Love, Janis [Paperback]

Laura Joplin (Author)

Book Description

Release date: August 16, 2005

A revealing and intimate biography about Janis Joplin, the Queen of Classic Rock, written by her younger sister.

Janis Joplin blazed across the sixties music scene, electrifying audiences with her staggering voice and the way she seemed to pour her very soul into her music. By the time her life and artistry were cut tragically short by a heroin overdose, Joplin had become the stuff of rock–and–roll legend.

Through the eyes of her family and closest friends , we see Janis as a young girl, already rebelling against injustice, racism, and hypocrisy in society. We follow Janis as she discovers her amazing talents in the Beat hangouts of Venice and North Beach–singing in coffeehouses, shooting speed to enhance her creativity, challenging the norms of straight society. Janis truly came into her own in the fantastic, psychedelic, acid–soaked world of Haight–Asbury. At the height of her fame, Janis's life is a whirlwind of public adoration and hard living. Laura Joplin shows us not only the public Janice who could drink Jim Morrison under the table and bean him with a bottle of booze when he got fresh; she shows us the private Janis, struggling to perfect her art, searching for the balance between love and stardom, battling to overcome her alcohol addiction and heroin use in a world where substance abuse was nearly universal.

At the heart of Love, Janis is an astonishing series of letters by Janis herself that have never been previously published. In them she conveys as no one else could the wild ride from awkward small–town teenager to rock–and–roll queen. Love, Janis is the new life of Janis Joplin we have been waiting for–a celebration of the sixties' joyous experimentation and creativity, and a loving, compassionate examination of one of that era's greatest talents.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Blues singer Janis Joplin, who died of a heroin overdose in 1970 at the age of 27, is recalled here by her sister, who seems as square as Janis was hip. Although the portrait opens inauspiciously with a yawn-inducing chapter on the family tree, it gains momentum as it describes the performer's adolescence in Port Arthur, Tex. She emerges as a woman who resisted stereotypical feminine behavior; no student, she dropped out of college twice--first to move to Venice, Calif., later to live in San Francisco. Her warm, exuberant, apparently infrequent letters to her concerned family glorify the late-'60s Haight-Ashbury scene, where she gained notoriety and wealth with the band Big Brother and the Holding Company. The book chronicles the singer's drug and alcohol abuse, her famous friends (who included cartoonist Gilbert Shelton and musician Country Joe McDonald) and her overwhelming fame. Despite her sister's occasionally disapproving, jealous tone, fans will welcome this intimate, poignant look at a fondly missed superstar. Photos. 60,000 first printing; first serial to Rolling Stone; author tour.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

YA-- Beginning with Joplin's death, focusing backwards for a short family history, and then to the personal and professional life of this blues star, this book is written with both love and objectivity. YAs will identify with the young woman's adolescent angst, her search for purpose, her support of social justice, her friendships, and the seriousness with which she approached both art and life. Joplin's disillusionment with college, her introduction to the music and the Beat scenes in California, and her involvement in drugs and advocation of sexual experimentation are acknowledged, set in context of the turbulent '60s, and accepted as part of Janis. Students should enjoy the conversational text enhanced by interviews with her friends and professional colleagues, the wide variety of personal photos, and most particularly, the large collection of letters written between September 1964-April 1970.
- Barbara Hawkins, Oakton High School, Fairfax, VA
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: It Books; First Harper Paperback Edition edition (August 16, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060755229
• ISBN-13: 978-0060755225
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 1.2 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #179,097 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

61 of 62 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Read Laura Joplin, then Alice Echols July 26, 1999

