Where Jennifer Hudson Goes

Jennifer Hudson, rhythm and blues dreamgirl, has achieved another feat. This January, the mother, actress, singer and Weight Watchers spokeswoman released her autobiography I Got This: How I Changed My Ways and Lost What Weighed Me Down, crossing into the literary field and adding another talent to her multi-faceted career.

It’s improved by Hudson’s “be true to yourself” mantra, which comes off as sincerely inspiring but Hudson’s autobiography is a bit heavy on her weight struggles, and at times excludes fans who just want to read about her work. Before launching into the story of how she grew up as a “big girl,” Hudson pens a lively scene of her moment on the red carpet. “Jennifer,” a reporter asks, “are you insecure about being a ‘big girl’ in Hollywood?”

If it weren’t so grounded in reality her internal response — “Oh, hell no. She didn’t just ask me that” — would probably have been more comical. Still, her emotional honesty gets her point across. About 40 percent of Hudson’s autobiography is spent describing her experiences balancing her weight and her talents while trying to break into the industry.

Section of the book is the most intimate. She writes about buying plus-sized gowns from the few stores that sold them, getting rejected from a position to sing behind Barry Manilow and her fashion-related weight trials on American Idol.