Say It Again, Slim Shady
February 26, 2008
Eminem is about to share the intimate details of his chaotic life with us—yet again.
According to London-based Orion Publishing Group, the hip hop megastar plans to write an autobiography, aimed for release this Fall in the UK. And the book already has a title: Eminem: The Way I Am.
The book is to contain all the usual autobiographical content one would expect to find in a famous musician’s back pocket of reminiscences, and Eminem (aka Marshall Mathers) is to write the book’s introduction, as well as provide narrative throughout the work. Included in the memoir will be never-before-released photographs, personal artworks, original, handwritten song lyrics, and of course, the rap star’s reflections on his skyrocket to fame in the cutthroat world of hip hop. Naturally, his ascent from an anguish-ridden, trailer-park youth in Detroit to hard-won acceptance and acclaim in the rap music industry with his hugely successful debut album, The Slim Shady LP, will be recounted once more.
But why now? Why give millions yet another in-depth look inside the history and private life of a rapper who, at 35, is still young enough for plenty more “history” to come? Wasn’t his semi-biographical, Academy award-winning and box-office hit 8 Mile enough?
Said Orion’s senior commissioning editor, Ian Preece:
“Everyone has their own take on Eminem. Because of where he is from, people think they know where he is at, what kind of person he really is. This book cuts through all that and gets to the source. It has an edge. It’ll be one of the books of the year.”
It’ll be one of the books of the year. Could that be what’s really going on here? An opportunity to cash in on trashing the media’s skewed depiction of a misunderstood superstar?
Like most artists tagged as “controversial,” Eminem is forever a target of media speculation, assumption, and gossip. Understandably, the rap singer may want to set the record straight about his turbulent personal life — two failed marriages, stormy family relationships, a rehab stay, and recent weight problems, to name just a few headlines.
But packaging all of this as one’s memoirs seems a bit premature. Truly moving, insightful, and inspiring autobiographies are those that chronicle and reflect upon a person’s entire lifetime of personal and professional achievements, memorable moments, heartbreaking disappointments, and the wisdom one has acquired from it all.
Eminem’s life thus far may be chock-full of tragedies and triumphs. But with the exception of die-hard fans, how much more interesting will his life story be to anyone at this point? Putting an end to momentary media conjecture is one thing, but writing a book to do so seems to sully the purpose of an autobiography. In recent years, the market has been barraged with self-titled “memoirs,” — ghostwritten at that — by new, young celebrities who portray their 15 minutes of fame as a lifetime of achievement. Please! As if these personalities will have nothing more to say 20 or 30 — even 50 — years down the road, with reflections coloured by perspectives that come only with the passing of time.
Really, what’s Eminem going to do when he’s 45? Will he be poised to write yet another stirring recount of his life, one that includes, ad nauseam, its humble beginnings? And again at 55? How about a Slim Shady Life and Times series then, with an installment published every five years?
Eminem is a brilliant hip hop musician who has led an intriguing life up to now, and who will no doubt continue to raise the rap music industry to new levels of excellence, but one has to wonder if his claim to fame, at the end of the road, might just be one of narcissistic documentation.
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Hah! Brilliant bit of work there, Sandra. I think of these as “Half-Life Biographies” and I think they do sully the purpose of biographies and are simply a means of extracting more from consumers. Biographies belong in later life, or post-departure - that’s when a life’s value in the context of society and civilization is best assessed and considered. Prior to that, it’s more like self-aggandizement.