Books
Janet wants you to love yourself
Book review by Kam williams, Special to The
Skanner News
“W
riting my first book was an adventure
[which] comes from my heart with love…
This is not an autobiography. It’s a journey
that I am still taking to love and accept myself just as I am.
I want you to walk this road with me. You can never be
happy until you understand why you’re doing what you’re
doing. If this book helps people find those answers, it has
succeeded.”
Excerpted from the Acknowledgements (pgs. v-vi)
Whenever I’ve interviewed Janet Jackson, I’ve always
had the sense that I was speaking with a very grounded indi-
vidual for someone who was born inside the bubble of
celebrity and has lived her whole life in the limelight. Thus,
I am not surprised to discover that she would seem as real
and equally accessible in her autobiography.
Janet co-wrote True You: A Journey to Finding and
Loving Yourself with ghostwriter to the stars David Ritz,
who has also penned memoirs with Ray Charles, Marvin
Gaye, Aretha, Etta James, B.B. King, Smokey Robinson,
Natalie Cole, Lang Lang, Don Rickles, Billie Holiday, The
Neville Brothers and Don Rickles. The prolific Ritz credits
his uncanny knack for the genre with an ability to become
one with his sub-
jects by “absorb-
ing himself into
the artist’s very
heart and soul.”
Such is certain-
ly the case with
True You, an
u n u s u a l l y
humanizing tome
in which Janet is
forthcoming
about the host of
challenges she’s
had to face in the
public eye over
the years, ranging
from bouts with
depression to overeating and yo-yo dieting. Despite her
phenomenal singing and acting career, the five-time,
Grammy-winning pop icon freely admits to having strug-
gled with self-esteem issues.
Fortunately, Janet has finally broken free of the negative
mindset, and she now has some sound advice for folks who
might themselves be battling similar demons. She even
shares some of her favorite, health-conscious recipes, an
imaginative, mouth-watering menagerie with names like
Strawberry Clouds, Oatmeal Pancakes and Cauliflower
Popcorn.
Of course, this bio wouldn’t be complete without her
reflections about growing up a Jackson. Not to worry, such
fond reminiscences are here in abundance, especially about
her late brother, Michael, as well as family photographs fea-
turing Janet from infancy to the present, and at every stage
in between.
Truly Janet!
true you: A Journey to Finding and loving yourself
by Janet Jackson
with David Ritz
Karen Hunter Publishing
Hardcover, $25.99
272 pages, Illustrated
ISBN: 978-1-4165-8724-8
Page 8 The Portland Skanner February 23, 2011