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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
I wish I could give this one three and a half stars because I love the voice and style. If you liked Rule of the Bone by Russell Banks, you might like this look at life through the eyes of an 11 year old boy, albeit a media saavy, international pop star 11 year old.
Tre stelle e mezza.
Leggendo la storia di Jonny, più che a Justin Bieber (o a Miley Cyrus, o a qualunque altro enfant prodige sfornato dallo show business d’oltreoceano negli ultimi sessant’anni da Shirley Temple in poi), a me è venuto da pensare a tutti quei mentecatti che, in nome di un quarto d’ora di celebrità, si fanno sbranare dagli osceni meccanismi dei talent/reality show o a quei bambini mostruosi (e ai loro ancor più mostruosi genitori) che infestano il palinsesto televisivo con agghiaccianti performance canore, culinarie o di altro tipo.
Perché tutti loro vorrebbero diventare esattamente quello che è Jonny Valentine, e a qualsiasi costo.
La recensione completa su http://www.ifioridelpeggio.com/cera-una-volta-lo-zecchino-doro-la-ballata-di-jonny-valentine-di-teddy-wayne/
Leggendo la storia di Jonny, più che a Justin Bieber (o a Miley Cyrus, o a qualunque altro enfant prodige sfornato dallo show business d’oltreoceano negli ultimi sessant’anni da Shirley Temple in poi), a me è venuto da pensare a tutti quei mentecatti che, in nome di un quarto d’ora di celebrità, si fanno sbranare dagli osceni meccanismi dei talent/reality show o a quei bambini mostruosi (e ai loro ancor più mostruosi genitori) che infestano il palinsesto televisivo con agghiaccianti performance canore, culinarie o di altro tipo.
Perché tutti loro vorrebbero diventare esattamente quello che è Jonny Valentine, e a qualsiasi costo.
La recensione completa su http://www.ifioridelpeggio.com/cera-una-volta-lo-zecchino-doro-la-ballata-di-jonny-valentine-di-teddy-wayne/
A suprisingly sad look at the life of a teen idol... who would have thought that reading this would make me feel back for Justin Beiber?
The one constant thought I had the entire time I was reading this book was that I wished Jonny was just a little bit older. He's 11-years-old, which is pretty damn young. A lot of sexual situations he was in made me rather uncomfortable, but I guess sometimes that's the point of a good book. The book is told from Jonny's perspective and while in some ways he's very much 11 years old, in other ways he's a business-minded adult.
This is an incredibly well written book. One of my favorite parts was how subtle the book was, which wasn't what I was expecting. Because the book is from Jonny's perspective you don't really know what's happening with all of the adults, who run Jonny's life, you only see this small portion of the machine that's actually behind his career. Jonny's mother didn't seem so terrible to me for much of the book, but then I started to notice little things here and there that made me question her and then at the end I was disgusted by her. The bodyguard and the teacher seem like they should be the good guys, but there are so many layers with all of the characters that it's really hard to tell who has Jonny's best interests in mind, which I suppose is the point of the book since it mirrors real life.
I'm stopping now. Bottom line: this is an intelligent, funny, sad, sweet book about a child superstar that as far as I can tell seems pretty accurate to real life.
This review first appeared on my blog.
This is an incredibly well written book. One of my favorite parts was how subtle the book was, which wasn't what I was expecting. Because the book is from Jonny's perspective you don't really know what's happening with all of the adults, who run Jonny's life, you only see this small portion of the machine that's actually behind his career. Jonny's mother didn't seem so terrible to me for much of the book, but then I started to notice little things here and there that made me question her and then at the end I was disgusted by her. The bodyguard and the teacher seem like they should be the good guys, but there are so many layers with all of the characters that it's really hard to tell who has Jonny's best interests in mind, which I suppose is the point of the book since it mirrors real life.
I'm stopping now. Bottom line: this is an intelligent, funny, sad, sweet book about a child superstar that as far as I can tell seems pretty accurate to real life.
This review first appeared on my blog.
I spent a year as a tutor to child stars. It was a good gig, and there's a lot about that world that lends itself really well to a novel. In that way, I liked this a lot. But I didn't finish it.
Here's the deal: honestly, I think it's lazy work to explain away a character's screwed up-ness as being the result of the loss of an infant. I've been there. So with the big reveal, I packed it in. There wasn't much left, but it made me lose faith.
Here's the deal: honestly, I think it's lazy work to explain away a character's screwed up-ness as being the result of the loss of an infant. I've been there. So with the big reveal, I packed it in. There wasn't much left, but it made me lose faith.
A novel featuring a Bieber-esque rising star and the marketing and PR machinations that work to build a fictional authentic brand.
Overall I feel slightly better than neutral towards this book. It's well done and interesting enough to keep you focused until the end, but it felt as though each time the author could really get into the nitty gritty he pulled back and moved on to the next scene. This gives the book an overall feeling of reading at a continuous, slow and steady pace, with nothing really to shake it up. I read it for book club which is the only reason I read it, otherwise I probably would not have chosen this one. I would say the "window" into the celeb life would have been interesting if it wasn't already plastered all over magazines and the internet already. As it stands, it was more or less just like reading a gossip mag with a slightly changed view to accommodate for the youth of the narrator as he tried to navigate the business.
If your reading list has stagnated, pick this up, if you have something else to do or read, you might want to do that instead.
If your reading list has stagnated, pick this up, if you have something else to do or read, you might want to do that instead.
I know almost nothing about the world of tween bubble-gun pop music, but I read a favorable review of this book and immediately put a hold on it at the library. It took several months for it to show up.
Writing from the point of view of an 11 year old can't be easy, but Wayne seems to have nailed it.
July 9, 2013 Passed the Peninsula Hotel in Chicago yesterday and noticed a gaggle of giggling girls. My first thought was, "Oh they're waiting for Jonny Valentine." But no. They were stalking his alter-ego, Justin B. in town for a concert at the United Center.
Writing from the point of view of an 11 year old can't be easy, but Wayne seems to have nailed it.
July 9, 2013 Passed the Peninsula Hotel in Chicago yesterday and noticed a gaggle of giggling girls. My first thought was, "Oh they're waiting for Jonny Valentine." But no. They were stalking his alter-ego, Justin B. in town for a concert at the United Center.
This was so much more depressing than I expected. I thought it was going to be a silly book about a young pop star but it really focused on how fucked up the music industry is and what it'll do to a kid. I don't think it could have ended any other way but damn I'm still sad it ended how it did.