Brave

by Rose McGowan

Overview

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - A revealing memoir and empowering manifesto - As featured in Ronan Farrow's CATCH AND KILL and Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey's SHE SAID

"BRAVE works beautifully as a manifesto. It’s a call to arms—not just against the specific men who mistreated McGowan and the men and women who enabled that mistreatment, but against an industry."—The Boston Globe

Rose McGowan was born in one cult and came of age in another, more visible cult: Hollywood.

In a strange world where she was continually on display, stardom soon became a personal nightmare of constant exposure and sexualization. Rose escaped into the world of her mind, something she had done as a child, and into high-profile relationships. Every detail of her personal life became public, and the realities of an inherently sexist industry emerged with every script, role, public appearance, and magazine cover. The Hollywood machine packaged her as a sexualized bombshell, hijacking her image and identity and marketing them for profit.

Hollywood expected Rose to be silent and cooperative and to stay the path. Instead, she rebelled and asserted her true identity and voice. She reemerged unscripted, courageous, victorious, angry, smart, fierce, unapologetic, controversial, and real as f*ck.

BRAVE is her raw, honest, and poignant memoir/manifesto—a no-holds-barred, pull-no-punches account of the rise of a millennial icon, fearless activist, and unstoppable force for change who is determined to expose the truth about the entertainment industry, dismantle the concept of fame, shine a light on a multibillion-dollar business built on systemic misogyny, and empower people everywhere to wake up and be BRAVE.

"My life, as you will read, has taken me from one cult to another. BRAVE is the story of how I fought my way out of these cults and reclaimed my life. I want to help you do the same." -Rose McGowan

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062655981
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	01/30/2018
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	516,940
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

ROSE McGOWAN is a thought leader and agent of change. As a writer, director, music artist, icon, entrepreneur, and feminist whistle-blower, she focused a spotlight on injustice and inequality in the entertainment industry and beyond. As an activist, she led a movement to break the silence and became a leading voice in the fight to disrupt the status quo. By creating the social justice platform #ROSEARMY, she has signaled to the world that it is time to think differently and be better. Rose gained recognition as an actress who held lead roles in films such as The Doom Generation, Scream, Jawbreaker, and Planet Terror. She starred on the hit series Charmed, one of the longest-running female-led shows in tv history. Her directorial debut, Dawn, was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

Join the movement at ROSEARMY.com.

Table of Contents

Author's Note ix

Preface xiii

Introduction 1

Part 1

Child of God 7

American Girl 33

Runaway Thinker 45

Brutality 59

Captivity 79

It Begins 99

Death of Self 113

Circus Life 133

Televised Life 153

Destruction 169

Part 2

Ashes to Ashes 203

Phoenix Rise 209

Cult of Thought 227

We are Brave 237

P.S. 247

Resources 252

Acknowledgments 253

Editorial Reviews

One of the greatest tricks that the patriarchy plays on women is to deliberately destabilize them, then use their instability as a reason to disbelieve them. Much of Brave reads like the diary of a woman driven half-mad by abusive men who assume no one will listen to her. In this case, the truth was finally—and, for McGowan, triumphantly—exposed, but reading Brave, I kept thinking about how many more women must be written off as crazy and crushed under the weight of secrets no one wants to hear.

The New York Times Book Review - Michelle Goldberg

★ 02/05/2018
Actress and director McGowan's disturbing and captivating memoir is a scathing indictment of Hollywood, which she calls a "cult," as well as a riveting account of survival. McGowan was born in Italy to American parents involved in a religious group called the Children of God and was physically abused by members of the group as a child. Her father eventually fled to the U.S. with McGowan, her siblings, and his second wife. McGowan, however, says that she continued to suffer from mistreatment and neglect; for a time in her teens she was hungry and homeless, living on the streets in Oregon. After a chance encounter with a friend with Hollywood connections, McGowan made her way to Los Angeles, where she won parts in such films as Scream and later landed a role in the hit TV series Charmed. Readers will find her graphic description of being sexually assaulted by a notorious but unnamed studio head to be repellant and raw. McGowan's struggle to endure in her career (she writes that she was blacklisted after the assault) leads to her fearless unveiling of the injustices and "systemic misogyny" that she claims are rampant in Hollywood. A chapter titled "Cult of Thought" is a call to action, promoting a new order in which women (and men) are valued for their creative differences. Frank and bold, this memoir is a resounding wakeup call to the entertainment industry and to society as a whole. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

Frank and bold, this memoir is a resounding wakeup call to the entertainment industry and to society as a whole.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

From the Publisher

After the introductory music, written and performed by the actor Rose McGowan herself, she tells the story of her childhood, when she lived in a cult with her parents, and her teen years, when she lived on the streets. Finally, she makes it to a modeling career and then Hollywood stardom, which has been accompanied by some notoriety for statements she has made in interviews. The aggressive tone in much of her narration gives the listener the feeling of being reprimanded. However, her delivery of the scene in which she is sexually assault is notable in its raw emotion, making it stand out amid the ranting of the most of the audiobook. The unexpected inclusion of McGowan’s original music gives the audiobook a jarring beginning and ending. The is an underwhelming performance of an overwhelming story. A.L.S.M. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

APRIL 2018 - AudioFile

After the introductory music, written and performed by the actor Rose McGowan herself, she tells the story of her childhood, when she lived in a cult with her parents, and her teen years, when she lived on the streets. Finally, she makes it to a modeling career and then Hollywood stardom, which has been accompanied by some notoriety for statements she has made in interviews. The aggressive tone in much of her narration gives the listener the feeling of being reprimanded. However, her delivery of the scene in which she is sexually assault is notable in its raw emotion, making it stand out amid the ranting of the most of the audiobook. The unexpected inclusion of McGowan’s original music gives the audiobook a jarring beginning and ending. The is an underwhelming performance of an overwhelming story. A.L.S.M. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

APRIL 2018 - AudioFile