Jennifer, Gwyneth & Me: The Pursuit of Happiness, One Celebrity at a Time
It’s a celebrity-obsessed culture we live in, and trying to look like, act like—even cook like—our favorite stars is time-consuming work. Here, on a quest for self-improvement, Bertsche ups the ante, deciding to emulate the lives of her favorite celebrities (“I’m wondering, if I do what they do, will I feel as fabulous and put together as they seem to be?”). After a brief introduction, Bertsche (her previous memoir, MWF Seeking BFF: My Yearlong Search for a New Best Friend, came out in 2011) gets down to business; first up is everyone’s imaginary BFF, Jennifer Aniston. Will exercise and a salmon-based diet give her Aniston’s to-die-for legs? Then there’s cooking according to Gwyneth; marriage à la Jen and Ben; and so on. Bertsche doesn’t have a celebrity’s resources, and that makes the whole experiment much, much harder. The well-researched information on celebrity culture provides food for thought, but Bertsche’s regular-person pursuits don’t always make for the most scintillating of reads. Fortunately, Bertsche’s efforts are not for nothing, and she comes to a realization that eludes many women: Who’s perfect anyway? --Ann Kelley