Getting the Pretty Back: Friendship, Family, and Finding the Perfect Lipstick [Hardcover]

Molly Ringwald (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 27, 2010

The iconic Molly Ringwald shares intimate stories and candid advice in this fun, stylish, and sexy girlfriend's guide to life

To her millions of fans, Molly Ringwald will forever be sixteen. As the endearing and witty star of the beloved John Hughes classics Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, and Pretty in Pink, Molly defined teenage angst, love, and heartbreak. While remembered eternally as the enviable high school princess Claire, or the shy, vulnerable Samantha, Molly has just celebrated her fortieth birthday. Facing a completely new, angst-inducing time in her life, she is embracing being a woman, wife, mother of three, actress, and best friend with her trademark style, candor, and humor.

In Getting the Pretty Back, Molly encourages every woman to become "the sexiest, funniest, smartest, best-dressed, and most confident woman that you can be." She shares personal anecdotes and entertaining insights about the struggle to get through the murky milestones and identity issues that crop up long after the prom ends. Whether she's discussing sex and beauty, personal style, travel and entertaining, motherhood, or friendship, Molly embodies the spirit of being fabulous at every age, and reminds us all that prettiness is a state of mind: it's "the part of you that knows what you really want, that takes risks."

Lavishly illustrated by Ruben Toledo, Getting the Pretty Back is sure to charm women of all ages with Molly's unforgettably personal, refreshingly outspoken take on life, love, and, of course, finding that perfect red lipstick. . . .

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Famous for her roles as an angst-ridden teen in John Hughes classics like Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club, Ringwald, now a 40-year-old wife and mother living largely outside the celebrity spotlight, seems a credible source of advice for young women and a likely fount of behind-the-scenes Hollywood anecdotes; unfortunately, she provides little of either in this uninspired self-help memoir. Like a well-meaning but distant friend, the actress shares advice and observations on topics like love, clothes, and food, often focusing on the inane and obvious (souvenir t-shirts are both ugly and ill-fitting; rushing into sex is usually a mistake) rather than the personal or perceptive: "When you're a teenager, you're forever thinking: Do they like me? When you're a grown-up... the question becomes: Do I like them?" Ringwald occasionally involves her personal history, including the fact that the early stages of her romance with husband number two were mostly conducted over email, but she skimps on the details that her fans are probably looking for, with surprisingly little reference to the movie work that made her an icon of suburban youth in the 1980s. Color illustrations.
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Review

“[A] woman’s dream bible: It is about finding inner beauty when you are no longer 16…. Ringwald truly wants women to feel admired and confident at any age, and her passion comes across as clearly (and quirkily) as it did in her teen movie years.” (The Daily Beast )

“[Ringwald’s] book offers tips on prettifying from the inside out.” (People )

“A warm and chatty guide to aging gracefully.” (Salon.com )

“A lighthearted guide for women…who want to be reminded of their youthful, carefree selves.” (New York Times )

“She’s not afraid to dish….Ringwald shares the secrets of what has worked well in her life….[She sheds] light on who she’s become off-camera, and that person has a lot of good advice to share.” (San Francisco Chronicle )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: It Books (April 27, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061809446
• ISBN-13: 978-0061809446
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #640,097 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Molly Ringwald began her film career at the age of thirteen with her Golden Globe-nominated performance in The Tempest. Her extensive film credits include The Pick-Up Artist, For Keeps, Fresh Horses, Betsy's Wedding, Billy Bob Thornton's short film Some People Call It a Sling Blade, and the now iconic coming-of-age movies Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, and The Breakfast Club. On stage, Molly has starred in the Broadway production of Cabaret, the Tony-nominated Broadway production of Enchanted April, and the Bob Fosse musical Sweet Charity. Molly can currently be seen starring in the breakout hit The Secret Life of the American Teenager on ABC Family. She lives with her husband and three children in Los Angles, CA, and Getting the Pretty Back is her first book.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Getting my Money Back, January 22, 2011

By 

bodhi4003 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Getting the Pretty Back: Friendship, Family, and Finding the Perfect Lipstick (Hardcover)

So unfortunate . . . I really, really wanted to like this book. Like many women in their 30s, I was enamored with Molly Ringwald (in a girl-crush, that's who I want to be sort of way) throughout high school. So when I happened upon this book in my local library, I immediately grabbed it. Though I was hoping for an autobiography, I must say that when I read the flap I was intrigued. Molly Ringwald was going to give me advice. How cool is that? And she's going to help me get my "pretty back" (ok, I never knew I lost my "pretty" but if I needed to retrieve it, I was glad that it was Molly who was going to help me find it).

