Customer Reviews

Man Enough To Be Woman: The Autobiography of Jayne County

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

 

 

Riddle me this, Batman: when is a grrl not quite a grrl?

Why, when she's the lovely and talented Miss Jayne County, of course! Born Wayne Rogers (no, not that guy from M*A*S*H!), but having lived as Jayne for most of her life, County has written a raucous autobiography, recounting her more than 30 years as a performer, and the personal challenges she faced both as a boy and a grrl.

Jayne County first gained notoriety when she burst upon the New York glam rock horizon in the early 1970s, her shows as much outrageous performance art as they were concerts.

As well-populated as a good night at Studio 54 or one of Warhol's legendary Factory parties, Jayne's saga does drop, drop, drop those names for us (Candy Darling, Johnny Rotten, Sting, David Bowie, and Debbie Harry, for a start) and gives us a glimpse into the struggles that made up life on the road for this eclectic performer.

This book is a great trip through the "other" side of the female rock experience, for those of us who'll never have the opportunity to be there.

Thank heaven for (all) little grrls. . .

The five stars are for the truly amazing, immensly well written, entertaining and hilarious story of transsexual Jayne County, once a part of the Warhol gang and still a fixture on the NY scene - a true star. This is a book that everyone should read! However, do NOT buy this book in "new" condition but order a decent used copy. The "new" version I received from amazon was a crappy scanned version of a paper copy of the original paperback, with the text messy and hard-to-read and the photos fuzzy, unrecognizable blobs. Obviously the publisher lost the digital files and was too cheap to recreate the book. I was so upset that I wrote the publisher (in England) and told them that it was fraud to offer a book in this condition as "new". However, the 1995 version is everything that you could wish for, including some fabulous photos from a very glam era that has now gone by.

I love Jayne County. I loved Wayne too. This is all about Wayne transforming into Jayne, the true-life tale of a gender-bending rock'n'roll survivor. Jayne describes her early years, as a "sissy boy" who dared to wear lipstick in a southern small town during the '60's. Young Wayne was actually shot at by local rednecks. County wisely decided to get out of town, ditching small-town hell for the much more cool NYC, Andy Warhol scene. Jayne describes the influence gender-bending Warhol superstars had on the pre-Ziggy David Bowie. Bowie is described as a hippy who's only saving grace (at that time) was his outrageous wife, Angie. County describes turning down Bowie flat ("He was of no interest to me sexually."), and un-requited lust for...Rod Stewart! Very entertaining anecdotes about roomates Holly Woodlawn and Jackie Curtis, both Warhol Factory and Max's Kansas City fixtures. Highly fascinating account of her life in Berlin, and transformation from Wayne to Jayne.

this is a great document of the glitter glam, Max's Kansas City New York /Warhol scene, and Jayne)the artist formerly known as Wayne) is the Forrest Gump of rock and roll. This is must reading for fans of punk. all that's missing is the interplay with punk pioneers Jimi La Lumia & the Psychotic Frogs, the group that started the "death To Disco-Disco Sucks" movement, but you can't have it all,. Jayne's saga deserves to be a movie. this is must reading.

Not only is it a fascinating story of Wayne's transition to Jayne, it is a must for anyone interested in the Warhol factory or the punk music scene centered around the legendary Max's Kansas City. The list of musicians Jayne has dealt with read like a who's who of punk and New wave (Deborah Harry as barmaid). Fascinating insights into growing up in Atlanta and life as a member of the Warhol factory and a first hand account of the Stonewall riots are also offered. Worthwhile on many levels, a great read, wish it were longer!

I am fan of Jayne's music and this book is the perfect accompaniment. It really gives you a great idea of the late hippie and early punk scenes in NYC and London and then Berlin as well as growing up transgendered in the South in the'60s. Yikes! Jayne is a trailblazer and one of the bravest people I know of.