I wasn't planning on seeking out Tatum O'Neal - A Paper Life. It was sitting on the shelf at the Library and I didn't have anything else that I wanted to read. So, I gave it a shot. Prior to reading the book, I knew of Tatum and her relationship with her father Ryan O'Neal. I knew the basics is more like it. What I didn't know in great detail was her marriage to John McEnroe. I knew they had major issues and an ugly divorce, but beyond that, nothing else. As for the meat and potatoes of A Paper Life, I'm really unsure what the book is trying to serve.

With everything that has made up Tatum's life, be it professional and personal, there is a lot of missing holes. The one thing that I really wanted to get some details on were her movies including Paper Moon and The Bad News Bears. But beyond the typical "I made this at such and such time", very little is revealed which was a disappointment. I knew that the bulk of the book would revolve around her relationship to both Ryan and John, but even here it seems like Tatum is holding back. Yes, she checks off all the brutal moments of physical abuse as well as he drug problems that she attributes to both men and rightly so. I think the book really was put together to point the finger at both and make them own up to what they did to her, which I don't have any issues with.

The one problem I did have with the book is that she does repeat herself a lot with regards to her children. Every other page she reinforces that she "loves her kids so much". I think this is Tatum's way of telling her kids she is sorry for what she did and making sure they know she loves him. It's nice, but as a reader it does get a bit too much after awhile. The book is worth checking out from the Library. Personally, I can't see myself ever reading this again.

One last thing, I've never liked McEnroe either as a sports figure or a personality. I've always viewed him as a ego-driven selfish prick. This book really does make him look bad and for that, I do applaud Tatum for telling it like it is.

Ya gotta wonder sometimes, what were people thinking when they hooked up. John McEnroe was a public and notorious prick. WTF Tatum?

Guess we see it all the time. Just celebrities are more in the spotlight.

Well, I think the book does do a good job in detailing that she went from one abusive relationship with her Ryan to another with John. And even though very few people have heard anything after her divorce, she kept up the same cycle with a few different men after John. She was/has been substituting one bad man after another. Her torment and abuse is really the only thing she has known for the majority of her life. Very sad....and disturbing.