The great peace : a memoir

by Suvari, Mena, 1979-

Format: Print Book 2021
Availability: Available at 7 Libraries 7 of 7 copies
Available (7)
Location Collection Call #
CLP - Main Library Second Floor - Non-fiction PN2287.S88 A3 2021x
Location  CLP - Main Library
 
Collection  Second Floor - Non-fiction
 
Call Number  PN2287.S88 A3 2021x
 
 
Jefferson Hills Public Library Biography 92 SUV
Location  Jefferson Hills Public Library
 
Collection  Biography
 
Call Number  92 SUV
 
 
Moon Township Public Library Biography B SUVARI Mena
Location  Moon Township Public Library
 
Collection  Biography
 
Call Number  B SUVARI Mena
 
 
Mt. Lebanon Public Library Non-Fiction 791.43028 SUVARI Men
Location  Mt. Lebanon Public Library
 
Collection  Non-Fiction
 
Call Number  791.43028 SUVARI Men
 
 
Northland Public Library Biography B SUVARI
Location  Northland Public Library
 
Collection  Biography
 
Call Number  B SUVARI
 
 
Pleasant Hills Public Library Nonfiction 92 SUVARI Mena
Location  Pleasant Hills Public Library
 
Collection  Nonfiction
 
Call Number  92 SUVARI Mena
 
 
South Park Library Nonfiction 791.4302 SUV
Location  South Park Library
 
Collection  Nonfiction
 
Call Number  791.4302 SUV
 
 
Summary
A memoir by award-winning actor Mena Suvari, best-known forher iconic roles in American Beauty, American Pie, and Six Feet Under.

The Great Peace is a harrowing, heartbreaking coming-of-age story set in Hollywood, in which young teenage model-turned-actor Mena Suvari lost herself to sex, drugs and bad, often abusive relationships even as blockbuster movies made her famous. It's about growing up in the 90s, with a soundtrack ranging from The Doors to Deee-Lite, fashion from denim to day-glo, and a woman dealing with the lasting psychological scars of abuse, yet knowing deep inside she desires so much more from life.

Within these vulnerable pages, Mena not only reveals her own mistakes, but also the lessons she learned and her efforts to understand and grow rather than casting blame. As such, she makes this a timeless story of girl empowerment and redemption, of somebody using their voice to rediscover their past, seek redemption, and to understand their mistakes, and ultimately come to terms with their power as an individual to find a way and a will to live--and thrive. Poignant, intimate, and powerful, this book will resonate with anyone who has found themselves lost in the darkness, thinking there's no way out. Ultimately, Mena's story proves that, no matter how hopeless it may seem, there's always a light at the end.

Published Reviews
Booklist Review: "Going through a storage unit in preparation for a recent move, actress Suvari came across one of her teenage diaries and was surprised to find a note in the back--her suicide note, she soon realized, and one she didn't even remember writing. The story of that girl, what pushed her to that desperation, and how she eventually sought and found healing in her adulthood is the journey of this memoir, Suvari's first book. After an idyllic childhood spent rambling through her family's Newport, Rhode Island estate, Suvari steadily lost support and stability as her family moved and she changed schools. She was sexually assaulted and repeatedly abused at age 12 by a friend of her older brother. When her career began just years later, she experienced similar abuse by her first manager before falling into an abusive, toxic, and humiliating relationship that lasted years. During this time, in which she starred in films like American Pie and American Beauty, she was miserable, keeping her personal life hidden, and relying on drugs and alcohol to cope. Interspersed among the book's short chapters, which are written in a detailed, matter-of-fact style with cliff-hanger endings, are Suvari's poems, some of which date back to her teen years. Readers seeking more celebrity truth telling and survivor stories in the wake of #MeToo will find a harrowing, often painful story of the all-too-prevalent ways young women are preyed upon, and the work it takes to find hope and healing."
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Publisher's Weekly Review: "In this haunting debut, actor Suvari--best known for her roles in American Beauty, and American Pie--chronicles her life and rise in Hollywood, and opens up for the first time about being sexually abused. She traces how her seemingly idyllic childhood in the 1980s in Rhode Island crumbled as her parents faced financial trouble and the family moved to South Carolina. There, she started middle school and was groomed into an inappropriate sexual relationship by her older brother's friend. In frank and searing prose, Suvari illustrates how this violation sent her into a tailspin, even as her acting career took off at age 13 and she moved to Los Angeles. "I gravitated toward men who took advantage of my vulnerability and confusion," she writes. "A photographer. A manager. A lighting engineer." Time and again she found herself in toxic relationships--including two marriages she deems "ill-conceived escapes"--and numbed herself with drugs, all the while clinching leading roles and trying to find her footing in the limelight. Suvari writes that until now, "this life of mine was... my secret world of shame." While the experiences she details are devastating, her ability to weave them into a narrative of empowerment is what makes this so moving. In bringing her struggles to light, Suvari reclaims her story and will surely inspire others to do the same. (July)"
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Additional Information
Subjects Suvari, Mena, -- 1979-
Motion picture actors and actresses -- United States -- Biography.
Motion picture producers and directors -- United States -- Biography.
Women motion picture producers and directors -- United States -- Biography.
Autobiographies.
Publisher New York :Hachette Books,2021
Edition First edition.
Language English
Description ix, 272 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
ISBN 9780306874529
0306874520
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