As I Am: Abba Before & Beyond (Hardcover)

by Agnetha Faltskog (Author), Brita Ahman (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
The biography of Agnetha Faltskog focusing on the ABBA years. The book covers Agnetha's career from its beginnings in a small town in Sweden when she was 15, to knocking the Beatles off the top of the pop charts in Sweden two years later. Her career is traced through the hard slog of touring around Europe and the consequences of ABBA's success, the Eurovision song contest, concerts, hit records, TV appearances, media attention, fans, her marriage, her children, the good times, the bad times and the strain of the final tour in 1979. Agnetha explains everything and gives the reasons behind the group's break-up and the difficult times which followed.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 158 pages
• Publisher: Virgin Publishing (October 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1852276541
• ISBN-13: 978-1852276546
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 10.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #340,083 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #8 in	Books > Nonfiction > Foreign Language Nonfiction > More Languages > Swedish
  #98 in	Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Arts & Literature > Composers & Musicians > Pop

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars GEM - a prized possession, March 9, 2000

By	William (Australia) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Agnetha is well known for being a recluse, so to see her emerge again through words is fantastic. I respect her right to choose this lifestyle especially since the media hounded her for years. I love this book for several reasons: it's the first time I have read issues from Agnetha's side, and to see photo's that she chose, which are photos I have never seen before. Agnetha possesses one of the most amazing voices of our time, and people should remember her for that rather than any dirt they can find on her. She was part of a pop group which had a big impact on my childhood and they are memories that I will cherish forever. I bought this book as a compliment to my vinyl and CD collection. While its translation to English isn't the best at times, the layout makes up for it. The next step is for you to buy her greatest hits which focuses on her solo career, titled 'That's Me'. From there, if you want to find a great ABBA album may I suggest 'The Visitors' - it showcases her vocals.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hard to put down, April 5, 1999

By A Customer

This book traces the Agnetha line of the Abba story, from her musical childhood in Jönköping, to her first band, through her first singles into the Abba days and into today. If your interest in Abba lies mostly in the music and the shows, the fluid narration and the huge, colorful photos on almost every page make the book worth the money. If you love Agnetha, though, the book holds more. You'll learn a lot about her personality, her feelings toward her musical life, and her conservative home-centered values. Though it may take a second read to catch everything about Agnetha's persona, IT IS ALL THERE. Read carefully and you will feel a sort of personal connection with Agnetha, almost as if you knew her well sometime. The emotionally reserved, yet expressive writing style has that special Agnetha quality; this experience cannot be reproduced by reading the liner notes to Abba Gold or any other Abba book. Definitely a must-read for all Abba fans, not just the devotees.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Stuff!, October 2, 2002

By A Customer

Agnetha is a wonderful singer and interesting person. It is a pity that sometimes her talent is not portrayed that well in books on ABBA. Some authors are just not
capable to handle such a task. I do not like most ABBA books for this reason. Carl Magnus Palm e.g. pops out one book after the other without ever talking to
Agnetha herself. And without being fair to eighter her talent or successful long time career. His ABBA stories are merely a simple reprint of the ABBA interviews
that were printed in magazines during the years, illustrated with pictures we have seen before. Boring.

Brita Ahman's book 'As I Am' on the otherhand is a new book with a real new (1997) interview with Agnetha. Okay, Agnetha could have been more open and
talk more about her frustrations during the ABBA years, her fights with manager Stig and her currentlife. But she does shine a light on the kind of person she is. She
reveals how she got into the showbizz. To me 'the early years chapters' are the most interesting. It is nice to learn that she had music in her at a very young age,
how she felt when she turned into Swedens biggest popstar and how ABBA was created (it is the detail in these stories that interest me.)

Being an ABBA fan for years I read the book 'The complete recording sessions' (the only decent book by C.M. Palm) and was intrigued then by Agnetha's
involvement in ABBA's records. Her voice is a golden thread in ABBA's music author Brita Ahman writes in As I Am, and she is right. Even today Agnetha alone
is more ABBA then Benny, Bjorn and Anni-Frid will ever be.

As much as I like 'As I Am', I have to say that there is so much more to Agnetha's life and music then this books reveals. In Holland and Belgium a fantastic book
called 'ABBA - On Speaking Terms' is released. I've been told it will be released worldwide too. Look out for this book, fellow fans! Together with 'As I am',
'ABBA On Speaking Terms' gives you the most complete and revealing insight in Agnetha's life with and without ABBA! And the pictures, both old and new, are
rare and stunning. Buy 'As I am' and especially 'ABBA - On Speaking Terms' and get to know Agnetha (and ABBA) the way she really is!