...women in public aren’t yet equal. And if you were suffering under that delusion, Trainwreck is particularly illuminating, a reminder that the moment when a problem, in its most obvious form, has become taboo might actually be the most dangerous moment.
...[a] fiercely brilliant, must-read exegesis ... This book invites you to reset your thinking. It makes you feel empathy for the Kardashians and other celebrities who seem to be famous simply for being famous—women you may have dismissed as ridiculous and unenlightened ... By placing the spectacle of the trainwreck front and center, Doyle throws down for the future.
...a deeply researched account of our culture’s misogynistic obsession with trainwrecks—not the benign version pushed by [Amy] Schumer, but women in the throes of public mental health crises (like Britney’s), public drug use and addiction (like Whitney Houston’s), and public—or publicly perceived—neediness (like Jennifer Aniston’s).
In her treatment of Billie Holiday and Whitney Houston — two artists who, after years of struggling with drug addiction, broken hearts and rumors about their sexuality, died tragically — Doyle’s lineage is especially compelling. But Doyle enters some shaky ground when she tries to include Harriet Jacobs, the abolitionist and former slave ... Doyle is more persuasive on her book’s ultimate heroine, Britney Spears, the quintessential good girl gone bad ... Doyle reminds us that we shouldn’t be so quick to judge women in terms of degrading stereotypes or unrealistic expectations.
