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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
Ever since I opened this book I have been unable to stop playing the Runaways. That is how much I have been immersed, obsessed with this book. Cherie Currie has written a memoir that reads real, raw and full of life. Her life is sprawled out within this book and charts her time before and after the Runaways. God, I just love this damn book and now I have the runaways in my life.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence
medium-paced
What an interesting life. If you're a fan of the Runaways then you might want to read this one.
The word “neon” might be in the title of this book, but don’t let that fool you because this shit gets dark. Plenty dark. Cherie really went through it, man. Sure, some of it was her own doing, but some of this stuff had me closing the book and needing a mental health break for a minute because whoa. I can’t be the only one who thinks that Kim Fowley was a total garbage human, right? I truly wanted to bathe after reading some of this stuff. Don’t get me wrong, I liked the book. I liked the way she told her story. I like how she took accountability for her mistakes. I found that I like Cherie herself. What I LOVED though was the first bit. The David Bowie stuff. The way she explained what his music meant to her, the descriptions of the concert and how she liked to “escape” inside of music really resonated with me and it was beautifully told. What I hated was the editing of this book and how whole words were left out (that always makes me crazy!) I enjoyed my time with this book and I still stand by that Fowley was gross.
4 stars
I have not been able to get "Cherry Bomb" out of my head since I picked this up. "Hello Daddy, Hello Mom. I'm your ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-Cherry Bomb!" (Haha! Now it's stuck in your head too.)
There's not much I can say to sway anyone on this one. If you aren't familiar with The Runaways (the seminal 70's all-girl band that launched the careers of Lita Ford, Joan Jett and the author, Cherie Currie) and/or are interested in a certain breed of rock memoir, then you aren't likely to seek this book out anyways.
If you are on the fence, I can tell you that Currie writes clearly and modestly-if not always artfully-and she's been through a lot: fame as a teen-aged rock queen, a promising film career she ruined with a raging coke habit, assorted familial dysfunction that was really kind of heartbreaking, rape, and a near fist fight with Lita Ford (who, not surprisingly, is kind of a bitch.) Some parts drag a bit but other parts-especially about life during the Runaways era-are riveting. I also liked the stories she tells about her first movie role, Foxes, and her friendship with co-star Jodie Foster. And it is quite touching and amazing she survived it all, got clean, married Robert Hays of Airplane fame, had a kid and became-wait for it-a prize-winning chainsaw artist.
Foxes, by the way? Still a great movie.
There's not much I can say to sway anyone on this one. If you aren't familiar with The Runaways (the seminal 70's all-girl band that launched the careers of Lita Ford, Joan Jett and the author, Cherie Currie) and/or are interested in a certain breed of rock memoir, then you aren't likely to seek this book out anyways.
If you are on the fence, I can tell you that Currie writes clearly and modestly-if not always artfully-and she's been through a lot: fame as a teen-aged rock queen, a promising film career she ruined with a raging coke habit, assorted familial dysfunction that was really kind of heartbreaking, rape, and a near fist fight with Lita Ford (who, not surprisingly, is kind of a bitch.) Some parts drag a bit but other parts-especially about life during the Runaways era-are riveting. I also liked the stories she tells about her first movie role, Foxes, and her friendship with co-star Jodie Foster. And it is quite touching and amazing she survived it all, got clean, married Robert Hays of Airplane fame, had a kid and became-wait for it-a prize-winning chainsaw artist.
Foxes, by the way? Still a great movie.
The word “neon” might be in the title of this book, but don’t let that fool you because this shit gets dark. Plenty dark. Cherie really went through it, man. Sure, some of it was her own doing, but some of this stuff had me closing the book and needing a mental health break for a minute because whoa. I can’t be the only one who thinks that Kim Fowley was a total garbage human, right? I truly wanted to bathe after reading some of this stuff. Don’t get me wrong, I liked the book. I liked the way she told her story. I like how she took accountability for her mistakes. I found that I like Cherie herself. What I LOVED though was the first bit. The David Bowie stuff. The way she explained what his music meant to her, the descriptions of the concert and how she liked to “escape” inside of music really resonated with me and it was beautifully told. What I hated was the editing of this book and how whole words were left out (that always makes me crazy!) I enjoyed my time with this book and I still stand by that Fowley was gross.
4 stars
Read for Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon, April 2016.
My mom passed on a love of The Runaways to me so many years ago. I remember watching the movie with her and crying. Then I chanced upon this book in my favorite used book store with my dad last year, and I had to pick it up. I don't know why I waited this long to read it. Maybe it's arrogant to say so, but there are so many parallels between Cherie Currie's story and my own. I understand a lot of what she went through, and I identified with something on almost every page. This was an emotional read that I'm sure to revisit over the years.
My mom passed on a love of The Runaways to me so many years ago. I remember watching the movie with her and crying. Then I chanced upon this book in my favorite used book store with my dad last year, and I had to pick it up. I don't know why I waited this long to read it. Maybe it's arrogant to say so, but there are so many parallels between Cherie Currie's story and my own. I understand a lot of what she went through, and I identified with something on almost every page. This was an emotional read that I'm sure to revisit over the years.
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
fast-paced