Spoiler Alert: This summary and review contains spoilers.
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Overview
In a rather raw, uncensored, and deeply personal autobiography, Wendy Williams pretty much gives you everything but certain names, exact dates, and pictures.
Review (with Spoilers) – Below
Summary/ Highlights
From her early beginnings, to before she became a daytime TV show host, Wendy Williams was the Queen of Radio. 2nd only to Lite FM, she can be considered one of the few women to have her own show, not be someone sidekick, and be able to claim she kept her integrity and dignity all the while. However, as well as she did professionally, her personal life pretty much was all in shambles until her current husband Kevin.
Leading us on a journey in which she speaks on mentally abusive parents who didn’t strongly have faith on her, and helped create a weight complex within her; her speaking about years of cocaine use; one incident of rape; her speaking on her ex-husband; her issues with miscarriages; as well as her husband’s affair.
Commentary
When I’m subscribed to Wendy Williams’ YouTube channel, every now and then during Hot Topics she mentions past drug use, miscarriages, and a few other things. However, she never goes into full detail. So, when she mentioned this book I decided to buy it and read it, and it reminded me that Talk Show Wendy and Radio Host Wendy are two different people. In this book, she is Talk show Wendy, or the Wendy during her new comedy stand-up specials, and the cursing is consistent, as well as the use of the word “Nigga,” but you can see that despite how raw she is, her foundation is wholesome.
For with mention of her upbringing and you seeing how that led to her “futuristic vision,” ambition, and even morals, you can tell that despite the language, and some of her decisions, she is very much traditional. Though, I must say, if you put this beside Janet Mock’s “Redefining Realness,” and Maya Angelou’s biography, it does sometimes seem like the book is willing to go there, but in the pursuit of being raw, it loses any sense of eloquence. This is despite Wendy sometimes speaking of very personal matters, and generally having the type of narrative like you was her niece and nephew. Though, all things considered, I don’t think most people want suburban Wendy. They want Queen of Radio Wendy being as messy with her personal life, as she is with others. Something she certainly delivers on.
I will say, though, outside of the rape incident, if you are a regular watcher of Wendy’s show, you are not going to probably learn anything new here. Nor is there be significant enough detail to warrant buying this book.
Collected Quote(s)
“I think all of that doting and hand-holding makes the healing process that much slower.”
— “And Baby Makes…” Wendy’s Got The Heat (Page 184) – Wendy Williams
“I have an aunt Joan who died the year before I was born. My name is Wendy Joan. She was thirty and I always feel like aunt Joan is my liaison to God. [For] God is too busy to watch all of us so everyone of us has a representative. My one representative is my aunt Joan. And she only alerts God when it’s something really big. Otherwise, she handles all of the business for Him on my behalf.”
— “Kevin’s Side.” Wendy’s Got The Heat (Page 213) – Wendy Williams
“I think all of that doting and hand-holding makes the healing process that much slower.”
— “And Baby Makes…” Wendy’s Got The Heat (Page 184) – Wendy Williams
“When you tell people-particularly white people-that they can keep their money, […] because you muthafuckas think that we’re all slaves to somebody, white people, people in general, almost lose their minds.”
— “Hot in Here.” Wendy’s Got The Heat (Page 156) – Wendy Williams
“When you have a team-even when the world is against you-you feel like there is nothing you can’t do. Above and beyond everything, Kevin made me fearless. I had boyfriends in the past who cared for me very much. Hell, my parents make me feel loved and comforted. But at the end of the day who’s that nigga who’s going to be there for me when I need a nigga, not a fucking hug? Kevin was that nigga. He made me feel that there was nothing that I couldn’t accomplish.”
— “Hot in Here.” Wendy’s Got The Heat (Page 150) – Wendy Williams
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