In Brief

Why I’m More Intrigued By Ke$ha’s Memoir Than Lena Dunham’s

It appears to be celebrity memoir week, and it’s only Tuesday! “Girls” creator Lena Dunham has just signed a $3.5 million book deal for a memoir on what she has learned and singer Ke$ha will be publishing an illustrated book on her transition from rags to riches. I’m definitely interested in reading both books, as Dunham reportedly put together an extensive proposal with “color, illustrations,” and more, but I’m a lot more intrigued by Ke$ha’s underdog story than Dunham’s book on “frank and funny advice on everything from sex to eating to traveling to work.” Apparently, we already have enough of those.

It’s important to remember that these women are two very different celebrities with vastly different upbringings and professions. Dunham is a writer and show creator and Ke$ha is a pop singer who has made a name for herself doing and saying odd things. Ke$ha prides herself on being a trainwreck while Dunham stays on her toes running an HBO program, penning New Yorker essays, and attending early morning exercise classes. In other words, Dunham has her life together and knows how to manage her time far better than most of us. But unlike Dunham, Ke$ha didn’t come from a cushy New York household or a $30,000+ per year high school, and I’m interested in hearing about how the musician went from a life on food stamps and welfare to a successful singing career.

“In less than three years I’ve gone from being the worst waitress in LA to living out my childhood dreams of singing my songs to people all over the world,” Ke$ha said in a statement released to Billboard magazine. “Sometimes, it feels as if the last few years have encompassed a few decades. You might have heard my voice on the radio, seen me onstage and on the red carpet, or in a music video, but that’s only a part of the story. In these pages, I’m revealing a more complete picture of what my life is really like. It’s not all glamorous and it’s not all pretty, but it’s all real.”

It hasn’t always been pretty or glamorous for Dunham, either. The 26-year-old lacked the funds to pay anyone to participate in her film “Tiny Furniture,” and she’s had her fair share of underwhelming romantic prospects, so I’m sure Dunham’s book will be full of amusing stories most of us can relate to. I have a soft spot for true Cinderella characters though, and I think stories like Ke$ha’s — which involve a person with nothing making it purely on persistence and determination — are much more inspirational than stories like that of Dunham, who may never be able to live down the nepotism argument.

TAGS: ke$ha | kesha | lena dunham

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