By David Kleist

Format:Paperback

Having read both Alice Echols' five-years-in-the-making 1999 biography of Janis Joplin (SWEET SCARS OF PARADISE) and the much earlier Myra Friedman 1973 Joplin biography BURIED ALIVE (which was guilt-laden and frenetic in comparison, although written in intelligent, often poetic prose), I was unprepared for the calm, insightful, and wholly convincing account of Janis Joplin's life by her six-years-younger sister, Laura. Despite the intimate connection with her subject, Laura Joplin is startlingly wise and evenhanded in her analysis of her sister's life and times. I found many anecdotes and details here which for me rang even more true in terms of revealing the REAL Janis than Echols' admirable account. I would suggest that anyone wishing to understand Janis Joplin and her times read both Laura Joplin's and Alice Echols' biography. Janis Joplin will never cease to fascinate intelligent, passionate music lovers. Her life and music probed all the deep questions of life, striving to find a balance between the emotional and the intellectual. Had she not accidentally died, her contribution to the world of art and letters would have been Shakespearean in power. We must love and treasure her Keatsian artifacts even as we yearn forwhat might havebeen.

53 of 54 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book on Janis - I've read them all March 10, 2006

By Susan Barchard

Format:Paperback

When this book was first published, I read a review on it. I don't remember where I read it or by whom it was written. The writer gave the impression that it was written by Janis' straight and nerdy sister who just wasn't part of, and didn't understand "the scene". The writer went on to say that there was some value in Janis' letters and that if you were a true Janis fan that you should probably read it, but recommended other books on Janis over this one. The implication was that Laura Joplin tried to present a Janis that was much straighter and more clean cut than she was in truth. So, having read this review, I didn't bother to read the book, especially since I'd read so many others.

Recently I went to see the Broadway Play Love, Janis and after hearing some portions of the letters read as part of the play, my interest in the book was sparked and I purchased it. Having done so, I think the writer of that review owes the world, and certainly Laura Joplin an apology. This book was beautifully written by someone who, as her sister, could give us insights that no one else ever could. I would like to include here a quote from the book, which certainly proves to me that Laura Joplin understood it all.

She was explaining the talents that each member of Big Brother and the Holding company brought to the group. "Janis brought her roots in blues. She knew the blues, and wanted her audience to know them through her. If the audience sought to have all its senses aroused at a concert, then Janis, as trance enhancer, brought total commitment to her music. Hers was not a music born merely of the vocal cords anyway, but an ensemble piece within her physical presence alone. She coaxed the music with urging arms and strutting steps. She delved deep within herself, so that piecs of her soul seemed to dance along the harmonies and ride the tidal waves of sound that defined her voice."

Laura Joplin does not shrink from her sister's drug and alcohol use, her bisexual love affairs, or anything else. She talks of Janis' insecurities and where they originated. She tells her story with deep honesty. The book includes the Joplin family tree. Not just a list of grandparents names but a small history of each forefather explaining what brought them together and brought her parents eventually to Port Arthur, Texas and also gives the reader a glimpse of the sturdy stock from which Janis came. It shows you a soft and sensitive, loving side of Janis' that we surely knew was there, but the truth of which could only really be provided by Laura's glimpse into personal family history. Of course Janis, growing up in the 50's and 60's would not have been a wild hippy child during her younger years. Hippies hadn't happened yet. The 50's and early 60's were very "straight" times. This book is where you learn how the Caterpillar turned into the Butterfly that she became. I think we are incredibly fortunate that Laura Joplin was willing to set the record straight and willing to share such personal tidbits from their home and family life. There must have been alot of soul searching and emotional moments that went into creating this book and we should be grateful to Laura for having done it. I deeply treasure this addition to my collection of books on Janis, just as I treasure the music that our Janis, queen of the blues, left as her legacy. I hope wherever she is that she is able to know how many people she touched; the ever growing number of fans she still has and how many of us truly always will Love Janis.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Bio June 5, 2004

By TDS2BE

Format:Hardcover

This an excellent biography about the ENTIRE life of Janis Joplin. It is probably the first Janis Joplin book you should read if you want to learn more about her. It is told from a family member's point of view...in other words, the truth is told. I would think that this book would be the most reliable out of the 4 or 5 janis books that are out. Enjoy this book! it is well worth it.