Customer Reviews

Ani Difranco : Righteous Babe

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

First of all, let me state that I am a hard-core Ani DiFranco fan. As such, there was very little new or interesting information in this book for me.

Its main strength is as a compendium of mass media interviews spanning Ani's career. The author relies heavily on interviews for the biographical elements of the book. As a literature review of published interviews, this is pretty complete. Unfortunately, it doesn't add much to the information that's already out there.

The next part of the book discusses some of the controversies that have roiled the often-vehement fan community. For this portion, the author relies on interviews although it is unclear how these people were selected for inclusion.

Finally, the author provides a song-by-song discography of everything Ani has ever commercially released. While mostly descriptive (quoting lyrics and describing the instrumentation and arrangements) the author does venture into some interpretation of the songs. This is where this book is at its least useful-- many of the interpretations are shallow and obvious, some are downright incorrect.

Throughout the book, I found myself thinking this must have made a nice, thorough research paper for a women's studies or pop culture seminar, but it doesn't have the content or quality of writing to warrant serious attention.

I was very excited to just see a book about Ani on the book shelf at my local feminist bookstore. So of course i bought the book in hopes of finding this incredible autobiography on ani and/or her work...well, what i found was a book by what seemed to be a man that just wanted to write a book and used Ani as his focal point. In his introduction he claims he's going to tell us his interprations of Ani's songs in comparison as to what's going on in her life at the time and in society as a whole, at the time. He does this, but very poorly. I don't know how one can write a book like this without even consulting with Ani herself or at least someone close to her, and god knows, the writers that he gets most of his quotes from are not at all close to ani and in most cases know very little about her. I was disappointed in the whole book (other then the wonderful picture...what i could have seen online) and can see why Ani wouldn't like it either. This man knows nothing about her and states that within the first 2 pages of the book.

I was going to give this book 3 stars until I read in several reviews that Ani didn't approve of it being published. I was unaware of this, but, now I know. When I bought this book, I did not know much about Ani or her music. I had only heard a few of her albums, and knew almost nothing about her life. Now, after having finished the book and noticing many errors along the way (he called "Names And Dates And Times", "Names And Dates And Places", and called Alanis Morisettes song "Ironic", "Like Rain", as just a few examples) I am now wondering how much of that information was actually accurate. Needless to say, I didn't appreciate the fact that fans were categorized into two neat piles. I am sure many, if not most, Ani fans don't fit into either category (I certainly don't). We, as people, are more complex than a few pages can define. Also, most of the book consisted of an album-by-album, song-by-song "interpretation" of Ani's music. Ani has said herself that she is happiest when her music is interpreted at all diferent angles, and his generalizations about her beautiful and complex songs are not appreciated in my corner. I get so much more, both emotionally and intellectually, out of her songs than a few highly generalized paragraphs can describe. One thing, though, that I can give Mr. Quirino, is that he at least tried. Next time, he should try a little harder.

This book was NOT total trash by any means, despite popular belief. True, he made his mistakes. Yes, there were errors. If there are fans that are unhappy with this book for one reason or another, maybe they should just go write their own...

I have been an Ani fan for years, and I appreciated the book for what it was - someone else's opinion. It was never stated that it was supposed to be a biography, so get over it.

I believe that the arthor's interpretations of the songs are not wrong. No one has the right to tell someone that their opinion and their feelings are wrong.

As an artist, I know what the intent and meaning of my work is. But it is completely and totally up to the viewer how they want to interpret it and how it makes them feel. The same thing goes for music, whether it is Ani's or any one else's. EVERYONE is allowed to form their own opinion as to how a song makes them feel or what it means to them. Period.

I think this book is something every Ani fan should give a chance. The fans who were interviewed for this book have a right to have their words read. It definately provides insight to the whole episode about Ani getting married (*amongst other things*), especially from a fan's point of view. Even though I do not agree with everyone's opinion in this book, I still respect it.

I think every Ani fan should give a little bit more respect to this book, and give it a chance to teach you something about what OTHER people think.

The primary question running through my head as I read this book was, "Who is the author's intended audience?" Quirino openly admits at the beginning of his book that he was unable to secure interviews with Ani or anyone close to her except her publicist, relying instead on intensive research of the internet, magazine articles, press reviews, etc. The result is a compendium of facts commonly known to any fan with access to the web, with little that is new or interesting to recommend it-and who besides a fan would even purchase a book like this? Quirino's strength as a "music business veteran" is situating Ani within a chronology of musicians who came before and after her, focusing on her "DIY" (Do It Yourself) attitude towards music production. Note, however, that readers may become angry as they peruse Quirino's often blatantly inaccurate interpretations of Ani's discography in the final third of the book, causing one to question the validity of any opinions that have come before. Final comment: the intimate biographical history of Ani D we are all eagerly waiting for has yet to be written...

As an Ani fan for the past God-knows-how-long, I was curious to see what this book was all about. Needless to say, it is very poorly written with even worse proof-read job. Ani fans will pretty much be insulted by this "collection of opinions" from a misinformed author. Don't waste your money! Most of the citations for this book come from web sites that you've all probably been to already--and we all know how accurate web sites are. I imagine that if Ani gets her hands on this book, she'll wonder how it got published, which was also my first reaction upon completion.

I was very disappointed when I read this book. Yes, I understand that the author did not intend this piece to be an official window into Ani's life... He states that he spent 3 months listening to ani's recordings, in an attempt to completely deconstruct them to get inside her head... I have spent nearly 7 years (I am, afterall, only 17) listening to Ani's music. And for one person to try to tell me just what Ani is "all about," is so infuriating. Ani's music touches each one of us differently, in my opinion, as we find our own experiences mirrored through her work, whether or not that's what she intended... I must... point out there are so many inaccuracies that this book should be kept farther away from the beginners than from anyone else. And more importantly, the only true way (in my opinion) to experience Ani is through her words, thoughts, and emotions.

ok---well...the book is not the best--but hey..ani didn't write it. grammar problems and mis quotes are scattered throughout the text. some info is actually valid and the book is not as bad as you may think. if you love ani you will probably buy it-just to own it...but if you are buying it for an in-depth explanation of how and why ani is who she is--this book may not be the best buy for you. i suggest SOLO by marc and emma--it is a suberb buy!

ani's amazing. i think this book could have potentially been ani-worthy, but there were a few holes which probably could have been filled, and who could do that better than ani herself? im a huge ani fan and am still waiting for a book which really enhances her accomplishments. however, i do recommend reading it merely because anything published about this amazing woman is worth reading.

Okay, I think that Ani rocks... but this book completely does not do her justice. First of all, Raffaele, try getting lyrics right when you quote them. (* I even read a description where it said "Names, and Dates, and Places" instead of "Names, and Dates, and Times" for the opening song off "Puddle Dive"! If you can't even get the song titles right, think of how many other factual discrepancies there must be.) Plus, that whole section where he's describing various Ani fans (why they like her, why they've become disillusioned with her, etc.) -- not only was it was ridiculous, it was embarassing! Why would anyone care! I was excited to read this book, because I wanted a little insight into her songs and why they came about, but I am seriously considering returning my copy to the bookstore I work at. I'll leave it to Ani for the last word: "And everything I do is judged / And they mostly get it wrong, but oh, well."