Losing It: And Gaining My Life Back One Pound at a Time (U)

America's Sweetheart turned working mother gives a frank and inspiring account of her life backstage and in the spotlight.We all knew and loved Valerie Bertinelli years ago when she played the girl-next-door cutie, Barbara Cooper, in the hit TV show One Day at a Time. From wholesome primetime in America's living rooms, Valerie moved to late nights with the hardest partying band of the decadent 80s when she married rock guitarist Eddie Van Halen at the age of 20. Here are the ups and downs of teen stardom, of her complicated marriage, and of her very public struggle with weight.Surprising, uplifting, and empowering, Losing It takes you behind the scenes in Valerie's acting career and marriage. Despite Valerie's celebrity, her voice is so down-to-earth, honest, and appealing that you'll feel as if you're talking with a girlfriend over coffee. Funny and candid, Valerie recounts her attempts to maintain a healthy self-image while dealing with social pressures to look and act a certain way, and to overcome career insecurities and relationship problems familiar to the millions of women who struggle every day with these same issues. From marital turmoil to the joys of a new career, from being named among Penthouse's ten sexiest women in the world to overhearing whispers about her weight gain in the grocery store, this is Valerie's inspiring journey as she finds new love, raises a terrific kid, and motivates other women as a spokesperson for Jenny Craig. Publishers Weekly Bertinelli offers a peek behind the sunny facade the popular TV star has long projected about her life and a showbiz career that began at age 14. She narrates her personal memoir with an honest, straightforward and simple reading that matches her writing style. Her story is at times shocking, emotional and uplifting as she opens up about her weight struggle, drug use and marriage to rocker Eddie Van Halen. Bertinelli tells her life story with such enthusiasm and earnestness that it comes off as less of a reading and more of an intimate conversation. The only downside is that she tends to race through much of the story, sometimes making it hard for listeners to keep up. Bertinelli's story is appealing across gender lines, a powerful account about a surprisingly tumultuous life in the spotlight. Simultaneous release with the Free Press hardcover. (Mar.)Copyright Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.