Customer Reviews

This is My Song: A Memoir

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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!

Patti Page, THE TOP SELLING VOCALIST of the 1950s and top female selling singer in American history tells her story. Beautifully written, depicting the highs, and lows of her life. From a country cotton pickin' poor young girl, to the TOP of the music industry. Unfortunately, the "facts regarding the number of hit recordings in certain years are inaccurate", in that there were more hits than listed in the facts section in the chapters.

Thank You Miss Page for sharing your beautiful story. You are a CLASS act.

A sad note to add to my review. Miss Page's husband Jerry Filiciotto passed away on April 18, 2009.

Patti Page was an Icon during the fifties and sixties. Patti takes the reader from her bare foot years in Oklahoma, to the heights of her career, and also lets the reader know of her Happiness and greatest disapointments as the great American Treasure known as Patti Page.

I received this book - "This Is My Song" by Patti Page and Skip Press - and read it within 24 hours. This is really a heart warming biography in which Patti Page holds no punches in giving you a picture of her life and career. The contribution which Skip Press makes in relation to facts and figures relating to Patti's career is enlightening and entertaining. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of reading the book. It highlights the highs and lows of someone attempting to and eventually making it in a very competitive world. It is a lesson in dedication and persistence in attaining goals in life. It is a book that I imagine would be very appealing to mothers.
A very well written book.

Dave Wellard
South Africa

A very good read.
Well written and easy to read, the book is a real insight into Patti's life and leaves one with a deep impression of a journey that was far from easy for her. It just adds to my appreciation of her as the ultimate songstress.

I first became aware of music during the early 1950s with the songs of Patti Page and other singers. Having played her songs last week to 4th and 5th graders in my after-school music class I wanted to see if a book on her life was available. I was pleasantly surprised to not only find a book, but one that I found to be first rate as well.

Patti bares her soul in this new memoir. She has been blessed with a music career of more than 50 years, and now in her early eighties she still does over thirty concerts a year. Her belief is that to stay sharp you must keep yourself busy especially with something you love. In her case it would be singing.

Patti has gone through heartache with previous marriages, and with addiction difficulties with her two adopted children. Her adopted son appears to have licked his difficulties while her adopted daughter is still wrestling with her problems. Patti is now married to the man who was the husband of her best friend who passed away. Before passing her best friend requested that Patti look after him after she was gone.

Many people associate Patti Page with numerous hit songs during the 1950s and assume she lost her popularity with the advent of rock and roll. However, she maintained her popularity through the decades long after other singers and groups faded into oblivion.

Her song "The Tennessee Waltz" is the number one selling song of all time by a female artist. It has sold over ten million copies while all of Patti Page's records have sold over one hundred million songs.

When my 4th and 5th graders were singing her songs last week I thought to myself how pleased Patti Page would be to know that her songs were still being introduced to a group of youngsters. I asked for requests and one boy shot his hand up in the air to once again hear "Old Cape Cod" which is Patti's favorite. We also viewed a video I recorded in the 1980s of Patti singing a medley of her songs on PBS.

If you are a fan of music this book is a must for your library. Thank you, Patti, for sharing this book with us.

This is an excellent book, full of interesting facts, & one that truly holds your interest. It is very well written, a book that you just want to keep reading. It is very encouraging to know that there are some people who are successful in the entertainment business and still lead good, upstanding lives. Her values & honesty are very refreshing. This is a very open & honest book. Even though Patti Page went through some of the same trials that many others have gone through raising children, she made it through & came out on top. We need more role models like this! She is really a beautiful person. This book will be enjoyed by Patti Page fans as well as those who just want to read a good book.