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Review
‘A rare talent for lyrical, inventive prose gives her anecdotes wings….a powerful, radical and quite beautiful work of biographical art.’ Sunday Telegraph
‘She opens up a box of mini-memoirs about the characters she has met. Instantly engaging. Faithfull is able to produce something of grit and newsworthiness.’ Observer
Time Out
'Amusing close encounters in the '70's with Burroughs, Ginsberg and Corso at the Jack Kerouac School of disembodied Poetics...funny...poignant.'
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
32 of 32 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
As the title indicates this is a much more fragmented biography than "Faithfull: An autobiography " from 1994, but again David Dalton appears as a co-writer of the book.
It consists of memories from the fab 60'es, when Marianne was the queen of swinging London, but also from the less fab 70'es where she had fallen from grace and lived as a junkie in Soho.
It also consists of portraits of other celebrities and friends: Kenneth Anger (the filmmaker), Caroline Blackwood (the writer) just to name a few and personal reflections on her own life from childhood up till now. She tells openly of her private life: the collapse on stage in Milan in 2005, which meant that she had to cancel the rest of her tour, her fight against breast cancer, the weight problems, giving up smoking etc., but also about her professional life as an acclaimed artist (singer, performer and actress).
What I loved the most about the book was some of its more humorous episodes, e.g. when we are told, that she is not actually riding a motor bike, but sits on a trolley with a wind machine in "Girl on a Motorcycle" (what a disappointment!). Although she has some reservations about the film, she is pleased that she made it, because:" it preserved her in aspic at one of the periods when she looked really good." I agree, but I also think she looks fabulous today - what a charisma - I saw her on her last tour in Copenhagen in May 2007. I also loved the more intimate episodes, e.g. the very loving portrait of her mother Eva and a rather critical portrait of the Beat Poets: Allan Ginsburg, William Burroughs, etc.
As a bonus you get some nice photos of Marianne herself, her grandparents and some of the friends, but none of her beloved Francois Ravard to whom the book is dedicated - I wonder why?
It consists of memories from the fab 60'es, when Marianne was the queen of swinging London, but also from the less fab 70'es where she had fallen from grace and lived as a junkie in Soho.
It also consists of portraits of other celebrities and friends: Kenneth Anger (the filmmaker), Caroline Blackwood (the writer) just to name a few and personal reflections on her own life from childhood up till now. She tells openly of her private life: the collapse on stage in Milan in 2005, which meant that she had to cancel the rest of her tour, her fight against breast cancer, the weight problems, giving up smoking etc., but also about her professional life as an acclaimed artist (singer, performer and actress).
What I loved the most about the book was some of its more humorous episodes, e.g. when we are told, that she is not actually riding a motor bike, but sits on a trolley with a wind machine in "Girl on a Motorcycle" (what a disappointment!). Although she has some reservations about the film, she is pleased that she made it, because:" it preserved her in aspic at one of the periods when she looked really good." I agree, but I also think she looks fabulous today - what a charisma - I saw her on her last tour in Copenhagen in May 2007. I also loved the more intimate episodes, e.g. the very loving portrait of her mother Eva and a rather critical portrait of the Beat Poets: Allan Ginsburg, William Burroughs, etc.
As a bonus you get some nice photos of Marianne herself, her grandparents and some of the friends, but none of her beloved Francois Ravard to whom the book is dedicated - I wonder why?
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
If you were in any doubt as to whether Marianne Faithfull knows lots of large words, rest assured she has swallowed approximately an entire dictionary. She also loves quoting from all sorts of literary greats from history, you know, Shakespeare and people like that. In theory, this is fine, only if I wanted an English literature lesson I'd go back to school, ne c'est pas?
Having known so many interesting/brilliant/idiotic (depending on your P.O.V) people, Ms Faithfull has quite a few anecdotes up her sleeve and I enjoyed reading most of these, although on several occasions I was lured by the draw of an anecdote, only to see the tale disappear into nothingness, somewhat like a bubble floating upwards before popping without explanation. I like to think of these as Marianne's page-fillers, a.k.a meaningless yack to pad out the book. Luckily for her, she has a natural flair for writing so she can get away with it.
