With all the hype and excitement over Barbie due to the recent movie success, I was very excited to read Forever Barbie and get the inside scoop on this icon.

Though this addition includes a new forward, the rest of the book appears to be the original content from the 1994 publication. Not including a lot of new and updated information in that 30 year gap. I also found that the forward jumped right into itself and I found myself some at the beginning within the forward. That feeling dissipated as I progressed into the original 1994 content, but it did create a jarring start to the book.

The narration by Robin Weigart was relatively smooth, and represented the authors point of view narrative well. The book is told through first person accounts and history and Weigart transitions from each seamlessly.

The first-hand account and interviews were very interesting and contained a lot of information I hadn’t known before. I enjoyed this book, but I had hoped for a more modern take on the continuing legacy of Barbie.

I was hoping for more updates to the original text rather than just with a new introduction that discusses the 2023 movie adaptation by Greta Gerwig. The book is an in-depth examination of both the history of Barbie the doll and its cultural and political impacts over the decades and is well written and excellently narrated Robin Weigart. While Barbie obsessives might enjoy it, the book is quite long and a bit dry for the casual reader. I was hoping Lord would have taken the opportunity of a new edition to incorporate some of the nearly 30 years of scholarship and cultural criticism produced on Barbie since this book first came out. F

Thank you to Net Galley and DreamScape media for the advanced copy. It was super interesting to see how this author tied together how Barbie potentially influenced so many different aspects of pop culture. It’s a very 90s vibe (as it was written in the 90s). I wanted there to be more Barbie and I was also looking for this to be more chronological than it was. It made it hard to follow in some points. If you’re super into niche pockets of pop culture this might be for you.

DNF at 35%

I listened to the audiobook of the republishing of this book

republishing this book would have been the perfect opportunity to review the content and update it / rephrase the things that are very 90s and aren't exactly acceptable today, but alas, it is the original text only with a new intro

i think the author goes on tangents that aren't really interesting or that probably were new thoughts in the 90s but now feel so obvious or even outdated that it made the listening experience long

would recommend giving it a try if you want to learn more about the history of the barbie doll because i think it did do a good job at that, it just wasn't for me


thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape media for the opportunity to listen to an ARC.

What a fascinating take on the history of the Barbie doll. Exploring how it came to be, the changes to the doll over the years, and its impact on culture, this book is the most definitive biography of Barbie I’ve ever read (and yes, I’ve read more than one.)

Update for the post-Barbie Movie era, there really is no better biographer for the famed doll herself than Lord. I was particularly interested in the role Ruth Handler played in the creation and growth of Barbie’s popularity.

Why I Like it: I first read this biography in middle school and didn’t realize it was the same book until after the new forward. I loved it then for it’s deep unflinching look at the pros and cons of the Barbie Doll. I love it now for incorporating how the doll has changed in recent years.

What an insightful look into the world of Barbie!

This book was originally published in the 90s, but this edition has a new preface which does discuss the Barbie movie. In the preface, the author also discusses that she left the book unchanged so it’s a large reflection of the 90s.

The title states this book is an “unauthorized biography,” however, only the first few chapters feel like a biography. If you are looking to read a comprehensive history on Barbie, this book isn’t it. This book offers a lot of commentary on Barbie and people’s complicated relationship with her. Some of it feels a little out there (like The White Goddess chapter that discusses how Barbie is similar to ancient fertility idols), but there were a lot of interesting ideas presented (I really liked the discussion on Barbie and class mobility). The book also discussed things I never knew about like the Barbie board games, books, and comics from way back in the day.

I liked that this book had a concluding chapter. I always hate it when nonfiction books don’t have one. My biggest takeaway from this book came from this chapter. The author writes, “People project fears and prejudices into her; when a person talks at length about Barbie, one usually learns more about the speaker than about the doll” (pg. 264). That is so true. Barbie has never been the enemy, people just project their owns ideas and feelings onto her.

Overall, I recommend this book if you’re looking to explore Barbie on a deeper level and don’t mind the 90s influence.

This was too in depth for me. Too long and boring. Too much psychoanalysis. I was looking for a more breezy history of Barbie and this was not that. I did, however, enjoy the documentary “Tiny Shoulders” and love the show “the toys that made us” and was hoping for something more like that.

THIS WAS LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just wanted it to end!!! Lots of barbie/toy facts.

I got an alc of this book on NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was a very detailed and informative history of Barbie. When I requested this ARC, I think I stereotyped Barbie like most people do. I thought this would be a light and fluffy take on Barbie and maybe a bit of the feminist touch from the Barbie movie. Instead, I faced a long backstory of everything that had ever touched or been part of Barbie. From a nonfiction perspective, it was very well done, and I do appreciate the research that went into this, it just ran a little boring for me overall. I wish it had a little more punch to it.

Thank you, NetGalley for this audio ARC.

This book was originally published in the early 90s, and features a new foreword that touches on the recent Barbie phenomenon.

I loved the first half of the book with the history and details I never knew about the creation of the doll and various subsidiaries of Mattell to provide more diverse dolls.

There are lots of pieces of this book that focus on projection. What adults project onto Barbies, what kids project onto their parents (particularly their moms) regarding their relationship with their bodies, what society project onto women, etc. that piece honestly got a bit weird.

Ultimately I grew up in the 80s and 90s and had tons of these dolls. And when I outgrew them I definitely had the attitude of Barbie being antiwomen. Upon reflection as an adult I don’t think that’s necessarily true, but I do think Barbie becomes what we make her.