Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic read ! Powerhouse pop vocalist-songwriters life !, March 4, 1997
By A Customer
For the lover of classical american pop vocal music - this auto-bio is not to be missed. Arguably the greatest of the greats, MISS PEGGY LEE is allways at the top - writing songs, recording, and performing to sold out club dates - As she is well into her 70's today - She continues to write her own rules for life, most succesfull people do, and so much can
be gleaned from her experiences!
* great photos ! *
READ - of the challenges, triumphs and glamour of her distinguished career - the overcomming of incredible odds with her bouts of ill health as well as her years of spiritual evolution -
which, to a long time lover of her style and vocal power, comes through quite clearly !
There is a peace of mind that comes from this woman that can be felt in her music, her performances (of which i have experienced with pleasure) and her writing.
NOTABLE: Miss Lee has written/co-written well over 200 songs todate - many of great
renown, despite the few who realize this fact - a book of poetry - Oscar nomination ... etc!!!
I AM looking forward to her second book - in the works as i understand...
There are currently over 40 Peggy Lee {{{ CD's }}} on my shelf, most of which are easily available for ordering from numerous sources, among the best - are the capitol and deca recordings.
She is known to be a perfectionist and this fact is clear on all but two !
NOT TO BE MISSED !!! is the CHRISTMAS CAROUSEL- CD, tape, vinal - the style of this work is astounding and has never been matched since - the most under rated Christmas recording of all time ! - traditional songs and sound with a class and refinement that is entrancing, enriching and absolutely untouchable ! - Her writing tallent shines strong on this record - the title song is a Classics!
It has never failed to lift me out of a lull, 12 MONTHS A YEAR. - qwery@xsite.net
ENJOY ! - buy the book - or go to the library. KNOW WHO PEGGY LEE IS ! - CD's at this site !!!
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6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Was THAT all there was?, April 15, 2004
Peggy Lee wrote this book with no help of any kind, and that becomes apparent early on. It is written exactly as she speaks, as if she were telling you a series of stories. With the exception of her extremely painful childhood, all of the rest is competely boring banter. It is extremely strange in that she talks about, in detail, every single accident she ever had (and there were hundreds). HUNDREDS. Even as a young woman she seemed to be falling all the time and breaking something. Ironically, she mentions having a "fever" countless times in this book, always over 103 degrees. The enire book, after her childhood, consists almost solely of constant accidents (falling in her fish pond, fainting here and there, and more falling or tripping over something, etc) with concerts in between! There is no glamour or real excitement in this, and the truth becomes very apparent--she simply did not LIVE an interesting life! Her music was wonderful and she was too. But her life was simply uneventful, as least as far as anyone wanting to READ about it. What is extrememly peculiar and is on nearly every single page, is 'name dropping'. EVERY name she mentions, was never a normal everyday person. They were someone who married this famous person, who was Ablert Einstein's assistant, or a "very famous" this or that. She was a very star-struck person, apparently, her entire life. One cringes as they read this, and cannot relate to her. Her romances were glossed over in a sentence or two (and of course they were "a big star" once upon a time). Even when the love of her life died, she mentions it in one small paragraph, and said "life goes on." It is common knowledge she was shattered, but says nothing about it here. After you read this, you realize you know nothing about her. It is not "mysterious" or even evasive. She simply had nothing to say. You will close the book and say, "Is that all there is?" Let's wait for someone ELSE to write a book about her--and maybe we'll get some interesting facts. If there were any....
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Powerful Voice in a Very Frail Body, June 11, 2008
Peggy Lee's life starts off as a Dickensian nightmare - the abuse she suffered at the hands of her stepmother is brutal in the extreme (in one instance, she is beaten after an appendectomy, tearing her sutures). That she lived to be an adult, much less the legend that she is today, is nothing short of miraculous.
This book is a stream-of-consciousness effort, and could have done with some editing assistance, but once I got used to the cadence of the "conversation" that Miss Lee was having with me through these pages, I quite enjoyed this story of her life. It is a scattershot volume, with her skipping around in her chronology quite a little bit, and leaving out some key facts (she only mentions two husbands, when I'm sure there were more).
Miss Lee was very frail and almost constantly ill. She kept her chin up, however, and made every concert that she was able to, even singing one whole show with a broken pelvis. A force to be reckoned with, that's for sure.
If you're looking for in-depth objectivity, this isn't the book for you. If you're looking to sit down with a nice lady and hear her tell some interesting stories, not necessarily in the order in which they occurred, then you should have no problems with Miss Peggy Lee. I read the UK edition with the postscript added after her passing - it provided a nice endnote to a distinguished career.
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