AUTHOR Em Rusciano GENRE: Memoir PAGES: 353 RELEASED 1 November 2017 SYNOPSIS: Funny and feisty, Em Rusciano’s insights into her world of mayhem, marriage and motherhood are a laugh-out-loud, cry-out-loud balm for the soul. From her exploits at the Miss Sheila Fancypants School of Dance and her efforts to secure a solo at her end-of-year performance, to embracing the spotlight as an Australian Idol contestant and her deep and abiding love for John Farnham, Em Rusciano is a self-confessed bottomless pit of anxiety with a taste for glitter. And behind the stage make-up Em is an overachiever of epic proportions, camp to the core and fiercely maternal. She has all the insecurities of a person who spends their nights racked with self-doubt and all the confidence of a woman who can walk out onto a stage in front of a sold-out theatre and absolutely slay the crowd. Em has an army of gay men she adores, tells the best dirty jokes and loves those closest to her ferociously. When the chips are down you definitely want her by your side. This all-singing, all-dancing, all-emoting, leopard-print clad warrior is fearless, fabulous and pants-wettingly funny. Her words on the page are silly and sacred, bawdy and heartfelt. The stuff of life. Try Hard is her story. Because she is. And she does. Em Rusciano pulls back the covers on her life, sharing the highest of highs and lowest of lows of her journey so far, with a good dose of glitter and sass along the way.
I've follow Em off-and-on since she appeared on season 2 of Australian Idol in 2004. In general, that was my favourite year of Idol, but it was made more special by how excited members of my small-town community were by the final 12 line up - Em's family were excited to see her on the tellie, and we were excited for them. Flash-forward several years to when I was in high school and I was reminded of Em by her uncle Haydn, who was a family friend and my bus driver throughout high school. He always spoke so proudly of Em - that she had been on Idol and was now on the radio - and I started following her again, coming to love her comedy and realness of the stories she shared of her life. Reading this book (and listening to the audiobook) was just like listening to her on the radio and following her on social media - it was real, funny, sad, interesting and everything in between. Em's a great storyteller and can so easily draw you into even the most mundane or ridiculous anecdotes - like the time she was held captive by a dry cleaners. She made me wish I had been a fly on the wall during some of the moments she was recounting, but at the same time I could vividly imagine the scenario she was describing. I laughed and I cried, particularly when Em did throughout her narration. If you're a fan of Em, this is definitely a book you'll enjoy. It's literally Em in a book and you'll no doubt feel ALL the emotions as she tells her story. And if you're not a fan of Em, or don't know who she is, this is still a book you may enjoy - Em gets really real with some of the things she shares, and no doubt many people will relate to what she's been through and the journey she's been on. It's hard to review and rate an autobiography, because it's almost like judging someone's life, but Em could have been talking about watching paint dry and it'd be an interesting read. And I 100% recommend the audiobook, narrated by Em herself - it's like having a chat with her over coffee as she talks about her life. |
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