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\n Photo: Chris Polk\/FilmMagic\n <\/p>\n
The title Citizen Kim<\/a>, the new biography of Kim Kardashian by Jonathan Van Meter, is a reference to Orson Welles\u2019s Citizen Kane. Is Van Meter\u2019s subject Charles Foster Kane, the rich mogul who absconds from society, or Susan Alexander, the talentless, beautiful ing\u00e9nue? Trick question. \u201cYou are the mogul and the muse; you are the billionaire and the pretty young thing,\u201d Van Meter told Kardashian when she asked him about the connection between the two. Citizen Kim doesn\u2019t just make the case for Kardashian\u2019s continued relevance<\/a> \u2014 though it does \u2014 but it also showcases the star and socialite and entrepreneur and actor as something of an anomaly, a series of contradictions that say more about us and the times in which we live<\/a> than her. Though it still has plenty to say about her.<\/p>\n The prologue to Van Meter\u2019s biography is essentially a justification \u2014 to himself, his friends, and his tennis instructor \u2014 about why someone like Kim Kardashian is worth so much time, energy, and thought. While Van Meter has tremendous respect and interest in Kardashian as a person, defending her against allegations of being a \u201ctalentless, empty vessel,\u201d the greatest case for writing about her is that she has been present for a number of the past 30 years\u2019 most essential events and movements: the O.J. Simpson trial, Michael Jackson, TMZ, Paris Hilton<\/a>, nascent reality TV, the broadening scope of the Met Gala, Instagram, Kanye West, Donald Trump. \u201cShe is a shared point of reference on a cultural map,\u201d Van Meter writes, adding that she\u2019s one of the last \u201cvestiges of monoculture.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s because of her presence at so many of these events that she\u2019s been able to maintain her grasp on culture: She developed a hardened shell before many other stars of her age, defending herself and her family members against the intrusive public eye by weaponizing how we saw her. For every story Kardashian tells from an eventful time in her life, she always remembers some aesthetic detail. The day the O.J. verdict came through? \u201cI was wearing jean shorts,\u201d Kardashian remembers.<\/p>\n Citizen Kim reads, at times, like something of a hypercapitalist fairy tale: a woman destined for greatness through the sheer fortitude and business acumen of her ancestors before her. Van Meter dives deep on both the Kardashian and Houghton (Kris Jenner\u2019s maiden name) sides of the family: MJ, Kardashian\u2019s beloved maternal grandmother<\/a>, was the proprietor of several clothing stores in Southern California; on her Armenian side of the family, Helen, Kardashian\u2019s paternal grandmother, passed down a steely reserve and sense of glamour. Even beyond her genetics, Kardashian was a \u201cthing\u201d before she was a thing. \u201cShe has always been KIM KARDASHIAN since she was little,\u201d longtime friend Zoe Winkler explains to Van Meter, detailing the ways in which Kim (and, to some extent, Kourtney) were the queen bees even in elementary school. At Kardashian\u2019s eighth-grade graduation, she leaned into the microphone up on the podium and announced, \u201cWhen I\u2019m famous, you\u2019re going to remember me as this beautiful little girl!\u201d<\/p>\n For a book that\u2019s ostensibly about Kim, the word \u201cKris\u201d appears nearly 400 times in Van Meter\u2019s text, proving that the era\u2019s first and foremost \u201cmomager\u201d can\u2019t stay away, even if she\u2019s not on the cover.<\/p>\n