When I purchased "This is My Song a memoir of Patti Page" I couldn't wait to receive it. I felt like a little kid again waiting with great anticipation for Christmas morning. So one can imagine what I felt like when I received the book at work and counted the hours until 5 p.m. so I could go home and devour every word.
I must say I wasn't disappointed. I couldn't put "This is My Song" down and read the entire book finishing it at 4 a.m. the next day. Miss Page's memories helped me to forget the troubles of this world and remember a time when things were simpler and the music and talent in the entertainment industry were THE BEST! The book is brilliantly written in a way that feels like she is sitting there next to you with a cup of coffee in her hand telling her story. Stories about the top performers in the industry like Elvis, The Beatles, Bob Hope, Benny Goodman, Rosemary Clooney, Nat King Cole, United States Presidents, the list goes on. Even the infamous...I mean what would you do if you came home from work to find Sam Giancana sitting at your dinner table?
I read constantly (novels, biographies, fiction and non-fiction) and can't remember any book causing me to laugh out loud. From her shy naiveté when learning what some band members did to occupy their time after a show to her powerful performance singing Father, Father on the Ed Sullivan show where she brought the house down only to have Ed complement the monkey act that was to follow her... so many of the stories are hilarious.
And then there are the tears I shed when reading what it was like for her to try and buy her grade school friends gifts so they would like her (because she was from the wrong side of the tracks) or when she lost her friend Rosemary Clooney to cancer or when her Dad and Mom passed away; you are catapulted into her private life, and I know this must have been very hard for such a private person to share her life with such honesty and candor. But she did it with grace and love. This book is HISTORY of Pop music at its best and is guaranteed to find you picking it up and reading it again...just in case you missed something. I should know, I have read it three times already and along the way I have learned some life lessons from someone who has done it all and is still the All-Time, Top-Selling female vocalist. Thank you Patti Page for sharing your life!