Customer Reviews

Clay Aiken (Blue Banner Biographies)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

I expected this autobiography to be like a normal one, as in a thick paperback novel... only to be greeted with a kid's book. There were just too many spelling errors & inaccurate points throughout the book & I couldn't help but to have the feeling that the author is simply riding on Clay's fame to make a quick buck... :(

As a children's librarian, I am thoroughly disappointed that Mr. Torres or his editors did not care enough about adolescent readers to better research his subject. How hard is it to find out the birth date of a living person? How hard is it to get the correct spelling of a name 'THROUGHOUT' the book. Ruben Studdard is mentioned at least 3 times and his name is spelled Stoddard in some mentions and Studdard in others. It is Studdard, by the way.

One of the things we try to teach students is the importance of accuracy in non-fiction. This is a poor example.

Mr. Aiken is a really good role model for young people, overcoming adversity with a positive attitude. This biography is one I would like to recommend for students. It's too bad this book didn't do him justice.

This book is filled with inaccuracies. Just a small amount of research would have helped. Too many mispellings and wrong dates, and just in general a sloppy effort to make a quick buck.I personally will NOT recomend this book to anyone.

What a disappointment! The book is full of inaccuracies--the author and publisher should have been much more careful with research and spellings. Bookstore owner was surprised only one biography is out so far, and this is what is offered! A few nice photos, but any reader could get Clay's story (and accurately at that) in a magazine article.

I don't get it!!!! Seventeen bucks ($17) bucks for a book that is only 32 pages long? In reality it is probally 16 pages worth of reading material but the print is large. Let the one star rating be for the EASY ON-THE-EYES print. I feel totally dooped. It's bad enough when music labels want to pass off a cd single full of radio edits of the dance remixes for the full price of a cd-maxi single. Now I got publishers gouging me for $17 bucks for what should be $3.99!
As for content, I think Rolling Stone did Aiken more justice then this. At least they can SPELL! (Did I endure 12 years of educational torture so I can be insulted by a book full of missplled words? Did this author go to school?) Gee wiz. Furthermore, I have learned about Clay mainly from fans websites and teenage-oriented magazines but I thought this would
be "official". It was mostly a rehash of material I already gleaned from above mentioned resourses. I cannot believe the price for this and if I were Clay, I would not want it to be released because it would be a travesty and a rip-off for my fans (IF I WERE CLAY, THAT IS!!!) who deserve more.
Perhaps this would make a kids book but I would not want to give a kid - who is being tought the RIGHT way to spell - a book so loaded with spelling errors that he/she would wonder what the point of school was.

DISAPPOINTED.

For the one who did not find this review helpful. Let me recommend Clay's book "Learning To Sing".

I am totally shocked that a book with so many grammatical errors, spelling errors, not to mention factual errors got past the editor.
While I found the book interesting because of the subject matter, it was lacking in quality of information. It was obvious this book was thrown together in just a few days rather than researching with interviews, writing, editing, and then publishing. To put in large print just to be able to make it to 32 pages made it a read that could be done in minutes.
Only worth the money if you want anything that says Clay Aiken. I am a die-hard fan of Clay's but I'll stick to "real" material hereafter.

Cuz this book deserves it. It is not worthy of picking up Raleigh poo. Don't buy it. The author should be ashamed of himself for making money on a book that has so many factual errors than any moron who can operate a PC and check fansites can find something on nearly every page that's incorrect.

I could have written a more thorough and informative bio, just based on what I already know about Clay. This was obviously quickly compiled from interviews Clay has given. Not nearly long enough, considering the cover price.

I don't care if this is written for young children, it is so poorly done that I am unhappy that I wasted my money purchasing it. There are so many spelling and factual errors that I believe my young niece would even spot them so I am embarrassed to give this to her. When a book is only 32 pages long(and in large type for that matter)they could have least edited the spelling errors out. I won't even take the time to point out the totally incorrect information written as fact. Yes, I feel like I've been ripped off.

Like many Clay fans, I want all I can get my hands on that bears his name. This is the reason I bought this terrible book. Save your money--it's inaccurate, small and pointless! It's not even good for children.