Face It: A Memoir

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He greets them “with a Colt 45 in one hand and a bottle of Manischewitz [kosher wine] in the other”. Regardless of whether DH is talking about her house burning down, being stalked and raped Blondie splitting up or throwaway waitress jobs, there's no change of pace or tone and only the merest superficiality of detail. I hate coyness in memoirs so I appreciated Debbie letting loose with names along with her honest feelings and opinions of her talent, looks, friends, and past relationships. None of those intimacies are here and I’m wondering if perhaps Debbie was not really all that interested in giving us a prolonged peek behind the curtain, which leads me to believe that she may have been better off going with an authorized biography instead.

In fact, she went out of her way to avoid that subject, explaining that she just put up with it and got on with what she needed to do- which is a cycle we are desperately trying to break. Even as a teenager, listening to 'Parallel Lines' over and over in a college dorm room, I got an inkling of their cool metropolitan savvy, and an odd 'queer' vibe from them (none of the band members are, though).Photograph: Mick Rock/Rex Features View image in fullscreen ‘Ultimately for me, it’s the overwhelming need to have my entire life be an imaginative out-of-body experience. Without mentioning any spoilers I think that she certainly must have had several guardian angels working over time looking out for her at times. I wasn't submissive or begging him to come back, I was kicking his ass, kicking him out, kicking my own ass too. When talking about harassment she encountered (David Bowie exposing himself in dressing rooms, a band member staring at her chest while speaking to her, producers making a semi-nude picture of her into an ad without her consent, etc.

Harry joined and left various bands including the Stilettos, through which she met Chris Stein, who would become her principal collaborator as the guitarist in Blondie, her partner for the next 13 years and, after their split, one of her dearest friends. I think Debbie wanted to show people that life isn't always pretty or perfect, but it's how we let those things influence or affect us for the rest of our lives that matter. There are a lot of descriptive scenes of New York in the 70's and name dropping of people of whom some I were familiar with but others that I had to look up. She is devoted to environmental issues such as clean water and saving pollinators as well as the promotion of the LGBTQ community and human rights. Instead, readers will find reflection on life with a budding band and an uncensored view of what it took to succeed.Sure, I knew she came up through the punk era, was there at CBGB's, was mentioned in the same breath as Patti Smith and Tom Verlaine, but I really had no idea how deeply involved she was with the people and places of that lost era--her memories of which certainly made me emotional at times. My favourite kind of memoirs are the kind that feel as though you’re just sitting down with a friend and having them tell you a story, this is that kind of memoir. It's reconstructed from a series of interviews she did to reconstruct her memories, so it's a bit jangly and jumpy, but not overly so. However, along with her courage and talent and happy enduring personal a professional relationship with Chris Stein, her perseverance paid off.

The scope of Debbie Harry's impact on our culture has been matched only by her reticence to reveal her rich inner life--until now. I wasn’t submissive or begging him to come back, I was kicking his ass, kicking him out, kicking my own ass too. While on tour with Iggy Pop and David Bowie, the latter flashes his penis at Harry in the dressing room “as if I were the official cock checker or something”. For all ebook purchases, you will be prompted to create an account or login with your existing HarperCollins username and password. And of course she's under no obligation to do so, but I do wish that this rock n' roll memoir had, y'know, rocked a little bit more.However, having read (in the book) about her own reasons for including so much of her fan's artwork in her autobiography I think it was a very nice gesture of hers and shows a generous spirit. It's rare that someone can reveal the flaws in a relationship without being bitter or completely self oriented.