Countless celebrities have penned autobiographies. Not a lot are like Drew Barrymore’s. And that’s a good thing.
“Wildflower,” which bounces around chronologically and thematically, refuses to bend to the rules of conventional memoir writing.
“If it feels personal for you, then I am so happy, because it was personal for me,” Barrymore writes in the not-a-memoir’s preface. “I didn’t write it in any particular format.”
The lack of a traditional structure works because the result for the reader is an illuminating and entertaining look back at the free-spirited actress’ 40 years on Earth.
Free of — pardon the pun — flowery writing, the book is as down-to-earth as the author seems to be. It also is self-deprecating, with references to Barrymore’s “klutziness” and her “valley girl” cadence.
Barrymore makes sure to touch on moments that are well-known to the masses, including her role in the classic film “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial”; exhibitionist appearance on David Letterman’s talk show; and three big-screen collaborations with comedian Adam Sandler.
The owner of one of the most famous surnames in Hollywood, Barrymore — the granddaughter of famed stage and film actor John Barrymore and the grandniece of renowned thespians Lionel and Ethel Barrymore — has been a working actor for much of her life.
Her life has had more than a few ups and downs. “I just grew up too fast,” she writes.
Written a quarter-century after the release of Barrymore’s “Little Girl Lost,” which chronicled her turbulent early years, “Wildflower” is the work of a mother of two young girls who has a much different perspective on the world.
“Wildflower” is at its most engrossing when the author delves into her relationships with those who have impacted her life, including her barely-there parents and supportive in-laws and friends,
including “E.T.” director Steven Spielberg, who Barrymore writes “took me in, a girl who needed a father, and it meant the world to me.”
From wild-child headline-generator to entrepreneur, filmmaker and philanthropist, Barrymore’s roller-coaster existence is slowing down these days — just long enough, anyway, for her to pen an engaging examination of her past. The little girl who once was lost clearly has been found.
