Customer Reviews

I Don't Mean to Be Rude, But...

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The book is quite different than what I expected, I always enjoyed Simon's comments and the way he put down those wanabees, even though it sometimes was a bit rough, I bought the book hopeing for more of his cynical arguments, but instead, he started by talking about his childhood days, how he grew up, and where he started his career, and I found that even more amazing, and interesting. It kind of gets you thinking about the options you have in life, Simon says he put off his education for a while, and he never enrolled in higher education... it was all interesting to read about.

When moving towards the last chapters and into his Idol career, it gets a bit uninteresting, at least for me, I was never a great fan of American Idol, and Simon describes in a lot of details the top stars of each season and how they got there, so I was getting less interested.

Overall, great read, and lot of fun stuff, as expected from Simon.

If you're an idol fan you probably wait to hear what Simon says... and normally agree (latest season excluded, in my opinion). His story reminds me that with perserverance and confidence in your chosen field - the sky's the limit here in the U.S. It is without a question a story of someone who knows who they are, what they believe and scrapped their way to that top --- that alone makes it worth reading. Regularly reviled in the U.K. and sometimes here (though with a lot of underlying admiration for summing up what noone else wants to say), this is the story of an entrepeneur at heart - who, with a lot of work, found his gold mine in the U.S, and has a few pearls of wisdom to part despite or because of the large ego. It's well worth a read!

And if you like "I Came to America, the land of opportunity" success stories- in the melting pot which we live- I also recommend Be the Pack Leader: Use Cesar's Way to Transform Your Dog . . . and Your Life. Very similiar, in the sense they both used their skills and US TV to succeed and show the world who they are.

I really enjoyed this book. I respect Simon's opinions and he certainly knows the music business in and out. If you plan on auditioning or going into the music business this information would be very helpful to you. You should absorb every single criticism and word of encouragement that comes out of his mouth and then you may just succeed.
I mainly wanted to read the book because I have such great respect for Simon as a no nonsense type of guy who arrived at his trade the hard way, all the time knowing exactly nothing but the TOP would be good enough for him. He never quit he just kept right on forging ahead. I admit that I found out way more about the music business than I cared to know but the book was a good read. I have to give him such respect for suffering through all of those auditions which obviously were very painful. He is absolutely right! Having watched the auditions myself on tv. For each one who can sing and has talent worth pursuing there are hundreds and thousands which are completely deluded and fooling themselves or else they think it's funny to make complete fools of themselves before the whole world. Or maybe they just want to be on TV. I suggest they just sit on top of their own and forget the rest.

Fantastically entertaining throughout most of it, however, towards the end Simon changes subjects dramatically. The beginning is a fun, and interesting look on how he grew up, and how he worked his way through the music industry. Then, the story shifts from his personal life and successes, to all of his experiences working through American, and Pop Idol. I found the end boring, but this is most likely because i was just so absorbed from the first half of the book and expecting it to only get better.


Overall, I believe it to be a fantastic read.

Wheres the autobiography, Simon?!!

This book is a combination life story of Simon Cowell and his opinions on the American Idol process. It is a very quick read as he breezes through his life story. Some of it makes complete sense--he was a rich kid, growing up spoiled in a household with three servants, including a live-in nanny. He failed boarding school, never went to college, quit job after job when he got bored with it...and somehow worked his way up the record business.

There aren't a lot of specifics here. He doesn't give you insights into lessons he learned or how he was able to pick artists or songs. He just keeps saying that he knew it by whether the person had the "X factor." It would help if he would try to explain what his talent truly is.

The book seems ghost-written but there are no credits that acknowledge a co-writer. It's hard to believe that he would sit down and write this. It also could use some editing--he talks a lot about British artists that no one in the U.S. will recognize and even a few American artists he brought to England that no one here knows.

Every once in awhile he will take a full page to comment on the music business (Madonna, Michael Jackson) and his snarky criticisms aren't very deep. Similar to what he says on Idol.

So it's worth reading just to capture a little insight into why he is the way he is--but in the end you're still let wondering how such a cocky, self-loving person ever made it so big.