Cher: The Memoir, Part One

Two-thirds of a great memoir. I couldn't put the book down during the chapters that cover Cher's dreadful childhood and her inexplicable relationship with Sonny Bono (he lied, cheated, and stole from her for decades, somehow convincing her that she was lucky to have him). The last few chapters suffer from too much name dropping and too many descriptions of her unique Bob Mackie-designed dresses, although she does spill some delicious tea about former lovers Greg Allman, David Geffen, and Gene Simmons. Ends abruptly in 1980 when Francis Ford Coppola encourages her to pursue her acting dreams. Throughout it all, Cher's voice is matter of fact, devoid of self-pity or sentimentality, except when she's talking about her kids.

We're still decades away from “do you belieeeeve in life after love?” so the second part of this diva's memoir should be equally compelling.