Amy Schumer was always an actress that I’d look at and think “is she really like that off camera? Is she just putting on an act?” Something inside me also loved her because she never cares about what other people think of her.
I received her biography The Girl With The Lower Back Tattoo as a Christmas gift last year and I was overjoyed. I love biographies, especially written by people who have interesting lives…and holy moley! This book had my full attention from page 1.
I was first a little worried after reading the title of the first chapter ‘An Open Letter To My Vagina,’ but it was all humorous. The Amy Schumer way!
This book really made me appreciate and respect Amy Schumer more. She had a dream and followed it. She never quit. She has been teased and made fun of her entire life and she doesn’t give a damn. Growing up, her family was actually quite wealthy. Her parents owned a furniture business but when it unfortunately went under, they had nothing. For so many years, even after moving out, Amy found it hard. She has definitely been through tough times financially. She was so poor at one time, even with a couple of jobs and working her butt off, that she was very close to sell her ovaries for some extra money. Luckily she didn’t. I think she would have come to regret that later on in life. This has really made her appreciate money more now though. She has been at the lowest point and doesn’t want to go back.
I was also surprised to learn that she is an introvert. You wouldn’t think that looking at her and watching her comedy skits, would you? She loves to have time to herself and focus on making herself a better person. Yes, she loves the company of other people too but she also just wants to be left alone. There is nothing wrong with that. I love that too.
Before this book, I didn’t know much about Amy Schumer at all. She always puts on this sexual persona, which always made me think that she has never really been in a relationship for too long and loves to sleep around but no! She has only ever had one one-night-stand and is certainly not a slunt, skank and whatever else you were thinking. Yes she loves sex (who doesn’t) but, like every woman should, she respects herself and wants to share that emotional connection with a man that she is in a relationship with.
Speaking of her relationships, she shares some beautiful stories about love, friendship and family but also some stories that will shock you. She reveals to us that she was in an abusive relationship once and it was very hard to get out of it. The way Amy writes is like she is literally talking to you. Its like you are reliving these moments with her, step-by-step. She has some serious moments but then there are other times you will of course, have a laugh. It’s a perfect insight into her life.
There are other stories as well that make you think, “WOW! You go girl.” She has seriously worked hard to become successful and still works hard every day to keep her success. She’s a beautiful woman, inside and out, no matter what anybody says.
To learn even more about Amy and her childhood, she shares excerpts from her childhood journals with footnotes from today. This is hilarious because it is so relatable. We all read back our journals eventually and cringe and have a laugh at how young, silly and naïve we were.
A chapter that I really enjoyed reading was all about the press tour for her movie Trainwreck. I love reading about what celebrities think about interviewers and their questions and this was what this chapter was all about. There were some really disrespectful journalists during her press tour and it disgusts me. I actually don’t like to be called a journalist for that exact reason. When people hear the word ‘journalist,’ they automatically have a pre-conceived idea about us. For example, ‘we will do anything for a story. We don’t mind ruining people’s careers over it or embarrass them in front of their fans, family and friends.’ I am completely disgusted by this. I hope to meet Amy one day and sit down with her to chat about this because I couldn’t agree with her more in this chapter of her book.
The last two chapters of this biography were a great way to end the book. First of all, her funeral plans. She goes through step-by-step on what she wants her funeral to be like. From who will be there to what food she wants served and what she wants done with her body. In Amy Schumer style, a lot of them you have a have a bit of giggle at but it should be interesting to see if, god forbid the day ever comes, whether her family will respect her wishes.
Then, her last chapter is titled ‘Forgiving My Lower Back Tattoo.’ Most people with lower back tattoos regret them later on in life, and so does Amy Schumer, but she says in this chapter that she wouldn’t go back and change it. It’s become who she is. She got the tattoo with her sister when she was 18-years-old but what was once a meaningless tattoo is now the opposite. She thought it signified toughness when it really just symbolized how lost and powerless she was at 18. It now reminds her that its important to let yourself be vulnerable, to lose control and make a mistake.
She ends the book with saying “Beautiful, ugly, funny, boring, smart or not, my vulnerability is my ultimate strength. There’s nothing anyone can say about me that’s more permanent, damaging, or hideous than the statement I have forever tattooed upon myself. I’m proud of this ability to laugh at myself-even if everyone can see my tears, just like they can see my dumb, senseless, wack, lame lower back tattoo.” This is the ultimate thing I love about Amy Schumer. No one can say anything bad about her because she makes fun of herself and loves herself for it.
I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone. The only negative I could find after reading this excellent book was the amount of swearing. If you don’t like profanity, brace yourself. This is the only reason this book gets 9.5 instead of a 10.
Rating: 9.5/10
– Written by Lauren Yeates
