Customer Reviews

Madonna: Bawdy and Soul

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Ok, i bought this book because it was the only title available at the bookstore. I find that this book is for one certain type of fan. If you want to look at Madonna on a global, cultural scale, this book is for you. It's purpose, in my opinion, is to situate Madonna, explain her and compare her to others. But it seems like there is soooo much talk about other people, there's no Madonna. The author throws in her name here and there, but, if you're like me, it won't be enough. If you're the kind of fan that wants to read about Madonna, and no one else, you just want info on her, this book isn't for you. Let's be honest- all we want to know about is Madonna. I don't care about other actors or singers or 1950's radio. Get to Madonna!

As a Madonna fan with a feminist identity (I'm a member of an organization of Women's Studies), I have read so many books and articles about her. What has confused me is that most of the authors have "objectified" the artist. But Karlene Faith does not. I'm curious about what Faith thinks of Madonna's "Ray of Light" era, and of her own recent explanation about her works in the early 1990s. Anyway, BAWDY & SOUL is an interesting, recommendable book. Even if you are not a scholar of so-called "Madonna Studies", I think you can enjoy it. When it is translated into my mother tongue, I think I would tell my friends to read it.

I read this as a Madonna fan--not a rabid, love-everything-she-is fan, but an fairly discerning, admiring fan. And all I have to say is this: if you don't really get Madonna, and want one woman's opinion on her impact, this book might be alright for you. But if you have any opinion on her at all, or are any kind of fan, this lady (the author) is probably going to get under your skin. I found myself cringing continually at what she said about Madonna's body of work. She obviously hadn't understood what Madonna was trying to do with many of the career moves she made, an understanding that I think is pretty easy to reach if you read the interviews, watch/listen to the work and take the public reaction into account. She overanalyzed the simple moves and brushed over the motives and purposes behind the most important ones, and this drove me crazy. By the end of the book I felt that I was no better or worse for reading it, though I felt a little inclined to do my own Madonna commentary, the right way this time--by disagreeing with her, I formed some of my own opinions more fully, but to be honest, this book does not take any huge stands to disagree with. The author just simply doesn't get Madonna. Perhaps she'd do a better study of Cher or Barbara Streisand.

I thought this book would have been much better if the author had approached it as a sort of long, personal essay about Madonna's effect on her life. I would have been able to accept that. But an in-depth study of Madonna...she simply isn't qualified.

On a more complimentary note, the title and cover art are wonderful.

Iam civil engineer I live in germany and continue my postgradute studie