In fact, Ms Faithfull is really quite a talented writer and has a knack for drawing out the beauty and charm from apparently ugly or charmless people & situations. She is also tender and humane, often sticking up for or highlighting the kindness or brilliance of people who were known more for their bad behaviour. I did, however, grow weary of La Faithfull announcing how bored of talking about being a smack-head she is, only to launch into more of the (generally boring and indulgent) 'my life as a smackhead' schtick. Someone "doth protest too loudly" as Shakespeare might say, eh Marianne?
On the plus side, it all hangs together fairly well and I like the format; lots of stories and insights in small sections in no particular order (seemingly?) which makes it a book you can pick up and put down often (which is handy, because unless you are Stephen Fry or Cormac McCarthy, you will need to refer to your dictionary on a fairly regular basis...).
It's sort of like reading a book by someone who's been there and done that, and now she wants to tell you all about it, only when she tells you what an idiot she was for doing some of the stuff she did, you don't quite believe her, because she's got a rye grin that she cannot hide and you can see that really, she's quite proud of it all....
Having known so many interesting/brilliant/idiotic (depending on your P.O.V) people, Ms Faithfull has quite a few anecdotes up her sleeve and I enjoyed reading most of these, although on several occasions I was lured by the draw of an anecdote, only to see the tale disappear into nothingness, somewhat like a bubble floating upwards before popping without explanation. I like to think of these as Marianne's page-fillers, a.k.a meaningless yack to pad out the book. Luckily for her, she has a natural flair for writing so she can get away with it.
In fact, Ms Faithfull is really quite a talented writer and has a knack for drawing out the beauty and charm from apparently ugly or charmless people & situations. She is also tender and humane, often sticking up for or highlighting the kindness or brilliance of people who were known more for their bad behaviour. I did, however, grow weary of La Faithfull announcing how bored of talking about being a smack-head she is, only to launch into more of the (generally boring and indulgent) 'my life as a smackhead' schtick. Someone "doth protest too loudly" as Shakespeare might say, eh Marianne?
On the plus side, it all hangs together fairly well and I like the format; lots of stories and insights in small sections in no particular order (seemingly?) which makes it a book you can pick up and put down often (which is handy, because unless you are Stephen Fry or Cormac McCarthy, you will need to refer to your dictionary on a fairly regular basis...).
It's sort of like reading a book by someone who's been there and done that, and now she wants to tell you all about it, only when she tells you what an idiot she was for doing some of the stuff she did, you don't quite believe her, because she's got a rye grin that she cannot hide and you can see that really, she's quite proud of it all....
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
For those who like to read, this is a great book.
For those who like Marianne Faithfull or the Rolling Stones, this is an excelent book.
M.F. is very clear with her thoughts, she loves art and music, and she had a great life (still does, i guess). And you can see for yourself how's life when you live around London in the 60's, with the Stones, the things drugs do to you and so on, so on.
I really enjoyed myself.
For those who like Marianne Faithfull or the Rolling Stones, this is an excelent book.
M.F. is very clear with her thoughts, she loves art and music, and she had a great life (still does, i guess). And you can see for yourself how's life when you live around London in the 60's, with the Stones, the things drugs do to you and so on, so on.
I really enjoyed myself.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Once is enough?
Unfortunately nowhere near as good as her autobiography 'Faithfull'. Whilst I like some of the stories (the insightful talk with her alter-ego,the 'Fabulous Beast' stories about... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Mrs. B. P. Morran
Thought-provoking, amusing & entertaining
This riveting sequel to 1994's Faithfull is less formal and detailed, a series of vignettes of people, places, movies, plays & music rather than a structured narrative. Read more
Published on 31 May 2009 by Pieter
The perfect weekend guest?
I bought this book on Saturday morning & had finished it by Sunday afternoon- a quick, coversational read, very much like having Marianne stay over for the weekend (purely... Read more
Published on 15 Sep 2008 by Lord KitchenKnife
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