This Is My Face Try Not To Stare

This Is My Face Try Not To Stare by Gabourey Sidibe              Hardback Book:  246 pages                  

Gabourey pronounced like cabaret, she says.  WOW!!!   She hits the road running with an incredibly honest, putting herself out there for all to see hard times and all.    She is so brutally honest about herself, her opinions, her likes and dislikes, the good and the bad of her life, her dealings with harsh circumstances – her Dad is from the country of Senegal in Africa where polygamy is standard practice.   While married to her mother, he married one of his cousins and brought her to America and moved her and his first child with the second wife into their apartment with Sidibe, her mother and Sidibe’s brother, Ahmed.   Her Dad and his cousin kept saying no, we are just cousins, but, it eventually came out.   Omgosh!  Her Dad took her brother Ahmed and Gabourey (who is named after an older  Sengalese woman who was kind to her Dad when he was a little boy)  to Senegal to meet their relatives there.    The relatives were wonderful to the Gabourey and her brother until her Dad left them with them to stay for the rest of the summer.   Once their Dad was gone, the Sengalese relatives beat them and treated them harshly calling her names all related to her weight.   She was heavy from childhood on.   She says her mother was big, too, and that she has her body.    That was the last time Gabourey went to Senegal.    Although, now that she is older and is working on the complicated love/hate relationship she still has with her Dad, she says maybe one day she will go back for a visit with her Dad, but, she isn’t booking a flight any time, soon.    She speaks her mind at all times and loves asking people awkward questions to make them squirm.      She spent 3 years as a “phone actress” and details that time with complete honesty and sincerety.    She makes you laugh with her antics and her takes on various things she has gone through in her life.   But you also are shown the real person trying to make a saner world out of the experiences she has dealt with – being overweight in school and being made fun of – bullying that made her a bully to weaker people she could take her frustration out on.   Dealing with her life being jerked up when he Dad moved his other wife in to their apartment and her mother left him, moved into her sister’s house where they were given one bedroom to share and Gabourey and Ahmed were not allowed to be there alone nor were they allowed to touch anything.    This went on for several years.   Her mother has a talent for singing and earned money during this time singing in the subway for tips.   (She made around $900 dollars a week and this was tax free cash – though rentals in New York are horrendously high so by paying her sister rent and buying food, clothes, etc. for the kids, her available dollars went down significantly.   It took them years to be able to have enough money to move out on their own.    Strangely enough the writer and director of the film, “Precious,”   titled “Push” then from the original book title,  met her mother singing in the subway and offered her the role of Mary, the mother of the character, Precious.   Her mom refused because she said people would think that is how she really was at home and she would not want that for herself.   She suggested to them they get Mo’Nique to play that role.   Funny how things came together.    Also, psychics have approached Gabouret during the years before her celebrity to tell her that she would be famous one day.  Some would be more specific than others, but, how amazing is that they all approached her because they felt they needed to let her know.   And always when she was in a predicament of one kind or another – usually when she was out of money.    The first to tell her was her father’s second wife who read fortunes,  the others approached her because they felt a great need to let her know.   Five years later, she was told about the audition for the role of Precious and the rest as they say is history.     She is still coming to terms with her fame.    She also talks about relatives she hardly knew straight up asking her for money to pay off all their bills.   One Aunt told her (note TOLD NOT ASKED) she wanted her to pay for her to move across country.    She is forever getting requests to pay for this or that for family members and her Dad is always trying to talk her into buying property in Senegal so she has a place to live when she goes there.   She is addicted to twitter and all the social media sites.    Tragically she gets a lot of hate mail.   She is a strong black woman, though, and definetly knows how to tell people what they can do with their hateful remarks.     She has always dealt with depression and is a very sensitive person taking things way personally but she cannot stop checking those media sites.   She is funny and great, just the kind of friend you would love to have, she is also easily sensitive to situations, people’s attitudes and life in general.    Cruel people in her past have taught her to address issues out front and openly first that way she can control the situation rather than reacting to other’s unkindness.    A beautiful lady in all respects.   Honestly, she hates being called Gabby but so many people tell her it’s just easier that she has come to terms with it but with such a lovely name why would anyone want to call her anything else?     I highly recommend this book but if reader, you are easily offended or blush at reading swear words,  sometimes in jest aimed at the reader – remember you were given a heads up.    I loved this book.    Gabourey,  wish we were friends.