Customer Reviews

Building a Mystery: The Story of Sarah McLachlan & Lilith Fair

5 star:		(47)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(107)

 

 

First of all, Judith Fitzgerald /didn't/ respect Sarah's privacy. She called around to all of Sarah's friends and family scrounging for information. Rather than letting Sarah live her life the way that Sarah sees fit, Fitzgerald had to dish up the only dirt that she could find, Sarah's adoption, and announce it to the world, regardless of whether Sarah had decided to share that. That's very personal and private, and should have been left to the people involved to tell. Instead, Fitzgerald behaves as though this is a major scoop, and disregards completely how the woman of whose career she is supposedly writing a "celebration" feels. Second, nearly every bit of Sarah's biographical data can be found on the internet. Fitzgerald used the internet to a great extent to do her research, as well as the source for 9 or 10 of the photograph/album covers in the book. Many of the articles quoted from can be found on the internet as well. One look at the back, and you can see how many articles that "Fitz" used for filler material when she ran out of anonymous sources. I've never heard that Fitzgerald was being harassed by anyone, and a true fan of Sarah McLachlan couldn't care enough. On the flip side of that coin, I have witnessed the author engaging in harassing others with extreme and unwarranted callousness. The saddest thing of all is that she uses any public forum to further her agendas. As for an update, I doubt think that there ever even was one. What more could possibly be added to this book? Could we be naieve enough to expect unbiased reporting, like we got the first time around? The chip on Fitzgerald's shoulder is so large you could see it from Jupiter. Is it possible that she could dislike Sarah's manager any more? Could we possibly expect there to be an update worthy of bearing Sarah McLachlan's name? Or would it just be more trite verbiage tacked onto the Lilith Fair chapter, slamming it even harder than the orignal? Or will we get more rambling absurdities about how Sarah McLachlan had her obsessed fan killed? All of that and more - enough to make you sick, of course. The person who truly deserves an apology for this lame duck is Sarah McLachlan - for having her name associated in any way with it, for being used by Fitzgerald to sell a substandard book that Fitzgerald has admitted that she didn't want to write, but was locked into the contract before she found out that she wouldn't be granted an interview. I, for one am not a "Sarahmaniac", nor will I ever be, since "Fitz" coined the term. I am a fan of Sarah McLachlan's music, and I don't care whether she's adopted, bisexual, or anything else. It's about the music. That's where Sarah McLachlan is coming from.

This book is the biggest piece of crap I've ever read - and I read a lot! How it ever got published is the real mystery! Don't waste your time on it.

As a owner of one of the internet's most well respected Sarah McLachlan websites as well as an expert in Sarah McLachlan Biography, I find this book insulting. Building a Mystery reads like a schizophrenic patient's transcript strife with vague references, endless garble, and little substance. Having read the book front to back, I found little about 'Sarah McLachlan' and mostly what seemed to be an ongoing, unguided defamation. Not only does the author refuse to latch onto a journalistic perspective with direction and commentry from the people who matter most to the heart of the person and concept of 'Sarah McLachlan', she becomes attached to the alleged stalker which took his like soon after a legal battle with Mclachlan. I could not identify with her perspective or logic and found the book uncomfortable to read. It is no wonder Sarah McLachlan's family and record company wanted nothing to do with the author or this book. I strongly recommend against wasting your money.

I read the book and I really did not like it. The first chapter was bad. The only one that was kind of good was the one on the stalker. I did not get the parts of the book when she was talking to her friends because it had nothing to do with the book. I am a Sarah McLachlan fan and was really dissapointed with this book. The book had a lot of odd qoutes just put together. I also found it non-informative.

I bought this book and was mortified.

Really mortified.

The author may be a renowned poet but the subject of the book does not bear any relation to the title.

I am an Australian and discovered the music of Sarah after "Surfacing" was released. I then bought every other album, joined Murmurs and also got the special releases. I actually got to see Sarah in concert in Sydney in 2004 when she was promoting "Afterglow".

I am not one of the "Sarahmaniacs" so often quoted in other reviews - I am affected by her voice and the lyrics. There are other female artists who also affect me this way but none of them has had such dross written about them. This unauthorised biography is a credit to no-one.

Do not buy it even if it is supposed to be updated. Use your favourite web search engine and learn more - for very little cost.

Note : Amazon should allow a "zero star" rating.

Butt-Head said it best: "uhhhhh...this sucks!" At first glance, you might think this book would be pretty cool to read, it's not, in fact it is pretty god-awful. I can't believe that I paid to read it. If you ever see this book in the your local bookstore, skip it with a vengeance & find something else cool to read.

Simply put, one of the stupidest and least readable books I have ever had the displeasure to encounter. No redeeming value to it. None.

Finally getting a chance to read this book was kind of a let down. Contrived is one word to describe it. The writing is unbelievably strained - it comes off boring and laughable.As a cure for insomnia, this rates a 10+. As a piece of quality writing - forget it.

Many of the facts in this book are wrong. Stay away from this poorly slapped together book as it will surely disappoint you.

the book was very confusing to me at the beginning with Fitz driving driving down to Halifax in search of Sarah's birth mother. the whole part was unnecessary and a waste of paper if you ask me. other than that, i guess the book is an ok read. the writer does give interpretations of Sarah's lyrics and things like that. She also gives what the critics wrote about Sarah throughout her career so far.