Debbie Harry

As a longtime Debbie Harry and Blondie fan, I was extremely anxious to read her memoir. Unfortunately, I was highly disappointed. The book lacked any cohesion. The book did begin by detailing her early life, her adoption, and life with her adopted family. But from that point it was simply random thoughts that came to her mind without any attachment to what was previously mentioned. The book also lacked any emotion. There was nothing personal or especially interesting about the book. At many points the prose really bogged down and I had to force myself to continue reading. The book reads as if she was sitting down with the writer and just recalling random events from her life and they were written down as she recalled them. This is not the most exciting or interesting way to write a book.

I am not for sure I believe all that she said happened to her in the book. Much of it appeared to be exaggerated or embellished for the sake of the book. Being a musician, I should have expected her extensive drug use, but I was surprised how deep she was into drugs. She goes into much detail about the drug use, over and over and over, and eventually I wanted to just say, OK, I get it, you were deep into drugs. This part of her life was detailed too much.

I am still a fan of hers and the Blondie band, but the book was disappointing and not what I expected. On the plus side, there are lots and lots of photos of her, Chris, and the band as well as many drawings her fans made of her and sent to her. It was nice to be able to see those drawings from her fans. Some were obviously made by children, others were quite artistic and revealed a lot about Debbie.… (mais)

It turns out that heroin use is not a good way to build memories. Debbie Harry's memoir, is hampered by this fact as well as her unwillingness to say anything bad about anyone, tell juicy stories or get personal. She's lead an interesting life, what with being a part of the punk/new wave music scene, hanging out and performing at CGBG, a legendary music club in the seventies and eighties, with people like Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and assorted drag queens and musicians, being part of Blondie and touring the world and acting in movies like Hairspray and Videodrome. I just wish there hadn't been so much missing from her memoir.

The book itself is a lovely object. The paper is the kind of thick, matte paper that photographs look good on and there are pictures. Mostly, there is fan art; drawings of Harry sent to her through the years and which she kept. It's a nice, surprisingly sentimental touch from a woman intent in making sure we all know how tough she is (she is very tough, and had to be). There's a lot of name-dropping, but not much in the way of stories. Harry isn't going to say anything bad about anyone and anyway she doesn't remember much of the early CGBG days, has only nice things to say about most of the members of Blondie (there's a bit about two former members behaving badly in 2006) and she's too guarded to say anything about how she felt about any of it along the way.

I'm sure that people who loved Blondie will enjoy this, but it's dull stuff.… (mais)

The autobiography by Harry and rock journalist Sylvie Simmons. If you're a Blondie fan, as I have been since elementary school, you'll love this. Harry's childhood, discussions about her adoption, and growing up in the 50's and then the hippie era. She talks about spending years trying out this and that, looking for something that made her happy while knowing she didn't want to get married and be normal. Harry's natural weirdness comes through even when she isn't talking about music, something that I find endearing.
She discusses meeting Chris Stein, her Blondie co-founder, co-writer and longtime boyfriend, Blondie bandmates, the infamous Hall of Fame induction and the managers who ripped them off, along with discussing the tours and meeting lots of famous people, and the start of punk at CBGB's. She is candid about drug use and rape, and her looks and aging.
This is a heavy book, both because Harry has a lot to say and because it's made with heavy cardstock. It's really heavy. There are photos, of course, but not an excessive amount, and probably even more drawings of Harry from fans that she's saved over the years. I would have given this 5 stars if not for the still unanswered questions about the band's fracturing.… (mais)