Kris Jenner...and All Things Kardashian, as you can imagine, chronicles Kris' life pretty much from the beginning to present day. The first chapters of the book quickly bring us through Kris' childhood in the San Diego area {her parents divorce; her mother and her grandmothers' entrepreneurial ways; the untimely death of her biological father} and into her late teens, when she met, was courted by, and married Robert Kardashian. The next few chapters bring us through the birth of her first four children, the months-long affair that ultimately led to her divorce from Robert, followed by her whirlwind courtship with Bruce Jenner and subsequent marriage. Throughout this first third of the book, stories, snippets and anecdotes of the relationship between O.J. Simpson and Nicole Brown Simpson are woven in. O.J. Simpson had been best friends with Robert Kardashian since their college days at USC, and Nicole and Kris became very close friends as well.
Kris in high school
The middle few chapters of the book focus entirely on the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson and O.J. Simpson's subsequent murder trial. It is fascinating {and sad} to hear an "insiders" account of O.J. and Nicole's relationship, and the tragedy and chaos that followed Nicole's death. I told my husband he needs to read these few chapters ~ it really has very little to do with Kris Jenner or the Kardashians, but rather a behind-the-scenes account of what was going on before and during the "trial of the century" that we were all witness to in the mid-90s.
While submerged in this section of the book, I began to think that the real reason Kris penned it {perhaps on a subconscious level} was for therapeutic reasons ~ to finally put on record her observations of the tragic and extremely public murder of her close friend, to work through the emotions associated with that and to get Nicole's side of the story out to the public once and for all. {FYI, Nicole's sister has gone on record ~ albeit with the National Enquirer ~ to dispute Kris' claims.}
The Kardashian/Jenner clan
The last third of the book returns the focus back to family life with the hybrid Kardashian-Jenner group ~ a family cemented together with the births of youngest siblings Kendall and Kylie. Kris outlines the many, many relocations of the family {how many houses can one family buy in a 10-or-so year period? A lot, apparently}, along with Kim's {first} failed marriage, Kourtney and Rob's getting-into-college experiences, and Khloe's hands-on role as a super-involved big sister to younger sisters Kendall and Kylie. In other words, normal family stuff {well, except maybe teenage Kim's secret marriage}. Kris also details the grieving, recovery, and moving on processes the family went through after the deaths of both Nicole Brown Simpson and Robert Kardashian {in 2003, of esophageal cancer}. For them, part of that process included channeling their focus and energy into starting their two Calabasas-based clothing boutiques, Smooch {a now-defunct children's store} and DASH {a women's clothing store}, both of which were featured on the first season of Keeping Up With the Kardashians.
Kris wraps up the memoir with info on how an upper class blended family living in LA went on to become America's First Family of Entertainment ~ how they wound up with their own reality show and built their family "brand" over the course of a few short years. The book ends with Kim's engagement {ironically, now}, with the epilogue touching upon the plastic surgery Kris received before Kim's wedding {well, we are in Hollywood, here}.
Overall, I liked Kris Jenner...and All Things Kardashian. It was more interesting than I was expecting it to be ~ with the Nicole/OJ insight, yes; but also hearing about her childhood, especially the example of strong, entrepreneurial women she had in her mother and grandmother; her relationship {at times heartbreakingly romantic, at times just heartbreaking} with Robert Kardashian; and a bevy of interesting {even when being name-droppy} tidbits about the everyday life of the family Kardashian ~ like when a teenage Kim, who was dating Tito Jackson's son, got to host her birthday party at the Neverland Ranch.
Bottom line ~ if you enjoy keeping up with the Kardashian's, you'll want to flip through this tell-all.
Overall, I liked Kris Jenner...and All Things Kardashian. It was more interesting than I was expecting it to be ~ with the Nicole/OJ insight, yes; but also hearing about her childhood, especially the example of strong, entrepreneurial women she had in her mother and grandmother; her relationship {at times heartbreakingly romantic, at times just heartbreaking} with Robert Kardashian; and a bevy of interesting {even when being name-droppy} tidbits about the everyday life of the family Kardashian ~ like when a teenage Kim, who was dating Tito Jackson's son, got to host her birthday party at the Neverland Ranch.
Bottom line ~ if you enjoy keeping up with the Kardashian's, you'll want to flip through this tell-all.
xo
Bean
{photo credit: amazon.com; globalgrind.com; khloekardashian.celebuzz.com; kimkardashian.celebuzz.com}
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