Let me say first that I am from Jaime's hometown of Kinston, NC so I read the book with that bias. I know the places she speaks of intimately, some of the people and - although I am 8 years older than Jaime and have never met her as far as I am aware - I attended all the same schools in Kinston that she did. While I haven't seen him in many years, I am acquainted with her older brother "Junior" (as she refers to him in the book). My friend Cheryl used to baby sit for Jaime. My nephew has waited on her at a local greasy spoon restaurant where Jaime sometimes eats when she returns to Kinston. Anyway, what I am trying to say is that there are multiple connections - the biggest being the town itself - and for those alone I was bound to enjoy Jaime's book. I found it engaging and insightful and it took me "back home" (both in place and time). Despite the critique of her book that follows, I found the book worth the read, certainly if you are a fan and especially if you've ever had the desire to break the ties that bind you in place for the sake of discovering something bigger.
The first time I saw Jaime was in a magazine - Playboy to be exact - and she was totally naked. The odd thing was that the magazine was owned by the mother of a friend of mine, the stuffy, pampered wife of a prominent local lawyer. The magazine was lying on the kitchen table prominently displayed. I had never heard of Jaime at that point so my friend's mother pointed out that she was a local girl who'd "made it big". She handed me the magazine and I flipped through it. "Wow", I said. "I don't know her, but I sure do wish I did". Still, I was not sure whether my friend's mother had obtained this magazine for the sake of pride, curiosity or for the promise of good gossip. I suspected the latter.
The next time I saw Jaime - a couple of years later - was in the movie "Poison Ivy 3". I had heard about this movie from other folks in Kinston - often said with a smirk - and knew that it was somewhat risqué. Still, I was shocked when I saw it. Jaime - who plays a vengeful sibling of the `Ivy' from the original movie starring Drew Barrymore - is FULLY naked for a significant part of the movie. Her character seduces the boyfriend and the father of the girl she is living with in scenes so steamy that many have called it soft porn. Again, connecting with her as a young girl from my hometown, I had to wonder whether Jaime had been duped into taking this role, whether she had been taken advantage of in some way. I could hear it in my head: "You want to be a big star, right? Then this is where it starts. You've got to do this. It's just acting." I'm making this up, of course, but this was my concern. Since then, Jaime has made further appearances in Playboy and in other men's magazines clad in "near nothing".
As I read Jaime's book, I kept hoping she would make some sense of her thinking with these career choices. There is a scene in the book where Jaime goes to a California beach for the first time and is shocked and embarrassed by how scantily clad the girls are. But when it comes to the place in her story when she would have been posing for Playboy or filming "Poison Ivy 3" she glosses over these, referring vaguely to "modeling" she was doing and "films" she was working on. How, I wanted to know, was she able to set aside the values she was brought up with in that small town among all the family members she so lovingly describes and appear fully naked, intimately posed and engaged in simulated sex acts in photos and on film for all the world to see? Was it desperation? Or was it, as I thought before, that she was somehow taken advantage of. Given the naïvete' displayed by Jamie as she describes herself at that time period in her book, I can't help but think the latter. This aspect of Jaime's career is much too prominent to just skip over, and it leaves a true hole in her story. In fact, it is important enough that it's omission puts her sincerity in question. Just search for her book on Amazon and you'll get her book followed by several Playboy covers. It is a strange juxtaposition to see simultaneously the thoughtful little girl sitting cross-legged on the rock (her book cover) with the voluptuous supermodel hugged in a tight, wet partially transparent shirt. For many people, Jaime is more recognized for her spreads in Playboy than for her current success on "My Name is Earl". Even my 75-year-old father, upon seeing my copy of Jaime's book, quipped "Where is the centerfold?" I understand that the book is written for her son, but he, too, will one day ask the same questions and will, very likely, have to contend with questions from friends as well.
Still, with her character Joy, Jaime has come back home. Despite her desire to leave Kinston (a desire shared by many of us), it is the Kinston aspect of her that brings Joy to life. You can take the girl out of Kinston, they say, but you can't take the Kinston out of the girl. Joy is a great character, Jaime's best, and we from Kinston (whether still there or not) are very proud of her for it. We support her and love her fiercely and will continue to no matter what.
Okay, what are you waiting for? Buy it and read it!!
