Customer Reviews

Pearl: The Obsessions and Passions of Janis Joplin : A Biography

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This well-written book is very descriptive! From Port Arthur, Texas, to San Francisco's Haight / Ashbury, scenes of tragedy & revelry are given a jolt of life. Author really sought out the witnesses who are still around (and not too wasted) to tell the tales. Great book for fans of San Francisco, rock music, and of course Janis.

Plenty of sleaze, drugs, and sex, but author nicely presents the tender-hearted girl that was Janis Joplin.

'The Obsessions And Passions of Janis Joplin' is a very accurate description of the book - it doesn't deal much with the artist, it tells a lot more about her sex life and drug abuse. I myself prefer at least a bit more information on the music of the musician in question, but I must admit the book does a good job of showing us the confused, extremely talented, both loved and rejected personality that was Janis Joplin.

She lived, she sang, she died- the unbias and unforgettable true tale of the life and loves of Janis Joplin. A flowing read and a great time. You may even win a concert ticket or two when you listen to the radio, but sadly not hers, of course. If you are out there looking for some entertainment-read it. If you love the music and looking for some insight into the songs...pick it up. If you're on the verge of or in the middle of your mid-life crisis...perfect. Heck- even if you are one of those want-to-be hippies out there. Read this book. You'll like. SOme of you will walk away with new thoughts to think and new songs to sing. Enjoy.

This biography of Janis Joplin is a well-done account of her entire life, most of her heinous activities, her good times, her multiple drug addictions, her death in 1970, and a just little on how she might have felt about herself in the brief period leading up to that tragic date.

That latter facet of Janice's story, the personalized one, might be what is lacking the most in Amburn's account. When I finished the book, I really didn't feel that I had a grasp on what drove her. Still, it's not a huge void and the work is otherwise quite detailed. In fact, I did catch myself sighing a time or two along the way and I'll have to confess that I was somewhat relieved when I closed the cover for the final time. It's a long book but I don't have any major complaints on that front either -- I just thought the script might have been a little too passive.

What I DID especially like included all the accounts of Janis's interactions with other famous period musicians and their respective peccadillos. There was also a tome of information about Janis's movements (throughout the American West mostly) and her relationships with others on the road. The account of Janis's return to her hometown for her class reunion was one of the better entries, (she mostly retrospectively despised her peers who had not treated her all that great in high school and yet she felt a compulsion to show them that she had become someone important).

Amburn does exhibit a great ear for music as he correctly noted that Janis Joplin was at her very best with Big Brother and The Holding Company. "Cheap Thrills" WAS truly a monster of raw classic rock excellence and remains one of my favorites to this very day:

Cheap Thrills


I actually acquired a used copy of this book in hardcover one day at the local junk store and I snatched it up for three bucks as it was on my reading list. It was nicely bound and it's still prominently on a shelf in my permanent library of thousands of books, so I did consider it a keeper. I shrewdly pass on lots of so-so reads.

In any case, this book is undoubtedly a must-read for Woodstockers and, excepting those folks who would be offended by reading about graphic sexual acts, the work would also appeal to many others who would enjoy absorbing a quality, well-done biography.

For those interested in Janis' life and work, this is the definitive volume. Unlike several other books which are either pop biographies or attempts to grind the author's particular axe, this book studies the spirit of the times and Janis'contemporaries to paint a wholly accessible picture of this artist.

The first book on this wonderful artist I've read and by far the best written. The author not only had captured the spirit of Janis but also has made a larger than life figure seem more human. And given us a glimpse into what was not only a tortured soul but what was also a wounded and beautiful one.

I recently had to order my second copy of this one because I had worn it out. My only issue is that it seemed more downbeat. Yet, considering how her life ended maybe it was more realistic. If you buy any Janis bio's this in the one, also Scars of Sweet Paradise is very worthy.

The author really put a lot of effort into writing this book.
Extensive interviews with the band members from Big Brother and the Holding Company. Janis was never really happy after leaving that band and Gurley and Sam Davis confirmed this. Parts of the book were very depressing, especially Janis's attempts to get off Heroin. Her manager Albert Grossman even got her to see a Specialist (Rothschild) who had her go on Methadone for months on end. Janis put herself into Rehab centers as well, she did try, but the addiction and pressures of the music industry were overwhelming. When Janis went to a doctor in 1969, besides telling her that she had a swollen liver from all the alcohol, he also said to her "How can such a talented and intelligent young person do so much damage to her body". He said he had never seen so much abuse of a young woman's body before in his career. Janis vowed never to see that doctor again.
Linda Gravenites moved out of Janis's home. She was tired of having to revive Janis and her friends (Sam Andrew) every time they overdosed with Heroin. Janis said "Nothing will ever happen to me because I come from good pioneer stock". Janis's loneliness after Linda left made the drugs and drinking even worse.
Richie Havens in his book said that on the Train Tour they did together in Canada, he said the reason that Janis did so much drugs and alcohol was because she was intensely lonely and that most of her loneliness was due to her not being back with her "family" namely Big Brother and the Holding Company. She loved the guys in Big Brother like family and they looked after her when she was with them even though the drugs were the order of the day.
AN absolutely fascinating book. Imagine the kind of music we would have heard from Janis if she's still been around today.

Janis was an extremely talented person.Emotionally she was a mess. This book does a fine job in describing the relationships Janis had with men, women, family, friends, and hometown. The reader learns about her difficult childhood, her drug use, and her wildly self destructive behavior. We also witness the beginning and evolution of her musical career. This is a fascinating character study of a flawed genius and her self destruction.

This book is absolutley great! Love it! I am so glad that I added this book to my collection!