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A review by jennifer
Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys. by Viv Albertine
4.0
What a fine memoir and a bit of a feminist powerhouse. I came into it expecting very little. I wasn't a fan of The Slits (her second band and the one she's most famous for); in fact I had only heard of them in the last couple years via some BBC documentary on women in punk. Albertine was engaging in the docu and when, coincidentally, I saw she was speaking about the book at an event in Berlin last month, I went to see her on a whim.
In the book, Albertine discloses Patti Smith was a major influence on her, so I suppose it shouldn't be a surprise that her memoir has a lot in common with Smith's Just Kids. Like Just Kids, you might start reading the book to learn more about a well-known artistic era in an iconic city--NYC in the 60s and 70s in Just Kids, London in the 70s for Clothes, Music, Boys. And you do: Viv was close friends with Sid Vicious and dated Mick Jones on and off for years, just to give you a taste. But also like Just Kids, Clothes, Music, Boys evolves into something much more delicate and moving than just a chance to be a voyeur of a bygone era. Hats off to Albertine. I may just have to go download a The Slits album now.
In the book, Albertine discloses Patti Smith was a major influence on her, so I suppose it shouldn't be a surprise that her memoir has a lot in common with Smith's Just Kids. Like Just Kids, you might start reading the book to learn more about a well-known artistic era in an iconic city--NYC in the 60s and 70s in Just Kids, London in the 70s for Clothes, Music, Boys. And you do: Viv was close friends with Sid Vicious and dated Mick Jones on and off for years, just to give you a taste. But also like Just Kids, Clothes, Music, Boys evolves into something much more delicate and moving than just a chance to be a voyeur of a bygone era. Hats off to Albertine. I may just have to go download a The Slits album now.