Customer Reviews

Love, Janis

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

With this biography of Janis sister Laura Joplin has three advantages over other biographers - she can provide details that only family could know, she has the letters Janis wrote home (reproduced here in full and revealing a lot about Janis), and she has been able to include a great selection of photos. Even apart from these advantages Laura provides a good account of Janis' life, giving background detail on the various scenes and excellent insights into Janis.

This book allowed the reader to see Janis as a family member. It showed her innocence and dedication through the eyes of her younger sister. I finally began to understand how her family saw her and how Janis portrayed herself to them. This insite opened my eyes, and as a die hard fan, I see Janis as more of a person now not just an icon.

These letters from Janis to her family are warm, poignant and heartbreaking. They chronicle how quickly she moved, from folk-singing "beatnik" to counter-culture icon, and how even this lightening pace wasn't fast enough for her. And they reveal a longing for acceptance that we all sensed from her stage persona and her music. Hearing the dates on the letters as we move with her from Texas to SF to the world, I shuddered, thinking "So little time left, dear, and you don't even know it." Of course, none of us knows what life has in store for us, and that makes Janis' story in her own words all the more moving. That Laura loved her sister and wished she knew her better comes through in these pages. The story is unique to the Joplins, yet universal to all, and I recommend it. I subtracted one star for the reading by Debra Winger. At times I thought she was an inspired choice. Her smoky voice is so reminiscent of Janis'. But at other times I was exasperated, when Ms. Winger stumbled and gave me the impression she was reading these words for the first time.

I read this book after Buried Alive. I feel it offers a more compassionate and complete picture of Janis Joplin.

Most biographies about Janis that I read portrayed her as a freakish out-cast turned rock star and detailed events significant only because they ultimately led to her death. However, Laura Joplin presented Janis as a fun-loving, warm human being, not merely a tough blues mama that most people seem to want her to be. Example: Ms. Joplin explained why/how Janis was voted "Ugliest Man On Campus" rather than throwing the title out there as other biographers have done to portray Janis' life as filled solely with the trauma characteristic of great blues artists. I recommend this account of Janis' life over any other. Her letters home were also an advantage to any die-hard Janis Joplin fan.

Thank you, Laura Joplin, for this honest account of the life of one of the World's most talented blues and rock singers. For so many people, hippie or not, Janis was "it". With all the fictional and half-factual accounts of Janis' hard-lived life, loves, music and death, it was cathartic to read "Love, Janis." for the closure it gave me. So many Janis Joplin fans already feel as if they actually knew her... a fact that can be attributed to the heart and soul she put into every note she sang. Thanks to Laura's careful, detailed account, the reader will feel even more emotionally attatched to Janis, much like that of a sibling. From Janis' childhood, you seem to almost "grow up" with her, sharing in her learning experiences, anguishes, laughter and tears, loves and hates. Finally, the truth from someone who knows... and who better to write a factual account than someone who shared a bond only sisters can share. However...Janis Joplin fans- Beware! Open your mind before you read this book to guard yourself against becoming disillusioned... Janis Joplin was larger than life in many respects, but was still a living breathing, cursing, mistake-making human being. This is the TRUTH... no glossing over. Warts and all, this is the Janis Joplin who actually WAS, not the Janis created by the media. I found myself happy for Janis when the going was good, and grieving for her when I knew the end was near; wishing I could warn her of what was to come... A wonderful book, and a must read for fans who think they really know Janis... you don't yet, but you will! Yes, Laura, your beloved sister is remembered - Thanks again for caring so much about the preservation of her legacy.

I was born long after the days of Janis Joplin and her brand of hippie rock and drugs. But her music, once I discovered it, moved me in ways previously unimaginable. I found this book, written by her sister, to be touching and real. Janis was an extraordinary person, this book proves that. It also brings you behind the scenes, to her secert life that caused her so much pain.This book made Janis real to me. Laura Joplin did a fantastic job of educating the world about the one of a kind Janis Joplin and her turblent life. Her talent, like this book, will never be forgotten!