The Real Girl Next Door [Hardcover]

Denise Richards (Author)

Book Description

Release date: July 26, 2011

IT’S COMPLICATED.

We’ve read the scandalous headlines, watched her sexy breakout performances in Starship Troopers and Wild Things, and seen her many public faces on her reality television show—the beautiful vixen, the devoted mother, the hard-working entertainer, and the fun-loving friend. But how well do we really know Denise Richards?

Like so many small-town girls, she dreamed of making it big in Hollywood. But following a painful, high-profile divorce from Charlie Sheen, she found herself raising their two young daughters alone as her mother was dying of cancer. Denise writes openly and honestly about these experiences and more: she lets you in on her childhood dreams, her fated move to Hollywood with her close-knit family, her rise to fame, the pressures of living in the spotlight, and the controversy surrounding her relationships. Through it all, she managed to keep her sense of humor and optimism.

She offers an up-close and personal look at her most intimate battle scars and the lessons she’s learned as she’s healed and grown. Denise’s story will resonate with anyone who has had to look within herself to find strength and courage when life is throwing curveballs.

Inspiring and uplifting, raw and revealing, Denise finally lets her fans in on the resilient woman behind the bombshell persona, the person her friends and family already know: The Real Girl Next Door.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Born outside of Chicago, Denise Richards began working as a fashion model and moved to L.A. after she graduated from high school. She landed parts in both TV and movies, and gave breakthrough performances in Starship Troopers (1997) with Casper Van Dien, Wild Things (1998) and The World Is Not Enough (1999), in which she plays a Bond Girl. She also was in Undercover Brother (2002) with Eddie Griffin and appeared in Scary Movie 3 (2003). She was the star of E!’s Denise Richards: It’s Complicated in 2008 and 2009 and will star in a film in December 2010 called Mother’s Little Helpers. She also has a recurring role in the second season of Spike TV’s Blue Mountain State in 2011.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Gallery Books (July 26, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1451633211
• ISBN-13: 978-1451633214
• Product Dimensions: 1.2 x 6.5 x 9.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #790,718 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Uneven autobiography, less "real" than the title would have you to believe August 3, 2011

By Ryan Archer

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I'm not the type to follow tabloids and reality shows, so my recollections of Denise are from her roles in movies. And as a James Bond fan, Dr. Christmas Jones is my second or third favorite Bond girl of all time. This is why I took a chance on her book.

The first third of the book was the most interesting. Detailing her childhood and her rise to stardom in Hollywood. You learn a lot about a person from the environment she grew up and the people that raised her. I found that part to be genuine and delightful.

As we entered into areas of her marriage, suddenly the book changed. Details became scarce and generalizations, abundant. And on the reasons of her divorce, there were no details. She writes, "These issues are so personal that I don't want to divulge exactly what changes, and if you've ever been through a similar situation, you know the details don't matter."

While I agree that whether or not Denise shares those details with us is her prerogative and hers alone, but from an autobiography standpoint, it works to her disadvantage. I have not been through a similar situation, and I don't even know what that situation is. Suddenly I'm finding myself unable to connect with her emotionally. Maybe those memories are so painful that she has learned to push them into dark corners of her heart and leave them there. Or maybe she's legally barred from revealing the truth. Or maybe she lacks the courage to expose the details for the fear of judgement of the things that she did wrong. Whatever the reason, we're only left with speculations and little else.

But a little color did return to the book when she talked about her mother's death, and the effect it had on her family. Details were always abundant when she writes of her parents, but never her relationships. Of her parents, she writes with heart and emotion. Of her lovers, she writes with a moat between her and her words.

Reading this book is like looking at a person from only one side. You get an idea what she looks like, but you know you haven't seen the whole "real girl". The writing also leaves a lot to be desired. It is quite obvious that she's not a writer. She lacks the finesse of a practiced writer, with elegant prose and nuanced vocabulary. A lot of the book read like "I did this... then I did that... and I felt great", hardly the stuff that classics are made of. But props to her for trying, and between her busy schedule and whatnot, it may still be an achievement, just not the literary sort.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars A boring Real Girl Next Door August 15, 2011

By Bekah

Format:Hardcover

I wanted to read this book SO badly because I love Denise and have always found her interesting. This book, however, is not. Although some of it is very sweet and endearing, I was very disappointed to learn that she divulged NOTHING about her relationship with Charlie, why it went wrong, or what happened. She tells the reader NOTHING, which makes me wonder why she bothered to write a book at all. If it's too personal to talk about, then perhaps you shouldn't be writing a biography on yourself. It would have been nice to have some insight into what really happened behind the scenes. Boring, boring, boring. It had so much potential too

13 of 17 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Not what it seems August 2, 2011

By LiciaLicia

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I am about 30 pages away from being finished with this book but I think that entitles me to say a little something here about it thus far.

Fist, it's really a book more about Denise's relationship with her parents than anything else. How the core values her mother and father instilled in her ended up being the safety net she continually fell back on over and over during the rough patches in her life.

There is absolutely ZERO hollywood gossip here. She gives away only the facts we already know, with a few sweet moments with Charlie and Richie mixed in but no detail at all at what conflict lay at the heart of the matter to lead to the divorce with Charlie or the breakup with Richie. I understand she doesn't want to give away too much personal info but she could have shared diplomatically, *something* more than just the chronological time line of when things were good and "bumpy" as she puts it. No fun stories about making movies or other actors or anything. But by the end of the book you sort of get the vibe she really is a Girl Next Door. Simple and sadly....not very interesting. Not to be mean but she just has nothing to say about any of her hobbies or interests or real passion. She seems to take life as it comes and does well with what she gets and i understand she's not a writer, per se, but.......it was BORING. I kept waiting for a fun story or personal note or *real* information besides the advice dished out over and over about the same things.

I find this to be Denise's book about Denise. Which is fine if that's what you seek. I wanted more though. I wanted detail on her falling love with Charlie, some heart. There's some tender moments to be sure, but I had a lot of questions. She flat out states during the break up part of she and Charlie that she isn't going into any real detail, that it is too hurtful to share......Hmmmm. Maybe not write a book then?

I like Denise Richards. Always have. She did always strike me as a bit of an ice queen though and this book, along with her reality show did help to dispel that. She's a moral, upstanding, basic, somewhat boring storyteller.

I get the sense the only real love in her life is with her parents and children and I get a strong sense she has a horrible distrust of men. This book is a love letter to her mother, father, and daughters. A bit preachy, a bit basic, but I commend her for just being a good person. One thing I was looking for was her wonderful sense of humor, as displayed in her television show. This book moved so fast and was a bit redundant and all over the place and for the most part, completely lacked humor. She was too focused on pleading her case as being a good person to have any fun with her story.

It's an okay read but left me feeling a bit dry and wanting more.