Reviews

I'm with the Band: Confessions of a Groupie by Pamela Des Barres, Dave Navarro

stephinitely14's review against another edition

medium-paced

1.0

Listening to the audio book version was probably my first mistake. Damn this was a hard listen. Maybe if I was more interested in the rock bands to which she was referring to or if I saw them in even a fraction of the same light as she did then maybe I would be more invested in her retelling but to be honest it just made me sad. 

If I read this book myself I wonder if it would have been a different experience. She was so glee-ful and over animated that it made it quite hard to listen to and also made me wonder if she was somewhat delusional. 

Especially after learning more about how creepy most of these men were/are and how they often went after teenage girls. I do not value or respect these men that she was so willing to wrap her entire life around. 

I hope she found a way to live her life outside the success of others. god damn 

ksbookjunky's review against another edition

4.0

Awesome. That's really the best way to describe this book. I read it as a young, impressionable teenager (14?15?) and had to re-read it again as an adult. It has much more meaning now. Becoming a woman and growing into your sexuality, and most importantly learning to appreciate it, is a journey we all go on and it has been encapsulated here quite well.

Anxious to read her other books and take one of her classes now as well. A lifelong fan has been born!

bookwormbarney's review against another edition

5.0

fangirls have always been the same, alas, i guess this is one of those instances where i feel like i was born in the wrong generation 

jd4's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

aladdin_sane's review against another edition

1.0

Did this book have an editor? I'm not sure. Pamela goes through her adventures in a strictly chronical order, which makes the flow really messy. And the diary excerpts are quite painful to read. But what's worse is the fact that Pamela is so arrogant and narcissistic. I wanted this to be a nice insight on fan and groupie culture, and how one evidently grows out of it. Pamela doesn't grow out of it though, she behaves like a hormone heavy teenager all the way through. And the fact that she's fine with releasing a book where she sexualizes a TODDLER, just wow.

thebphiles's review against another edition

informative lighthearted fast-paced

2.25

canadiantiquarian's review against another edition

informative sad medium-paced

2.5

A strange read that is equal parts voyeuristic and off-putting. There's no denying that she lead a dramatic life in the 60s and 70s as she met, and frequently had sex with, all manner of famous musicians and hangers-on. And the book definitely offers an understanding of the dynamics and levels of damage that plagued her community. But it is utterly devoid of more than superficial reflection. Everything is matter-of-fact in a way that goes well beyond the idea of "it was a different time" as one friend gropes girls and dances hours after his kid dies, or beau Don Johnson abuses her before dumping her for a 14-y-o Melanie Griffith, or everyone talks about how "dark" Jimmy Page is.

chantelmccray's review against another edition

2.0

"Miss Pamela" attached herself to absolutely anyone on the rock scene, so there is some good gossip here. She brags about her sexual exploits with Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, Jim Morrison, Mick Jagger, among many, many, many others. The narrative is interwoven with excerpts from her diary, the parts of the book I found it hardest to read. In them she just seems like such an insecure, immature idiot. Absolutely anything a musician would do, no matter how disgusting, degrading or idiotic, was "inspiring" to her. Her revelations are dishy, but I found it shocking and sad what she was willing to do and the horrible treatment she was willing to put up with, just to be associated with the world of rock. In 1964, the author and her friends, at the time just young girls, have stalked the Beatles to the house they are staying at in LA while on tour. John Lennon pulls up to the house and looks at the groupie and her gang with a "face full of contempt and sorrow." and I can easily understand why. I found the book more sad than entertaining.

joy_ong's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted sad medium-paced

4.25

caat010's review against another edition

2.0

I was totally ready to take in some juicy and steamy rock ‘n roll details, but ended up reading a teenage girl’s diary combined with a messy storyline. Some parts were fun though and make you wonder what it must have been like; twirling round backstage in a mini skirt and getting high with the crème de la crème that made rock history.