and with the belief that she had a healthy mom who could love her back. She talks about how her mother hurt her deeply and why she refers to her mother using her mother’s first name instead of, “Mother”. This book contains more than a few unflattering (yet fascinating) details about Tommy Mottola that it makes me wonder whether Tommy is receiving some money from the sales of this book. I highly doubt that Mariah’s lawyers would let her publish anything that would put her at risk of litigation, but what would make Tommy (and his lawyers) to allow such unflattering information to be published about him? Deals aside, kudos to Mariah because she now has the star power to be able speak her truth about the seven years she was in a relationship with Tommy. I remember watching interviews during the 90s after Mariah got divorced and interviewers would press her on why she got divorced; the interviewers were dying for some gossip. Mariah was always diplomatic and in one interview, she responded in an exasperated manner, “Look, I got a record coming out.” She was trying to say, “Could you please let the topic go, I can’t jeopardize my music career by talking badly about Tommy Mottola.” The book talks about how after the divorce, Tommy Mottola did try to hurt her music career. He was definitely powerful in the music industry, so there was a period of time when she had to be diplomatic and keep the pain and unhappiness that she had experienced hidden. Mariah shares her painful experiences with racism. She talked about times in her life when race was cruelly used against her and the helplessness and painful feelings it evoked in her even though she had done nothing wrong. The book contains powerful descriptions about self-identity, racism, and the strength that she has gained from learning about her family tree. . This book put a spotlight on Mariah’s involvement with music from a young age. Her mother had musician and jazz artist friends and Mariah would sing with them and learn from them. Mariah was also hired to sing radio jingles when she was a young teenager and then background vocals. Even though Mariah did not enroll in Juilliard or the Boston College of Music, she definitely learned about music since she was young and paid attention to how music is made and how to use the voice as an instrument. I knew that Mariah wrote her own songs but I did not realize how she is a musician. Not all pop stars are musicians. Music is Mariah’s language. I listen to her music differently. I always loved the song, “Without You,” and now I listen to it with even greater appreciation. She always sang with an astounding level of maturity even though she was only 18 years old when her first album came out. Of course, that was the image that the record company (and Tommy Mottola) delivered to the world, but still, her voice was not auto-tuned and the runs and breaks that she put into her songs were purposeful and helped tell the story of the song and convey emotion. Compare her to Christina Aguilera who also has an amazing voice. Christina can sing impressive runs but she does it to show off her voice whereas Mariah does it to make a song more emotive and powerful. I highly recommend this book. It’s a fast read because it is fascinating and the writing is wonderfully engaging.
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