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Crashed: How Trashing a Ferrari Saved My Life
To celebrate her 14-year clean and sober birthday, Ferguson organises to take a R3.2 million Ferrari California out on a test drive for the day. Twenty minutes before she returns the car, she is involved in a spectacular car crash, during which she experiences a near-death collision. The crash is a catalyst for a series of life-changing events. Over the following months her long-term relationship implodes in a heart-ripping showdown of betrayal and deception. She is faced with a litany of legal and financial nightmares as a result of the Ferrari being written off, while certain members of the dog-eat-dog motoring journo industry relish in her downfall. After she admits herself to a clinic to address her meltdown, in her trademark gritty tell-it-all and often hilarious style, she interrogates the controversial pharma-whore psychiatric industry as she is diagnosed and medicated over her three-week stay. Ultimately Crashed sees Ferguson slowly coming to grips with the meaninglessness of outward material success as she embarks on a painful journey of introspection in search of intangible inner peace and self love in a crazy out of control world.
228 pages, Paperback
Published June 1, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 6, 2021
Melinda poured her heart out on this one..
May 26, 2018
A harrowing but can't-put-downable read.
January 7, 2021
As I was reading this, I wished I had firstly read her first 2 books (Smacked and Hoocked) because wow, that woman can pen things down, hands down. I will get the 2 books soon. What a rollercoster of emotions. 'What we call the beginning is often the end. The end is where we start from.' We need to allow ourselves to start again.
When after 14 years of being clean from all sorts of drugs, *healed* from her previous experiences of being gang raped, homelessness and changing men; one after the other, life proved to be not done with her without her realizing the causes of things that were happening or had happened around her. It had to happen when she was test driving a rare R3,2-million four-seater Ferrari California. A convertable GT, packing 338kW of V8 power, damn!!! How unlucky can you be to trash such after you turned a new leaf and clean for 14 years?
This was the incident that almost saw her losing her job because insurance required R350k which luckily after the hearing and all the fights, the company managed to pay. This is one incident that saw her packing her bags to deal with herself. When her 9 year relationship ends with Boyfriend after he dumped her for a Dutch lesbian, it adds on and she can only see red. She is unstable, but manages to admit herself in a hospital clinic.
As you read her story, you pray that she heals as she attends different counseling sessions, you will even feel sorry for her therapists. When you think she is healing, she is involved in other issues which included a 12 year younger Clinic fat boy. You will laugh at some parts as she writes certain things with such humor and you will cry as you walk in her shoes. Did I tell you how many times she writes the 'fuck' word in her story? ... It's unbelievable, sometimes she writes it more than 3 times in one line...but well it is what it is.
What took a trophy for me was when the realization day arrived in that yoga session, when she cried for the first time (not just crying because she did that several times but crying from the depth of her soul), when she realised that everything that happens in our lives has a meaning... When she realised that she has been living a high life as a journalist, an author, a Motoring editor etc. But that she was empty inside, she had haboured so much pain and replaced it with sex, work and any other thing that is associated with celebrity life. The fact that she had stopped using drugs, did not mean she was healed. The root cause had to be dealt with. She saw herself being drawn to certain type of men and it always ended in tears.
This, I can recommend to many as Melinda has outlined everything regarding her behaviors that she was not aware were killing her more than those she thought were hurting her. When you hurt people, you hurting yourself more. When you have pain you cause more pain on others... We need to allow ourselves to start again. We need to deal with pain and identify those roots.. We can have million followers, friends etc but we will always feel empty and alone because there is this hole you are in that is covered by flashy lifestyle and being a 'socialite'.
Damn there is a lot I can say about this book. We see people being mean, being hard hearted , jealousy, etc and we take them as such not knowing how deep their pain and anger are or not even know they are in pain. We see some sooo successful and being hard workers, we do not know how they wish to be carefree like you and just enjoy life because deep deep down they are fighting demons that they choose to clothe with hardwork etc..We see them hurting us on daily basis but indaba ingaphakathi kuye more than you. Let's be kind, people are going through the most out there.
Let me end here otherwise...
When after 14 years of being clean from all sorts of drugs, *healed* from her previous experiences of being gang raped, homelessness and changing men; one after the other, life proved to be not done with her without her realizing the causes of things that were happening or had happened around her. It had to happen when she was test driving a rare R3,2-million four-seater Ferrari California. A convertable GT, packing 338kW of V8 power, damn!!! How unlucky can you be to trash such after you turned a new leaf and clean for 14 years?
This was the incident that almost saw her losing her job because insurance required R350k which luckily after the hearing and all the fights, the company managed to pay. This is one incident that saw her packing her bags to deal with herself. When her 9 year relationship ends with Boyfriend after he dumped her for a Dutch lesbian, it adds on and she can only see red. She is unstable, but manages to admit herself in a hospital clinic.
As you read her story, you pray that she heals as she attends different counseling sessions, you will even feel sorry for her therapists. When you think she is healing, she is involved in other issues which included a 12 year younger Clinic fat boy. You will laugh at some parts as she writes certain things with such humor and you will cry as you walk in her shoes. Did I tell you how many times she writes the 'fuck' word in her story? ... It's unbelievable, sometimes she writes it more than 3 times in one line...but well it is what it is.
What took a trophy for me was when the realization day arrived in that yoga session, when she cried for the first time (not just crying because she did that several times but crying from the depth of her soul), when she realised that everything that happens in our lives has a meaning... When she realised that she has been living a high life as a journalist, an author, a Motoring editor etc. But that she was empty inside, she had haboured so much pain and replaced it with sex, work and any other thing that is associated with celebrity life. The fact that she had stopped using drugs, did not mean she was healed. The root cause had to be dealt with. She saw herself being drawn to certain type of men and it always ended in tears.
This, I can recommend to many as Melinda has outlined everything regarding her behaviors that she was not aware were killing her more than those she thought were hurting her. When you hurt people, you hurting yourself more. When you have pain you cause more pain on others... We need to allow ourselves to start again. We need to deal with pain and identify those roots.. We can have million followers, friends etc but we will always feel empty and alone because there is this hole you are in that is covered by flashy lifestyle and being a 'socialite'.
Damn there is a lot I can say about this book. We see people being mean, being hard hearted , jealousy, etc and we take them as such not knowing how deep their pain and anger are or not even know they are in pain. We see some sooo successful and being hard workers, we do not know how they wish to be carefree like you and just enjoy life because deep deep down they are fighting demons that they choose to clothe with hardwork etc..We see them hurting us on daily basis but indaba ingaphakathi kuye more than you. Let's be kind, people are going through the most out there.
Let me end here otherwise...
December 18, 2021
Melinda vulnerability always gets me. I read Smacked a while back and haven’t read Hooked but I found this one okayish, and mad a little irritated at Melinda for her decisions but also appreciating how she is just trying to get by and be a better person.
I have questions about the characters where are they now?
I have questions about the characters where are they now?
December 19, 2023
She truly is an inspiration and a wonderful author. So down to earth and relatable !!
March 6, 2017
Of Melinda's autobiographical trilogy, I loved this book the most.
She finally arrives at a place of compassion and self love.
Remarkable story.
She finally arrives at a place of compassion and self love.
Remarkable story.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews