Book Review: True Love
by Jennifer Lopez
Publication Date: Nov 04, 2014
List Price: $29.95
Format: Hardcover, 288 pages
Classification: Nonfiction
ISBN13: 9780451468680
Imprint: Celebra
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Parent Company: Bertelsmann
Read a Description of True Love
Book Reviewed by Kam Williams
“This is a story of love. It started when love was lost and I felt as if my world had fallen apart. What followed was a transformative journey, through the process of developing my first world tour, where I faced some of my greatest challenges, overcame some of my greatest fears, and, with the help of my incredible children, emerged a stronger person than I’ve ever been”.
—Excerpted from the Book Jacket
It might be hard to believe that Jennifer Lopez hasn’t published a book
before now. After all, the 45 year-old pop icon has been in the limelight
for a couple decades, and her life has at times been splashed across the
tabloids to the tune of some rather lurid headlines.
Besides brief marriages to waiter Ojani Noa and back-up dancer Cris Judd,
“Jenny from the Block” has been romantically linked to Sean “Puff Daddy”
Combs and Ben Affleck. And she’s recently divorced salsa singer Marc Antony
after a decade-long relationship which produced Max and Emme, the children
to whom she dedicates her memoir.
True Love focuses on the two years since she and Marc went their separate
ways, a period of great spiritual rebirth for J-Lo. It is the author’s
stated hope that the opus might serve as a source of inspiration for “anyone
who has found themselves looking for a way to reconnect with their true
selves… If I can help one woman really take a look in the mirror and accept
her weaknesses and acknowledge her strengths with love and kindness, then I
will consider this a success.”
Granted, I’m not exactly in the target demographic. Nevertheless,
True Love strikes me as more of a coffee table keepsake than a revealing tell-all for
fans eager for an intimate peak at their idol. Designed with easy-to-please
diehards in mind, about half its pages are devoted to glossy color shots of
the photogenic Ms. Lopez ostensibly taken over the course of her recent,
first-ever world tour.
Most of the snapshots are of her onstage, although some are of her with her
adorable kids, too. As for the text, J-Lo doles out simplistic advice that
reads like poster speak that can’t but resonate with any reader.
For example, nobody’s going to argue with, “In the same way negative
influences can bring you down, having positive people around can help lift
you up.” Just as banal are trite obviousisms like, “You have to be okay on
your own before you can have a healthy relationship with another person.”
and “The only way you can be mistreated is by allowing yourself to be
mistreated.”
Lotsa space is also devoted to snippets of song lyrics from her hit songs,
including “Hold It Don’t Drop It,” “Feelin’ So Good,” “Love Don’t Cost a
Thing,” and “I’m into You,” to name a few. Yes, J-Lo does reflect a bit
betwixt and between all the fluff, but that’s essentially just journal
entries about her kids and the concert tour.
The literary equivalent of a soufflé-light fanzine, notwithstanding
pretentious claims of being the culmination of “soul-searching, crying and
laughing.”