Nowadays, if I mention the name “Paris Hilton” to my friends, 9 out of 10 would go, “Who?!” But if we rewind 20 years, Paris Hilton would be instantly recognizable, sometimes for the wrong reasons: as “a dumb bimbo,” the character she portrayed in her 2003 reality show The Simple Life, or as a promiscuous woman due to her leaked sex tape in the same year. 

But what if I told you these are not the real Paris? What if I told you the real Paris is an incredibly strong, inspiring, and business-savvy person that has overcome seemingly insurmountable challenges to become who she is today?

Book Review #12: Paris: The Memoir by Paris Hilton

A (largely) spoiler-free synopsis:

Obviously, this memoir follows the life of Paris as an heiress to the Hilton hotel empire, starting at her privileged childhood to where she is today and what she plans for the future. Since Paris has ADHD, she warns us in the foreword that she might digress – and she really does, many, many times. I’m not belittling her disorder at all, but this narrative style is drastically different from what I’ve read before, which makes it feel incredibly fresh and intimate for me. As arguably the most famous “It Girl” of the aughts, Paris is also hyperaware of cultural and technological movements and recounts them for us – a win-win for a culture vulture like me.

Personal Opinion:

First off, I want to get this straight: Paris: The Memoir is not a perfect book by any measure. It teems with crude language (e.g., bitch) and F-bombs across many chapters. It isn’t beautifully written like Tara Westover’s Educated or grief-stricken like Michelle Zauner’s Crying in H-mart. But perhaps Paris never intended it to be. It’s her growth story, trying to find her place in the world while taking other people’s opinions in stride; and in that regard, she has succeeded.

When I first read this book, I expected to have an almost visceral dislike for the opulent, wasteful celebrity life Paris embodies. And yes, I did, but aside from that aspect, this book certainly has many redeeming qualities, especially when it comes to Paris’s character. As mentioned, judging by how the media depicts her, it’s unfortunately easy to pooh-pooh her as another vain, air-headed celebrity. But this memoir has done her justice by shining a light on who this woman truly is behind her “dumb bimbo” persona. From struggling at school due to her ADHD, to having a love-hate relationship with her parents, to being abused at “emotional boarding” schools, to carving out a place in a world seemingly hell-bent on defaming her to her grave, Paris Hilton is an incredibly complex character, one wholly justifies the fifteen bucks I pay for this book.

Yes, yes, it’s very easy to be put down by Paris’s sometimes long-winded descriptions (lists, even) of garments, accessories, and any other expensive item that she wore and bought and promoted. With that said, I believe it’s precisely why this book is worth reading, especially for those who aren’t familiar with diamond-studded lives like hers. After all, we read to learn about worlds that we wouldn’t otherwise experience.