Customer Reviews

My Journey with Farrah LP: A Story of Life, Love, and Friendship

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(16)

 

 

Stewart's sense of entitlement and self-pity feeds Alana's fear of old age, alone, without financial means. I don't know why I should be annoyed, being far from self-less, myself. But also, Alana places an uncomfortable priorty on her own birthday parties and gifts received. Nothing wrong with that until it prioritizes self over the greater needs of others, specifically loved ones.

And then, Alana's belief system leads her to believe that God puts Mimmo (a guy she meets in Europe while helping Farrah)in her life "for a reason" that turns out to be sex.

And she calls in these "healers" that supposedly are able to work magic (One healer, by rubbing coconut oil on Farrah's arms). Ms. Stewart dabbles in Christian Science for a bit and then is off searching in other directions.

In the beginning of this tale, Alana seems convinced that cancer can be meditated away. She actually advises Farrah to hold off on surgery because Alana's astrologer says so.

Though this book is Alana's honest effort to honor Farrah's friendship, it is also a hard look at an aging beauty unable to grow into her true self.

This is such a betrayal of a woman who valued her privacy. The portion of the book dealing directly with Farrah's cancer treatments and her fight to survive is so minimal that this could have been a short story. Why do we need to know about poor Alana leaving hearth and home (one, apparently, she can ill afford) and presenting herself as a near saint for flying first class to Germany and having an affair with a younger man to bolster her ego. She could not have whined more about her lack of money or rotten luck with men. Dear God, for the first time I felt sorry for Rod Stewart having been married to this self absorbed woman. There is nothing here that was not in the documentary save some salacious details that add nothing to the fight Farrah was in. If hawking this kind of book makes for a friend, I'll rely on enemies (at least, with them, you know where you stand). Nice touch, Alana, descibing how wretched poor Farrah looked on her deathbed. And yes, I battled cancer and watched a loved one succumb so I do know how much one can sacrifice if one is not so shallow. If you must read it, go to the library.................

When I first started reading this book I seriously thought that Alana Stewart would tell about all the hours she spent by Farrah's side. Nothing could be further from the truth. This book shows how self centered Alana is, it's all about her. This book shows that Alana was NOT always by Farrah's side as she claims. It shows she went to Germany with Farrah...sometimes seemingly grudgingly. And when she SHOULD have been by Farrah's side..she was off having sex with an italian chef. Ok..so Farrah said to go ahead and have fun. Heeeellllloooo...when your friend is having treatments for cancer, you STAY with your friend. You just don't go off and have sex with someone you don't know. At the end Alana says that she put all of her stuff on the back burner and put Farrah first. NOT. Alana, if you had been a true friend to Farrah you would have been literally at her side, day and night. You were not at all. If you had been a true friend you would not have went off and had sex with a stranger. If you had been a true friend you would not have worried about every little thing that was going to affect you. You would not have went to parties and left your friend home alone. You would not have done alot of the things that you had done. There's so much more I could say but I would probably quite literally get in trouble. Thank God I checked this book out from the library instead of buying it. I will not be recommending this book to anyone. Hopefully Alana Stewart will see some of these reviews and rethink about what it means to be a TRUE FRIEND. Because she is not one and she was not one to Farrah.

It seems Farrah was used all of her life. And now this. Who wants to bet Ms. Thing ends up with Ryan?? They're just alike.
It amazed me the book was out before poor Farrah was barely in the ground.
I was a Farrah fan when she was showing off Mercury Cougars on commercials. I remember running in to see her for just those few seconds. She had such magic and style. It appears to me, via photos particularly, A. was possibly trying to copy her..? Whatever. No one could best Farrah. She was and stays an original.
I cried when Farrah was lost...and I too have lost family to cancer so I know how painful it is to those who love you. She was so brave to make the documentary. Who better to tell her story than those by her side. But all this was, was a trash- rehash, 'poor me,' all-about-me, way to make money. &*%# Alana Stewart. Rest in peace, Farrah. They can't suck off of you anymore.

