Foxy: My Life in Three Acts

Foxy: My Life in Three Acts, a Memoir
by Pam Grier with Andrea Cagan
Springboard/Hachette Book Group 2010


So, who are you? What are the triumphs and nightmares of your life? Who have you loved? Who has loved you? Why have you cast away those who were your lovers? Can you bear to be honest about your feelings about those people, whether they are famous or anonymous? Have some events almost destroyed your self-confidence? Do you have the strength to overcome those times? Or to explain what they have meant in the remainder of your life?

If any of these questions interest you, then you need to read Foxy. IT is not a story about sensuality or exploitation by self or others. It is a story of strength and character. Determination to lead life on one’s own terms, regardless of the cost or the inconsistency with convention norms in the world in which one lives. Whether you are a movie star or an ordinary person, the thoughts and emotions in Foxy are illuminating.

Pam Grier is a famous actress, arising from black exploitation films to the “A” List. Her story is compelling. The prose flow flawlessly to create an image of a strong, self-reliant woman raised in the Rocky Mountains and confronting life with the steely self-determination of someone who has wrestled Grizzly bears on their own turf.

She seeks happiness on her own terms. With all of that strength of character, she is able to see the flaws and dead ends in the men who seem to keep appearing on her horizon. Pam has in mind what she wants, and moves on when it is apparent that this man cannot or will not provide what she needs.

Pam’s ability to explain the traumas in her life, whether cancerous conditions that might arise from a lover injecting cocaine into her cervix or lovers revealed to be just one more person seeking to take advantage of her, is amazing and refreshing. “The worst parts of life can be transformed into beauty.”

I read this wonderful book in one sitting on an airplane to London. I could not put it down? Why? Because it is so full of life, vigor, and enthusiasm. When I was done, I wanted to get a nice bottle of wine and sit down to discuss with Pam my impressions of the meaning of her story for the rest of us.

We all need to be rescued. Pam rescues horses and other animals on her farm. She has tried to rescue some famous men and women. I hope she is blessed with what she seeks for herself.

My only criticism of Foxy is in the title. This magnificent book is not about being foxy, it is about having the courage to live and overcome events that would be devastating to most people, including advice that her cancer might not allow her t olive for more than a period of months. Perhaps the title could have been Courage to Overcome!

You will also not put this one down until you close the over and look forward to that wine and discussion with a fascinating student of life.

Warms, Cym

















**As with all my reviews, if you have reviewed this book, please add a link to your review in the comment section** This gives readers several opinions!