Many thoughts may come to mind when Julia Fox is on topic. Whether it’s her expressive fashion, bold eye makeup, or any association with “The Artist”, her debut memoir “Down the Drain” proves she’s more than life (and has lived many of them). Fox can deliver a stunning memoir that feels like a play with its different acts and scenes where she holds nothing back. Her pacing, descriptiveness, and unique writing style have created an honest narrative of her life, leaving nothing for the imagination. There are many notable and personable moments in the memoir, which can be lacking in many celebrity memoirs. This memoir found me reading along with her voice in direct narration, as her writing style resonates with diary entries, with extremely intricate details that attach you to her story. While I believe many book reviews exploit the artist by giving away quotes, major themes, and reducinge sales, I’d rather produce my argument that ALL WOMEN should read this book.
Women are many things to me, all powerful beings, and Julia Fox captures the biggest trait of them all; resilience. Her memoir is chartered off into many stages of her life, where transparency is in, and any secrecy is off the table. Her early chapters of her childhood capture the dependency and sisterhood that comes with female friendships, and how transparently she captured the borderline-obsessive attachment that girls have with their friends. Being born in Italy, and having numerous back-and-forth’s between New York City, fluctuated her friendships and made it hard to find complete comfort in her friendships. Her constant moving around, latter distractions of boyfriends, and the trouble they brought her found her in a place of dependency on her female friendships an attribute that many women possess. Her ability to speak on her female friendships with care and empathy during her troubling times is very notable to her character, and made me feel like my past dependency on childhood friends was normal, and how deeply I hold a bond that may not even be current. Her ability to capture how much you want a friend to like you and all the means you would do for their love makes it worth the read itself, and she captured those moments perfectly of the desire of female companionship.
She captured many thoughts and feelings regarding the female she was expected to be, rather than the woman everyone wanted her to be. Towards the end of the book, she touches upon how men make her feel boxed in a way as she does not feel present within the male gaze. Her association with the highly popular Ye West, whom she refers to as “The Artist” in her book, gained many eyes on her as a public figure, as her fashion and appearance shifted from the previous image she upheld after her breakout role in the film “Uncut Gems.”. When her era with “The Artist” was over, she deemed motherhood to her child more important in her busy life, and her fashion, persona, and makeup completely evolved to fit her personal style. She has said on record how feeling the need to completely fit into the male gaze with outfits, aesthetics, and makeup is pointless, and her current sense of style is completely for the girls. I believe all women resonate with this point of the novel, as we let relationships and the overall gaze of what we find attractive take over at some point, whether it be a boyfriend or girlfriend. Finding a personal sense of belonging and comfort in personal style and aesthetics is something that comes with personal realizations, as Fox represents her style throughout her confidence and throughout her life, which comes naturally to her.
Fox writes about her life challenges of growing up differently, drug usage, boys, friendships, sex work, and her overall perseverance throughout every hurdle that life has thrown at her. Her memoir tackles so much of the challenges and joys of being a woman, and how her personal experiences are so universal and represent the intersectionality of women. It is a must-read in my standards, and fully captures the relatability of womanhood in a world against women. Her navigation throughout her life creates room for emotional vulnerability, joys, lows, and overall, memoir excellence.
Check out “Down the Drain” by Julia Fox, a stunning memoir debut that is a MUST READ for all women now.