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Summary of

Tell Me Everything

 

A Memoir by

Minka Kelly

 

 

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Summary of Tell Me Everything a Memoir by Minka Kelly

By GP SUMMARY© 2023, GP SUMMARY.

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This is an unofficial summary & analysis of Minka Kelly’s “Tell Me Everything: A Memoir” designed to enrich your reading experience.

 

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Copyright 2023. All rights reserved.

THE BIG EYE

The Big Eye is a low-slung stucco building in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It is crowded with porn-watching cubicles, adult toys, and DVDs. The back half of the building features a pair of peep show stages with individual booths for customers to watch live girls perform for tokens and tips. The narrator, Lydia Gonzalez, is seventeen and frightened, but the manager gives her the once-over to make sure her tits are big enough to hold attention. She will go to high school during the day and come here in the evening.

 

Rudy is turning into an asshole and his father offers to cosign an apartment for Mija. Mija decides to take a job at a peep show as her way out of jail. Three nights later, she enters the Big Eye, which is built in the shape of a large rectangle split in half by the dressing room. The peep show is built in the shape of a large rectangle split in half by the dressing room, with a stage fronted by half a dozen booths and two girls working the adjoining stages at once. Mija is nervous but determined and wears a long-sleeve, white stretchy lace top, lacy bra, matching lace pants with bell bottoms, accentuating the G-string.

 

Mom's stripper costumes are passed down to her from the time she was young. The narrator's mother's looks and ability to attract men are the only source of power they have to share with the narrator. The narrator has taken her stage name, "Frankie," and is considering a job at a peep show, where customers won't be able to touch the narrator. The narrator is looking for an ally or guidance, and Tina, their coworker, is also getting ready. The narrator is tired of feeling alone and is looking for an ally or guidance.

The narrator is on their own at a peep show, where they have to be alluring and give a taste of something soft they can't have. They are tense and waiting for their first client, who inserts a token and a red light comes on over their stage. Tina's red light is lit like a lurid Christmas tree and the customers all seem to want Tina. When the divider rises, the narrator faces a man wearing a soiled backward ball cap and unbuttoned jeans. He stares at the narrator expectantly, waiting for the narrator to show him their body.

 

The narrator is trying to seduce a man into wanting more time with them, but they are not practiced at the moves and there is no other dancer to watch. When they reach up to undo the knot holding their flimsy top in place, the divider between them slams shut, giving them a reprieve. However, regret smacks them hard across the face, as they have lost their first client. The narrator is struggling to make money in a bar, but they are resilient and hardworking. The night they were there with Rudy, a dancer, the narrator was surprised to see a girl in the room.

 

She seemed friendly and protective, but the narrator stopped watching her because of the pile of hundreds she had displayed on a chair. The narrator's eyes are the most important thing from the night, as they ask the narrator what they are doing here.

 

Part I

Part I

Mom’s Beloved “Bag Lady” Sketch

Mom gushed and hugged her arms close to her chest as if she needed to keep the joy from bursting through her body. Tonight, she was excited about the Top Ramen she was making for dinner and the evening that would follow. Her enthusiasm was always dialed up to ten and she found childlike eagerness for the smallest goodness. She loved to say yes to everything and was like a two-year-old who could mine from even the most mundane activity an extravagant level of glee. They lived in the storage room of an apartment complex where they had once had their own unit.

Maureen, the narrator's mother, is seen in a 125-square-foot box with Christmas lights and a bright mood. She prepares dinner and takes the narrator by the hand to the club, where everyone loves her. Maureen's attention is a beam of warm light, making people feel as if they are the most important person in the world. She greets and air-kisses the DJ and bartenders, then settles in the backstage dressing room. The narrator is a young woman in their twenties and early thirties who is doing a job as a dancer at a club.

She is surrounded by young women in their twenties and early thirties who doted on her, showering her with kisses and compliments. She is different from the others who work there, as she choreographed dances based on her favorite musicals. One of the dancers pulls Mom aside, talking in a whisper, asking her how to raise her daughter. Her hiss is low and deadly, and she tells the narrator not to tell her how to raise her daughter. The narrator is at a club called Crazy Girls, where a topless woman in a G-string twirled around a pole like an acrobat.