I bought this book because my husband is battling cancer, and I thought I would get some insight into Farrah's treatment overseas. Instead, I got a "journal" written by a selfish, immature woman who claims to be Farrahs' best friend. Please, don't buy this book. I am sure it will soon be in the discount section of your local bookstore.

You can tell this book was written from the heart. As you read it in it's diary format you ride the roller coaster of emotions just as all the people involved did. However, as you read it you KNOW the final outcome which only adds to the immense sadness of entire story. Some of the stories Alana shares about Farrah are poignant while others are just hysterical, like the story where Farrah tells Deepak Chopra where she meditates (But I won't give the location away but it was very funny.) I read the entire book in one setting and want to go back and read it again as I am sure I will get even more out of it.

How strong of a woman Farrah was to fight this huge battle and place it on film, and how equally strong Ms. Stewart must be to open herself up to the public through this telling of her friends final journey through her own eyes.

To all those who say Alana was too soon in pushing out a book and must have had it in the works long before Farrah passed, all I can say is: Read the book and you will see that Farrah asked her to write the book. The book is her journal entries so of course she was writing it while Farrah was alive and Farrah was indeed aware of it.

THANK YOU ALANA FOR BEING BRAVE ENOUGH TO PUT YOURSELF OUT THERE TO THE PUBLIC AND FOR SHARING THIS WARM AND TOUCHING STORY WITH THE WORLD! YOU SHOULD BE VERY PROUD!!!

I remember when I first heard Farrah had cancer and I was heartbroken to hear about it. She was a vibrant person with much to give and much to live for. My heart goes out to her son, Redmond, and I hope he is successful in dealing with his drug problems.

As for the book? I think it was a pathetic attempt for Alana Stewart to capitalize on Farrah's death. Yes, she was her dear friend, yes, she was with her in Germany during her treatment. But she was also very wrapped up in herself and her relationship with some man......Mimmo....that she just happen to meet while in Germany with Farrah. While Farrah was puking her guts out from the side effects of chemo and radiation we the readers got to hear all about how Alana and Mimmo were making passionate love right across the street. I do believe that would have been the last thing on my mind had my best friend been going through such pain. Besides....who cares about Alana's love life. This book was supposed to be about Farrah and her fight to live.

Alana had her own cancer scare, which I do not mean to make light of, Cancer, in any form is an awful disease and I can understand her anxiety over it. But to compare what she was going through to what Farrah was going through made me want to shake her. Get over yourself Alana. The world does not evolve around you.

Alana also had to go on and on about how anxious she was that she was going to run out of money and she needed to find a billionaire.....her words....because she said that she was way past millionaire status now. Can we all say JOB! Get a damn job if you need money so bad and stop trying to find someone to take care of you. She was always saying that her and Farrah were strong independent Texas women. Farrah was....no doubt about that....but as far as I can tell about Alana all she ever did was marry men with money and then leave them when things got rough. I suppose no matter how old she gets...she is just never going to grow up.

I don't want to say the book was not worth reading. It was. It shows just how hard Farrah fought to stay alive and I am in awe of her for that. I would have never been able to go through all she went through and still be able to crack jokes about things. I would have been mad. I would have been saying Why did this happen to me? Farrah never said that. She just accepted that she had this awful disease and she did what she had to do to try to live. She wanted to be there for her son.

I saw the documentary twice that Alana and Farrah and Ryan made and it was very good. I cried both times I watched it and will always think that Farrah was an exceptional person. She opened up a lot of eyes to just how much cancer patients suffer. I do think she was led on by too many people. Especially by the doctors in Germany. I know they wanted to help her, but I also think they knew that it was more or less a hopeless fight and they were not straight with her. I can't help but wonder if they had of just told her right from the start that this cancer was terminal, that she was not going to survive it, then she could have spent those last few years of her life enjoying what time she had left instead of being so sick and in so much pain for the remainder of her time left. I feel like they robbed her of a lot of "good days" she may have actually been able to enjoy by filling her up with so much poison. If it's curable, then by all means do what you can.....but if not.....then myself personally, I want whatever time I actually do have left to be days that I can enjoy with my family and friends.

