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lilylikeslit's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
4.25
kirstenlp981's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
fast-paced
5.0
Wow!!
I know I’m a fan of biographical books but this has exceeded most biographical I have read. It’s short and fast paced, to the point, but the way it is written is artistic. Half way between a poem and a book. This is the retelling of the love story between Basquiat and his long term girlfriend Suzanne by their friend Jennifer.
The way it is written reads like a Basquiat painting, straight to the point and you know what it’s about but it is still chaotic and sometimes hard to follow in the beginning. This ironically also puts you right in the middle of their drug fuelled toxic relationship and the complex pain that both of them were feeling. Nothing is linear because the trauma in this book is not linear, so you are not invoked to have an emotional response from the traumatic stories in a neat conventional linear way like you would a normal story!
Everything really hit me right in the middle of the book. The pain of these two for how convoluted it is is told brilliantly by Jennifer. Words can’t describe the experience of reading it until you read it! And Jennifer’s ‘fly on the wall’ perspective cut through with different first hand anecdotes from Suzanne was perfect. Their voices complemented each other and really brought to life the chaos that was Basquiat’s mind. It really showed how being a tortured artist is one thing and not a story we are unfamiliar with in media, but the effect that this can have on those closest to you is sometimes just as if not more devastating. I want to hear more stories like Suzanne’s! Sometimes the supporting actress is the star all along.
Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. Will read again soon.
I know I’m a fan of biographical books but this has exceeded most biographical I have read. It’s short and fast paced, to the point, but the way it is written is artistic. Half way between a poem and a book. This is the retelling of the love story between Basquiat and his long term girlfriend Suzanne by their friend Jennifer.
The way it is written reads like a Basquiat painting, straight to the point and you know what it’s about but it is still chaotic and sometimes hard to follow in the beginning. This ironically also puts you right in the middle of their drug fuelled toxic relationship and the complex pain that both of them were feeling. Nothing is linear because the trauma in this book is not linear, so you are not invoked to have an emotional response from the traumatic stories in a neat conventional linear way like you would a normal story!
Everything really hit me right in the middle of the book. The pain of these two for how convoluted it is is told brilliantly by Jennifer. Words can’t describe the experience of reading it until you read it! And Jennifer’s ‘fly on the wall’ perspective cut through with different first hand anecdotes from Suzanne was perfect. Their voices complemented each other and really brought to life the chaos that was Basquiat’s mind. It really showed how being a tortured artist is one thing and not a story we are unfamiliar with in media, but the effect that this can have on those closest to you is sometimes just as if not more devastating. I want to hear more stories like Suzanne’s! Sometimes the supporting actress is the star all along.
Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. Will read again soon.
kelswid's review against another edition
3.25
fine book but not a good choice for a plane read because you’re going to want to keep googling different paintings. but that’s on me!
gabelawson's review against another edition
5.0
This book is just so good. I feel this is exactly how a memoir on Basquait should be written. It is equal parts poetic and chaotic in both its capture of the 1980's New York art world and the lives of Basquiat and Mallouk. Now, when you look at his work, the pieces seem to fit into place a little better than before.