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BRAVE

Audiobook
2 of 2 copies available
2 of 2 copies available

""My life, as you will read, has taken me from one cult to another. BRAVE is the story of how I fought my way out of these cults and reclaimed my life. I want to help you do the same."" -Rose McGowan

A revealing memoir and empowering manifesto – A voice for generations

Rose McGowan was born in one cult and came of age in another, more visible cult: Hollywood.

In a strange world where she was continually on display, stardom soon became a personal nightmare of constant exposure and sexualization. Rose escaped into the world of her mind, something she had done as a child, and into high-profile relationships. Every detail of her personal life became public, and the realities of an inherently sexist industry emerged with every script, role, public appearance, and magazine cover. The Hollywood machine packaged her as a sexualized bombshell, hijacking her image and identity and marketing them for profit.

Hollywood expected Rose to be silent and cooperative and to stay the path. Instead, she rebelled and asserted her true identity and voice. She reemerged unscripted, courageous, victorious, angry, smart, fierce, unapologetic, controversial, and real as f*ck.

BRAVE is her raw, honest, and poignant memoir/manifesto—a no-holds-barred, pull-no-punches account of the rise of a millennial icon, fearless activist, and unstoppable force for change who is determined to expose the truth about the entertainment industry, dismantle the concept of fame, shine a light on a multibillion-dollar business built on systemic misogyny, and empower people everywhere to wake up and be BRAVE.

Includes two original songs by Rose McGowan.

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    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from February 5, 2018
      Actress and director McGowan's disturbing and captivating memoir is a scathing indictment of Hollywood, which she calls a "cult," as well as a riveting account of survival. McGowan was born in Italy to American parents involved in a religious group called the Children of God and was physically abused by members of the group as a child. Her father eventually fled to the U.S. with McGowan, her siblings, and his second wife. McGowan, however, says that she continued to suffer from mistreatment and neglect; for a time in her teens she was hungry and homeless, living on the streets in Oregon. After a chance encounter with a friend with Hollywood connections, McGowan made her way to Los Angeles, where she won parts in such films as Scream and later landed a role in the hit TV series Charmed. Readers will find her graphic description of being sexually assaulted by a notorious but unnamed studio head to be repellant and raw. McGowan's struggle to endure in her career (she writes that she was blacklisted after the assault) leads to her fearless unveiling of the injustices and "systemic misogyny" that she claims are rampant in Hollywood. A chapter titled "Cult of Thought" is a call to action, promoting a new order in which women (and men) are valued for their creative differences. Frank and bold, this memoir is a resounding wakeup call to the entertainment industry and to society as a whole.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      After the introductory music, written and performed by the actor Rose McGowan herself, she tells the story of her childhood, when she lived in a cult with her parents, and her teen years, when she lived on the streets. Finally, she makes it to a modeling career and then Hollywood stardom, which has been accompanied by some notoriety for statements she has made in interviews. The aggressive tone in much of her narration gives the listener the feeling of being reprimanded. However, her delivery of the scene in which she is sexually assault is notable in its raw emotion, making it stand out amid the ranting of the most of the audiobook. The unexpected inclusion of McGowan's original music gives the audiobook a jarring beginning and ending. The is an underwhelming performance of an overwhelming story. A.L.S.M. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      April 23, 2018
      In a strong and urgent voice, actor McGowan clearly conveys her anger at Hollywood’s male culture and women’s acquiescence to second-class status as underpaid, easily manipulated, and violently abused sex objects. McGowan, recently heralded as one of the “Silence Breakers” chosen as Time magazine’s “2017 Person of the Year” and among the first to accuse movie mogul Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment, persuasively narrates her view of Hollywood not as an entertainment business, but as a propaganda powerhouse that primarily reinforces the norms of misogynist culture. Her blow-by-blow reenactment of her rape by Weinstein is full of ghastly details and very difficult to listen to—especially knowing it is McGowan herself who is reliving the experience. With McGowan as both writer and narrator, this audiobook forcefully connects readers, both women and men, to the #MeToo movement. A HarperOne hardcover.

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