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When I read that Christopher Reeve became completely paralyzed after he fell off a horse in 1995, I was shocked. Who wouldn’t be? After all, he was Superman. He could turn back time. He could bring Lois Lane back to life. He could freeze fire. He could fit 3 bad aliens into a thin sheet of glass.

I immediately bought a copy of his autobiography the moment it was released 3 years after his accident. What I love most about autobios is the insight you get of a celebrity - that behind each and every shiny star is a walking, waking human behind it.

I read that Superman (just like his persona) loves to joke. He loves horses. He had 2 wives and his second one, Dana, stood by him from the moment of his injury till his very last day. That was his greatest fear - to be left alone by the one he loved. He prepared for it and he also suffered from a great deal of insecurity. He acknowledged that he is one of luckiest man on earth.

His kids are beautiful! His son, Matthew, is as handsome as him and his daughter, Al, is a real beauty. His youngest, Will, looks like a cheeky little boy.

I enjoyed reading about his early days on stage (real drama, not TV) and his endearing friendship with Robin Williams.

He was also an arts activist - he led a rally to support 77 Chilean actors, directors, and playwrights sentenced to death by the dictator Augusto Pinochet for criticizing his regime in their works. With the media coverage, their death sentences were cancelled. He’d saved their lives!

For someone who had everything going for him - looks, love, success, fatherhood - the fall must have been devastating. Thankfully, he picked up the pieces and moved on to switch roles from actor to director, speaker to writer, victim to activist…

He never stopped living - or loving. Despite his divorce, he maintained close ties with his children and this is evident from the loving relationship his new family had with each other. It’s not every day you read about kids from a first marriage getting on with mother/child from a second marriage.

I remember watching him appear on TV for the Emmy awards with my father. One of my favourite movies is “Somewhere in Time” where he co-starred with Jane Seymour, one of my parents’ favourite actresses.

I remember Hubby searching the original VCD for me as a surprise present. I still have it!

We all felt sad when Superman died in 2004. While we may know him as Superman, we’re now more aware of spinal cord injuries after what happened to him. Through his work, his life and his struggle, Christopher Reeve (baby nickname “Tophy”) showed us that he really was the Man of Steel.

Still Me by Christopher Reeve
(ISBN: 0-345-43241-X)

Tags: autobiography, celebrity by KittyCat
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Redneck Woman: Stories from my life by Gretchen Wilson & Allen Rucker
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
(ISBN: 978-0446401234)

This new release was one of the nice presents Hubby brought back from the US for me and I couldn’t wait to read it, especially after skimming the blurb.

The term “redneck” is a very strong slur in the US, especially in the Midwest and I’ve always been mystified by what it means, even though my American colleagues tried their best to explain it to me, albeit in politically-correct terms.

In summary, it refers to the poorer whites (cruelly known as “white trash”) who live in the rural areas e.g. the characters from the old sitcom the “Beverly Hillbillies”. Teen marriages, domestic violence, moonshine, “wife beater” shirts (red, long-sleeved, plaid shirts), chewing tobacco and incest are frequently tied to this group, other than poverty and trailer parks.

Gretchen Wilson, one of US’ top country singers, tells her own tale about first, being a “redneck” and second, being a woman in this maligned community. She recalls the story of her life with Allen Rucker, her co-author, but succeeds in keeping the tone of the book as brutally honest as she sets it out to be.

I really enjoyed reading this autobiography and was very curious about WHEN Gretchen would actually get her moment in time in Nashville. Growing up in a town called Pocahontas, Illinois, she seemed to have an endless string of bad beginnings:

Just one-third into the book, I can imagine how hard and bitter she and her stepbrother would have become by the time they reached their teens. As she’s only 1 year older than me, I’m surprised they hadn’t made the headlines earlier for a school shooting or another form of violent crime!

The saving grace is Gretchen’s grandmother, Frances, who is a thrifty, kind, animal & plant-loving woman even though she married and lived with the most horrible man imaginable on earth. I almost shed tears when I read the part about Grandma Frances’ simple “wishlist”, one of which is to have a cleaning lady come just ONCE to clear their house. Not once a month or once a week - just one time.

Even so, Gretchen couldn’t take the madness of moving to avoid her stepfather’s angry clients that she dropped out of high school at 15. She worked as a waitress and a bartender and would have stuck to the common 2-job life of a “redneck woman” if not for her talent for singing.

Her belief in herself kept her bartending for money, pulled her through alcoholism and held her through a long plateau of small gigs before she actually struck gold in Nashville, the Hollywood for country music.

A true creative, she accepted any singing assignments she was given, regardless of the genre as long as she could sing - this proved really useful as she achieved amazing control over her voice. Be it the blues, country, pop or rock, she could sing it!

I rejoiced in her success when she finally got her first contract and also shared her sadness when Grandma Frances died before Gretchen made it big. I sense her sincerity and understand her desires in wanting to be the best mother and to give the best to her own daughter, Grace.

Similarly, I can appreciate the fact that she also wants Grace to know her humbled roots and this Gretchen succeeds by inviting her family members to be part of her success.

Also, despite rolling in riches now, she maintains her old lifestyle of cleaning up at her own little home and also allows her kin to continue with the “country” ways they are used to.

I was quite inspired after reading about Gretchen and as she says so at the beginning (adding also that she doesn’t mean to belittle the redneck way of life), she hopes that her life story will inspire any woman or “redneck woman” out there who thinks that she’s stuck with a bad deal in her life.

This book is a refreshing, informative perspective on the concept of being a “redneck”. At times I would have wanted more details about the life of a bartender or the hardships of rural America but I have to remember that this is, after all, Gretchen’s autobiography.

The only pop culture I can recall revolving around the “redneck” theme are:

“A Painted House” by John Grisham

“The Baby Dance” - Hallmark movie starring Stockard Channing & Laura Dern

Tags: autobiography, chicklit, cross-culture by KittyCat
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