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amyreadsbooks917 's review for:
Billie Holiday
by Carlos Sampayo
This story was really raw and graphic. If you can get past the introduction chapter (which is like trudging through molasses made of strange tense changes, random lyrical metaphors, the author informally referring to himself and the reader as “us”, and tangents of random facts thrown in with no explanation), then you find a really graphic depiction all the ways that Billie Holiday was raped, tortured, and victimized by the people in her life, told in a graphic novel format.
So, on the one hand this made me incredibly angry at everyone who ever hurt her. She came across a lot of horribly sexist, racist, sadistic people, many of whom were cops. It’s nice that this biography didn’t try to romanticize or make light of those events, especially considering that her autobiography and other accounts had to be watered down for legal reasons. Having her story honestly told made me feel so much more respect and heartbreak for her.
On the other hand, this entire story is told with a framing device of a journalist researching Holiday on the 30th anniversary of her death. That journalist is looking up all of these horrible events and making very blasé commentary on them. And at one point the journalist calls someone on the phone and the comic panels start switching back and forth between “past” and “present” but it’s really difficult to tell what’s going on. Then there was a very literary but vague point being made that no one respected or cared about Billie Holiday while she was alive and all her notoriety came posthumously.
There were no good qualities about Billie Holiday shared. Nothing was said about how she persevered or overcame all of this negativity in her life to become a revered and amazing musician. There were more panels and speech bubbles from corrupt cops and racist taxi drivers and racist Hollywood directors and disgusting rapists than speech bubbles from Holiday herself. It felt like all of the attention and power was given to the vile people around her.
I feel like if I really wanted to learn about Holiday and support her in a way that gives her agency, I should read her autobiography. This book felt very exploitative and belittling, even though I truly believe it was going for the opposite of that. It was just not good.
I was given an ebook from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
So, on the one hand this made me incredibly angry at everyone who ever hurt her. She came across a lot of horribly sexist, racist, sadistic people, many of whom were cops. It’s nice that this biography didn’t try to romanticize or make light of those events, especially considering that her autobiography and other accounts had to be watered down for legal reasons. Having her story honestly told made me feel so much more respect and heartbreak for her.
On the other hand, this entire story is told with a framing device of a journalist researching Holiday on the 30th anniversary of her death. That journalist is looking up all of these horrible events and making very blasé commentary on them. And at one point the journalist calls someone on the phone and the comic panels start switching back and forth between “past” and “present” but it’s really difficult to tell what’s going on. Then there was a very literary but vague point being made that no one respected or cared about Billie Holiday while she was alive and all her notoriety came posthumously.
There were no good qualities about Billie Holiday shared. Nothing was said about how she persevered or overcame all of this negativity in her life to become a revered and amazing musician. There were more panels and speech bubbles from corrupt cops and racist taxi drivers and racist Hollywood directors and disgusting rapists than speech bubbles from Holiday herself. It felt like all of the attention and power was given to the vile people around her.
I feel like if I really wanted to learn about Holiday and support her in a way that gives her agency, I should read her autobiography. This book felt very exploitative and belittling, even though I truly believe it was going for the opposite of that. It was just not good.
I was given an ebook from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.