Then I read the book. Which, as I stated above, was unfortunate. Because I no longer felt like I needed to "get my pretty back". I more or less felt that I needed to get the last 20 or so years of my life back. You see, I haven't ever made a movie; lived in France; fallen in love with a man several years my junior who was dating my friend; and/or had his children. I'm not inclined to throw dinner parties on the rooftop garden of my New York apartment (so creating the perfect cheese plate is a lost art to me) or go on wine buying "binges". I don't care how to tie a Hermes scarf because I can't afford one. Nor do I want to hear someone espousing the benefits of peels and injectable fillers. Perhaps, my life has not been as exciting as I've led myself to believe. Or, perhaps, this book is not as great as the editors copy led me to believe. I honestly didn't know that a book could give me low self-esteem. Though now she is perfectly poised to write a follow up tome on "How to Get the Dignity Back".

To say that this book left me cold would be an understatement. While I'm not apposed to self-help books and am all for personal betterment, this book failed in both categories. The advice was trite and lacking in depth, emotion and, most shockingly, usefulness. It came off as self-indulgent fluff targeted at a select few. (Most likely, those who've never seen the inside of a Target.)

23 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars John Hughes Would Be Proud, April 28, 2010

By 

Dr. David Frisbie (Rancho Santa Fe, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Getting the Pretty Back: Friendship, Family, and Finding the Perfect Lipstick (Hardcover)

Here's a remarkable, readable, highly entertaining book that's full of surprises!

Former teen star Molly Ringwald (currently featured on ABC's Secret Life of the American Teenager) writes about relationships, success, confidence, appearance --- topics of interest to many --- while revealing personal depth and clear maturity. The book's breezy, join-me-for-a-chat tone invites the reader on a journey that is more than rewarded here.

In an age of petulant teen stars and train-wreck public personas, it's refreshing to encounter someone who wasn't ruined by success. Instead, adolescent success appears to have stretched, enlightened, and matured this young actress.

Credit her family, her friends, her support network. Credit her high intelligence. Regardless of cause and effect, the outcome here would make John Hughes proud.

Dr. David Frisbie
The Center for Marriage & Family Studies
Author of "The Soul-Mate Marriage" and 9 other books

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars The advice either appeals to you or not., January 22, 2011

By 

Felicia Sparks "The Geeky Blogger" (The Colony, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Getting the Pretty Back: Friendship, Family, and Finding the Perfect Lipstick (Hardcover)

What I Loved: Molly narrated her own book and I think this works for this book. She has a good reading voice.

What I Liked: This book covers everything from dinner parties to lipstick. I can't think of a topic that she did not cover. In that aspect, this book delivered on it's promise to give you advice on how to handle anything. I also enjoyed when she threw in antidotes about her life over the years. Those little stories were the best part of the book.

What I thought was So-So/Didn't Like: I really wanted to love this book but most of it was "eh". I am not sure that most of her advice is good for everyday people. It is probably because I am not a fashionita. I do figure that I am not the main target audience for this book. It just seemed a little out of reach for most normal people.

Why I gave it a 2: I will admit that this is one of those books that will probably get ratings from bad to good because it really is more of a personal type of book. The advice either appeals to you or not. I love Molly Ringwald and feel like this book will appeal to other people. It just didn't work for me.

Who I would recommend it too: Anyone who likes non-fiction advice books on beauty, travel, wine, and cooking.

Author Website: Harper Collins Book Site