Cher: Part One: The Memoir

by Cher Narrated by Cher, Stephanie J. Block

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

The truly one-of-a-kind life story of Cher, told by the superstar herself, tracing from her humble origins to the remarkable heights she’s reached and everything in between. It’s honest, authentic and incredible.

Cher: The Memoir, Part One promises to be an engaging and exciting audiobook experience, befitting this incredible book. Read in part by Cher herself, the book is introduced, and each chapter launched, by the author. Rounding out each chapter as she continues the narrative is celebrated stage actor Stephanie J. Block.?Stephanie starred on Broadway in The Cher Show for which she won a Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, and Outer Critics Circle Award. Together, Cher and Stephanie share the storytelling duties, alternating within the chapters to create a unique audiobook treatment that will bring listeners fully into this period of Cher's life-from her earliest childhood memories, to her meeting Sonny and their ascent into superstardom, her painful divorce from Bono, her relationship with Gregg Allman and her reach for independence. It is a story of creativity, individuality, motherhood, love, and loss, as only Cher could recount.

“Lending my voice to help deliver Cher's memoir has been an honor and a thrill. Her life is fascinating, glamorous, surprising, exciting... and at times, completely heartbreaking. Her story is a beautiful balance of ULTIMATE stardom and accessibility. She is CHER for a reason and this book helps the reader get behind `the reason,'” says Block.

“When it came to completing the audiobook, I knew I wouldn't be able to do it all myself due to my dyslexia.? But then I thought of Stephanie, who won the Tony for playing me on Broadway in The Cher Show. I knew she would be the perfect choice to get across to the reader the essence of me. I called her and within hours she re-arranged her schedule to start the recording.? I felt so safe having her help share my story, and she did a beautiful job,” says Cher.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

[Cher]’s frank autobiography is a testament to resilience.” — New York Times
"A must read." — Stylist (UK)
"Her wit and candour shine through as she shares stories of love, loss, and resilience. For fans and newcomers alike, the memoir is a vivid reminder of Cher’s enduring influence and the fearless spirit that make her a timeless queen of the industry." — Glamour
“Impossible to put down, this rollicking memoir is well—written, thoughtful, and will have readers eager for the second volume.” — Library Journal
"Fabulous [with] heartbreaking honesty." — People
:Full of unforgettable memories and insights." — Cosmopolitan (UK)
"I practically inhaled it…it’s a riot: a revelatory, self—deprecating tale." — The Times (UK)
"Cher's memoir is the story of a hard—luck kid transformed by her own personal magic. It's irresistible."
— Slate
"From hustler parents to a rocky marriage with the controlling Sonny Bono, this first half is a fascinating read." — Salon.com
"...A rock 'n' roll memoir like no other." — Daily Mail (UK)
“Turns out the alluring woman gracing the book’s cover is the same one who appears in these pages: intelligent, sensitive, and engaging.” — Los Angeles Times
"Utterly candid." — Washington Post
"Packs intricate details about her difficult childhood; her early singing experiences... the emotional roller coaster that was Sonny Bono; and her unshakable love for Gregg Allman." — USA Today
"Sparing no detail, and missing no opportunity for a laugh." — Oprah Daily
“The book is as raw and unfiltered as one would expect from Cher.” — Rolling Stone
"[Full of] her signature wit and humor." — The Skimm

Kirkus Reviews

★ 2024-11-20
The diva recounts the action-packed first half of her life story, an all-American rags-to-riches dream.

Like Barbra Streisand, this iconic woman, born in 1946, is going to need about a thousand pages to tell the story of her amazing life and career—but she has chosen to do it in two volumes. This one ends about eight years before she won her Oscar forMoonstruckin 1988, but having started her partnership with Sonny Bono at the age of 16, there is plenty to cover. She begins at the beginning: “I mean, jeez. My family. You couldn’t make it up.” Though Cher grew up with sour milk, ants in the Rice Krispies, and saddle shoes held together with rubber bands, her mother always won the “misery Olympics” with stories of her own past: “Did your dad ever try to gas you in your sleep?” Georgia Holt, this beautiful man-eater actress mom, was married six times (twice to Cher’s “smooth-talking Armenian father,” Johnnie Sarkisian), and Cher’s relationship with her, which included quite a bit of difficulty over the years but always landed on love, seems to presage her history with Bono. He died in 1998, creating an opportunity for affecting candor and self-reflection about their trajectory, which included a divorce on the basis that “Sonny had held me in ‘involuntary servitude,’ in direct violation of the US Constitution’s Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery.” Their comedy act continued to thrive after their split: She loved this man, and always will. The story of Sonny & Cher is a story of the ’60s and ’70s, of the growth of the music and television industries, of fashion and celebrity culture, of the evolving role of women in the 20th century. And the skinny on her relationships with music mogul David Geffen, second husband Gregg Allman, and Kiss frontman Gene Simmons is just as riveting. “We talked so long on the phone he ended up with a $2,800 phone bill,” she writes of Simmons. “That’s when he blurted out that he loved me….What is it with these men?”

The vicarious experience of wealth, glamour, and romance is rarely this much fun. A truly great celebrity memoir.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940192175866
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	11/19/2024
Series:	The Cher Memoir , #1
Edition description:	Unabridged

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