Customer Reviews

The Other Woman: My Years with O. J. Simpson

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

In portraying herself to be the victim of numerous betrayals by O.J Simpson, rather than evoke sympathy and understanding from her readers, the author merely succeeds in proving herself to be weak, materialistic, and as morally bereft as her lover. Given the amount of money made from the sale of this book, it is impossible to conjure up any sympathy for how this relationship "cost her everything." Because of her willing involvement in the events following the murders, I found her many references to faith, spirituality, and strong religious beliefs to be hollow and meaningless. Fortunately, her readers will not be as blind or easily misled as the jurors who acquitted O.J.

This is an excellent book, im rereading it now..... Its amazing how one-sided certain situations seem and are presented...but when you take a closer look you see just how something like this affects and changes the lives of so many. This was an amazing book, I never knew, and can only say wow, what an amazing person.

This is Paula Barbieri's autobiography, including her side of the O.J. Simpson saga. And although it gives the reader a great deal of "the other woman's" insight into the mind and character of O.J. -- his treachery, lies, two-timing, cheating and temper tantrums -- that eventually wrecked their relationship, it also is an honest account of what happened to her during, and in the aftermath of, the "trial of the century."

The short version of her story is that it wrecked her career, her life, and her self-confidence and drove her into the hands of Jesus. The longer version begins with her executing a carefully pre-planned breakup with O.J. -- choosing as an alternative what could have been the beginning of a new relationship in Las Vegas with the famous singer, Michael Bolton. Her first rendezvous with Bolton just coincidentally occurred on the same night that O.J. killed Nicole and Ron Goldman.

Driven back to LA in part by guilt (she had wished that her competition Nicole, dead), Paula's mother instinct also kicked in and she went back to comfort O.J. in his time of need. Her own mother counseled desperately against her going back -- fearing that somehow O.J. would maneuver the saga ending into a double suicide involving her daughter and himself. But Paula ignored her mother's advice and went back to be at O.J. side anyway. This turned out to have been a big mistake, not so much because of the threat of a double suicide, but because instead of getting away from O.J. and starting a fresh more stable love life with someone else, she ended up falling in love with O.J. all over again.

However, by the time the trial ended and O.J. was acquitted of double murder, Paula was again "in too deep" to extricate herself from O.J.'s love, the glamorous life and her own new hopes for a future with him. With a brand new cycle of the same old O.J. games of distrust, betrayal, cheating, lying and dishonesty, and Paula's own life of cocaine and other sins, her life, love and career all spun out of control.

Like the rest of humanity, Ms. Barbieri came from a very dysfunctional family and made many bad choices along the way: endured mental abuse and seemed colossally naïve, in addition to having repeatedly failed to trust her better instincts. For instance, why would she allow herself to be sucked back into the glamour and sins of the Hollywood life style once she was free of it if she did not secretly enjoy it?

This time her ride on the O.J. merry-go-round would teach her two brutal, unforgiving poetically cynical lessons: First, that Marcus Allen, one of O.J.'s closest friends, and the man who probably was the one O.J. expected to catch at Nicole's house the night he went there to kill them, was also the man who introduced her to O.J. However, it seems that on June 12, 1994, Ron Goldman, returning Nicole's glasses, just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Marcus, who set up O.J. with Paula, got away again.

The other lesson that Ms. Barbieri learned is that one knows that she has hit rock bottom when the only friend she has left in the world that she can trust is Jesus. Tragically, that is where Ms. Barbieri's story ends. Three Stars

This book is amazingly poorly written; Ms. Barbieri should have pursued her original plans to attend law school. Her writing perpetuates the myth that models and actresses are extremely self-centered. Never once does she mention any sorrow or remorse that a woman and man were murdered. Her pity is all for herself and how she "gave herself up" to falsely defend her lover and, in effect, to commit "perjury by silence and presence." Although it's true that nobody asked her if she'd left a "Dear OJ" e-mail on Simpson's voice mail just before she flew off to meet another man, she knew that this was crucial evidence. She also explains why she lied under oath about whether or not O.J. had ever been violent with her; she had "amnesia." What the book does provide--and that's why I read it--is a glance into the ultimate in dependency. I've always wondered why horrible killers, such as Ted Bundy, manage to attract women even after the world is pretty aware of what they've done. Paula Barbieri's book illustrates the strange magnetism that sociopaths can have when they find the right victim(s).

THE OTHER WOMAN is an important contribution to all of the O.J. Simpson books...I would rank it right up there with Raging Heart and Faye Resnick's book as far as revealing what was going on BEHIND the scenes.

I am so thankful to Paula for writing this book. It helped me understand so much, not only about O.J. and why he may have committed the murders, but also about a woman's heart, and how important the little choices are that we make in life...Paula doesn't hide the mistakes she has made in her life on her journey toward self-awareness...

I do wish that Paula would have been MORE specific about the "Dear John" phone message she left O.J. on the night of the murders...Did she mention Nicole's name in the message? Why was Paula feeling so guilty, then?

Also, Paula relates an interesting recurring dream, and it makes me wonder if she actually felt guilty for "provoking" O.J.'s rage, and therefore felt that she was responsible for "CAUSING" O.J. TO LOSE HIS BELOVED NICOLE...

Paula is a wonderful and spiritual lady, and I hope she finds the happiness she deserves in life.

Ms. Barbieri unfortunately tells us almost nothing that was not already known about Simpson or the murders. In fact, her comments are mostly pop psychology, vapid, nonsense: for example, she is the sort of woman who sees philosophical wisdom in the lyrics of Michael Bolton songs. She is the sort who recommends Biblical morality while going against it. It's too bad. There's no real discussion as to why she can't say whether or not Simpson killed two people. Sure, he lied to the author of this book repeatedly and was angry if she challenged him. Sure, he became almost violent with her--of course, she wasn't married to him yet. But the writer (assuming she wrote a single word of it) just can't make up her mind. Instead she favors us with blather. Stick with modeling, Miss Barbieri. It's apparently your only talent

This book was not really informative at all. I found it to be very much like she was feeling very sorry for herself, and not for what happened to Nicole, Ron, and the family's especially the children. It is a good thing that she got psych help, cause she needed it.

I had to quit halfway through the book, it was so ridiculous. Is she promiscuous and naive or is it just me??? And how MUCH can you really go on believing that sweet Mr. Simpson is innocent? Get a clue, but more importantly, Ms. Barbieri, GET A LIFE!!!

All the information is on TV. I particularly dislike the fact she claims that she lost money through her association with Mr. Simpson. She made over $3 million from this book. Do a search on her name in www.amazon.com.
No one published a book by her before her association with Mr. Simpson nor was her income anywhere near this amount.

I did peruse the book -- and it's as vapid as both the authoress and her subject. A more honest subtitle would have been "My last chance to make some money off this saga". The authoress doesn't have two brain cells to rub together. She could have talked to the prosecuters and made a difference, but chickened out. This book's a sorry waste of trees