I also found it quite odd that Ryan Oneal was not around too often for Farrah while she was having her treatments in Germany. It was never really written why that was. He may have been involved in a project or something, a committment that he could not get out of, but it was never written just what he was doing and for the life of me I can't think of one thing the man has done since Love Story and Paper Moon. I find him to be a bit of a moron, anyway. I will never forget an article I read in a magazine when Farrah was first diagnosed and he was quoted as saying she had anal cancer.....He said....of all kinds of cancer to get she gets anal cancer. It doesn't really go to well with being a sex symbol." Did I mention I think he is a moron? Correct me if I am wrong, but I don't think that any type of cancer goes well with anything.

But all in all....the book is worth reading.....just overlook Alana's ego and name dropping and Poor Me attitude and admire Farrah's determination and guts. That is the real story and that is what we all should take with us.

My daughter bought me this book for Christmas because she knows how much I love and admire Farrah, I wish she hadn't wasted her money. The book started out as a loving tribute to Farrah but soon turned into a self tribute to Alana's "love" life. Reading about Alana's "hot sex" and "it's a wonder I can even walk" references is vile and disgusting! If Alana thought she was trying to make her ex's jealous by writing such garbage I believe it backfired on her. Instead she sounded old and desperate. Save your money and instead donate to Farrah's Cancer Foundation.

This book was not about Farrah Fawcett- it was written and about Alana Stewart w/ some thoughtful passages about Farrah's battle with deadly cancer.
All we hear about is Alana's "affair", her "cancer" scare- nothing in comparison as to what Farrah was going thru!
Then there is Alana's concern for money, growing old, her kids,---and after reading this book, I believe that tho Alana's intent was to write the book about Farrah, it turns out that by writing this book, she is gaining some financial security that she is lacking.
Exploit your friendship for financial gain is not new-it's blatantly obvious in Alana's Book.

I would suggest another author if you truly want to read about Farrah.

Please, I think the story about Farrah was so sad, and she suffered incredible pain. She showed much strength while enduring so many surgeries, medications and treatments. But, wasn't this story supposed to be about Farrah's Journey and her friendship with Alana, and friends.
I was thoroughly disappointed, I really did not want to read the same things over and over again, nor did I want to hear about her financial woes and family problems...It sounds like she is trying to make money off at Farrah's expense, and that is no friend to me....Yes, she had dealt with cancer and that was fine to include, but her constant paranoia about her finances, life and future took up too much useless space. If you have to talk about your problems when writing about someone else, do it once.
Who paid the expenses for all those trips? If she did, then she really should not have complained about her finances. As far as I know, she never said. I would guess that Farrah did, and she should have received the credit for that. It just sounded to me for a cry for help for herself and her family....So many things said about herself, with the obvious questions unanswered.
This brings me to Ryan, from all I have heard he never left her side, but in at least the first half of the book, I think he was mentioned twice...He was the love of her life, the father of her son, and cared deeply for her and her health conditions....The only thing good about this book is that Farrah did not get to read it...I am glad for that.

To be truthful, If I was with Farrah during this sad time, I would have made it all about her. Spent every waking moment with her, helping her, supporting her and encouraging her. If I had to deal with my own problems, I would, but not in the public eye. I do not think that is what Farrah would have agreed on when having her write this book as a journal...
I only knew Farrah through her work, really know nothing about Alana-except that she is a self-proclaimed high socialite with many friends...Really? Then why couldn't they help her with her problems.
I am sorry Farrah, but I would love to rewrite this book the way I think it should be written, even though I only know you through your works and Ryan's works, and his interviews about you. Some of the media coverage that may have not been inflated, but I think I could do a much better job if I had the information to work with.
You deserved the compassion that you had for others' written, and the sensitivity in all you did, as well as how you dealt with this "terrorist" that invaded your body.. You were out staged in your final role by your own best friend, and that is just wrong.

Oh, I almost forgot, get this girl a class in writing before publishing another book for her. Her writing technique is ridiculous