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vikingwolf's review against another edition
2.0
Pamela was growing up in the era where everyone at school loved the Beatles and she was obsessed with marrying Paul McCartney. Her first attempt to sneak into his hotel seemed to inspire her life as a groupie as she started to hang around clubs and knock on house and hotel room doors to meet all her new idols. She is blunt about her flings with men like Mick Jagger, Keith Moon, Jimmy Page and many others, her lust for Jim Morrison(drool!) and how young Melanie Griffiths stole Don Johnson from her.
Her stories about the concerts and the men that she met or was involved with were fascinating and fun to read. I don't think I would have turned down the chance to meet Elvis though! Her early diary entries about Paul are hilarious! It was the rambling, boring crap that she was writing about the voyage of self discovery she was on and her 'enlightenment' and all the incomprehensible crap of her Frank Zappa period that bored the arse off me. And her terrible poetry! I ended up skipping all this stuff to just read the bits I found interesting, hence my 2 star review.
Her stories about the concerts and the men that she met or was involved with were fascinating and fun to read. I don't think I would have turned down the chance to meet Elvis though! Her early diary entries about Paul are hilarious! It was the rambling, boring crap that she was writing about the voyage of self discovery she was on and her 'enlightenment' and all the incomprehensible crap of her Frank Zappa period that bored the arse off me. And her terrible poetry! I ended up skipping all this stuff to just read the bits I found interesting, hence my 2 star review.
sofiamarielg's review against another edition
5.0
I wasn't expecting to like this book as much as I did. To say that Des Barres isn't the best writer in the world would be too obvious of an understatement - her prose is a mess, littered with lyrics and diary excerpts that don't always help to keep the story chugging along - but it's hard to ignore the honesty that lies behind her shoddy wordsmanship. Despite my best efforts, I ended up empathizing with Des Barres as she chronicles her journey from high school Beatle-maniac to the best-known "band-aid" in the rock scene. She immediately creates a sense of intimacy that drags you into the scene with her, every page demanding the same undivided attention she seeks from her many idols. Throughout the book, her voice is 100% american valley girl, with a few instances here or there to make thoughtful universal statements (such as when she speaks about her spirituality), which appear like very transparent attempts to attribute a deeper meaning to the events she describes. The real merit in this book lies in her vivid descriptions of the music scene of the time, and the portraits of the people she meets along the way. It's a worthwhile read for those interested in hearing from a (radically) different voice about the 60s, or for anyone who has ever enjoyed a song by The Byrds.
rainbowsmut's review against another edition
5.0
One of my all time favorite books. I have read it three times and every time it’s like the first.
thematinee's review against another edition
3.0
"The hazards of loving these fools and the music they made were numerous and agonizing..."
ALMOST FAMOUS from Penny Lane's perspective.
I've never read someone's diary...even when I've been left alone in the room with it and had a few hours to kill. Reading this book, I realize why. There's something about diary entries that feel too intimate...too vulnerable...even though they are written with the understanding that they might someday be read by someone other than the author. Reading the words Pamela wrote in her younger years feels like I'm seeing something I'm not supposed to see.
Enjoyed reading it even if it isn't tremendously well-written. This woman clearly *loved* rock & roll, as evidenced from the way she effortlessly winks at a classic song, or tells you how a chord change made her heart swell. Feelings swung back and forth between amused and saddened while reading these confessions. Amused by the moments of rock stars acting domestic and even banal, saddened by how hard Pam loved them, and how long she had to look for reciprocation. But that's the thing - she wasn't there to be noticed, or to feign being extra special. She was there for love, which makes this a happy tale.
Since, as she says in her afterword:
"Lo, these many years later, I am still a lover of rock & roll. Always and forever"
ALMOST FAMOUS from Penny Lane's perspective.
I've never read someone's diary...even when I've been left alone in the room with it and had a few hours to kill. Reading this book, I realize why. There's something about diary entries that feel too intimate...too vulnerable...even though they are written with the understanding that they might someday be read by someone other than the author. Reading the words Pamela wrote in her younger years feels like I'm seeing something I'm not supposed to see.
Enjoyed reading it even if it isn't tremendously well-written. This woman clearly *loved* rock & roll, as evidenced from the way she effortlessly winks at a classic song, or tells you how a chord change made her heart swell. Feelings swung back and forth between amused and saddened while reading these confessions. Amused by the moments of rock stars acting domestic and even banal, saddened by how hard Pam loved them, and how long she had to look for reciprocation. But that's the thing - she wasn't there to be noticed, or to feign being extra special. She was there for love, which makes this a happy tale.
Since, as she says in her afterword:
"Lo, these many years later, I am still a lover of rock & roll. Always and forever"
allie8973's review against another edition
Cringe so hard. But also just a lot of teenage sexual frustrations..I could read my own diaries for that. Not enough stories about actual music or concerts or more