A bag lady burst into the club's side door and grabbed a customer's drink, which she tasted and approved before setting it back down on the table. The narrator was able to hide behind the dancer and watch the show from the backstage door. The narrator is at a club called Crazy Girls, where women take off their clothes for men. They are approached by a DJ who asks if they need help. The narrator's mother pulls off her wrap and reveals a stunning woman in a golden bra and G-string.

The narrator is excited to see her surprise the room, but is pulled away by the dancer who brought them from the dressing room. The narrator recognizes the club as a place where women take off their clothes for men, and their mother is trying to protect them. The most important details in this text are that the narrator's mother works in the sex industry, and that the narrator is often the only kid in a crowd of adults. The narrator is happy that their mother has tricked them into doing a predictable strip routine, and that their mother has made fistfuls of money and yet there is never enough for rent. After her first show, the narrator falls asleep in a corner of the dressing room, remembering the cheers her act had garnered.

The narrator is comforted by the smell of vanilla and baby powder. The narrator finds themselves in a drab and neglected apartment, with a couch that smells like a cat's litter box and a shag carpet that smells like a cat's litter box. The narrator finds a few packs of string cheese in their backpack and tries to figure out how to get to school. The door to the apartment's only bedroom is opened and the narrator finds their mother passed out on the bed, wrapped only in the smell of cigarettes and booze. The narrator pulls at her arm, but she doesn't move.

The narrator's mother had a thing for these gaunt, long-haired dudes. The narrator is walking to school with a long-haired guy from a rock band. He asks the narrator to get dressed and take him to Laurel Elementary, where the narrator goes. The long-haired guy puts on sunglasses to dim the shock of the bright morning light, then grabs a wallet. The narrator and the long-haired guy ride in a cab to Laurel Elementary, where the narrator pretends to live a life like Josh, the son of their landlady.

The narrator gets out of the cab and the long-haired guy asks the narrator's name. Minka's mother picked her up after school in her chauffeur's outfit, and she was always late. She was the most skittish at her school, and when the boys from her class or their fathers got a peek at her, they stared. Mom had two personalities: hyperexcited and ready to party, or tuned out and bleak. She tried to make conversation as they drove home, but it was a struggle.

Back in their storage space, Minka searched for the makings of a snack while Mom touched up her makeup at a tabletop vanity mirror. Minka pointed at the traces, knowing she was putting her on the spot. The narrator is an observant child who recognizes her fidgety energy and edgy mood swings. The narrator tries to manage her moods and make sure she doesn't upset her. On a Friday night, the narrator and Mom are back at Crazy Girls and Mom is flying high.

The narrator is worried about her and doesn't know how to help. The janitor is taking out the trash and the other girls have left. Mom and the narrator went to a Ralph's on Sunset and took over the grocery store. Mom gave the narrator points for each successful toss, and the narrator was forty points to the good with Oreos and chocolate milk. The next morning, Mom slept so deeply, the narrator had to bend close to her face to make sure she was breathing.

The narrator was stuck with nothing to do, and the narrator wanted her to be rested. The narrator and their mother, Norma, had an epic shopping trip last night. The narrator stayed outside to draw hopscotch boxes, dig in the dirt, and burn holes in leaves. At lunchtime, Norma made lunch for the narrator and her son, Josh. After lunch, Norma gave the narrator four Oreos on a sparkling white plate.

In the afternoon, the narrator invented games for themselves and talked quietly to their Cabbage Patch doll. The narrator felt envious of Josh, who had a regular mom who did regular things.

How We Got Here

My parents met in 1979 at the Record Plant Recording Studios on Sycamore. My father, Rick Dufay, a French guitarist and songwriter, was working on a solo album with his producer and best friend, Jack Douglas. When Rick got frustrated with the project, Jack threw him out of the room. He was dumbstruck by his mother's beauty and wanted to meet her. Rick was twenty-eight

Impressum

Verlag: BookRix GmbH & Co. KG

Tag der Veröffentlichung: 12.05.2023
ISBN: 978-3-7554-4218-9

Alle Rechte vorbehalten

Widmung:
Minka Kelly's memoir tells a story of resilience and love in the face of adversity.