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A review by cal_silas
Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys. by Viv Albertine
5.0
When I saw how the book was structured, I expected to be much more interested in the earlier half of Viv Albertine's memoir. To read about her childhood formative experiences, early musical influences and of course, all about The Slits. And while I did really enjoy it, I was shocked and riveted by the later periods of her life when she had to recreate herself, and times when she was stagnant, with no creative outlets.
While I plugged away for a week reading the first half of this, I finished the second half in one consecutive evening and morning. When The Slits split she was heartbroken, poor and lost, so she moved back in with her mother. What could she do next, how could her skills and abilities translate into a new period of her life? She was a self-taught guitarist in a feminist punk band, but did not want to pursue music anymore . . .
She could have easily lived the rest of her life holding onto that legacy and living a quiet life. But after a stint as an aerobics instructor (!), she applied to art school to learn filmmaking and went on to enjoy a career making music videos that aired on MTV and doing projects for the BBC.
Albertine writes humorously about her search for a man during those years. So, it's incredibly disturbing to see how her sixteen-year marriage (or 17?) plays out. Once married, she decides she wants to get pregnant but ends up deciding to undergo IVF treatments, after an ectopic pregnancy. IVF was in its' early years of development and her experiences with invasive, and at times abusive, exams take their toll.
After having her daughter, she is subsequently struck by cancer. It takes her at least a decade to recover from, physically, to gain back her strength. Sadly, as she finds her health and rekindles an art practice for herself (which later leads to her learning to sing and returning to music), her husband who enjoyed being the dominant one becomes hateful as her domestic role becomes secondary to her art. During the period in which she is building up her self-confidence, Vincent Gallo sends her a letter and they regularly talk on the phone. He becomes a kind of muse to her, seeing her as an important artist, and not as everyone in her current life sees her, as a housewife and mother. Their relationship plays out strangely, certainly not predictably . . .
Albertine also details an unsatisfying reunion with her father in the last few years of his life, acting in a movie, recording her solo album, and the deaths of Malcolm McLaren, Ari and Poly.
While the title makes this book seem trivial, "oh girls, that's all they care about", it serves as a nice device to unite all the disparate parts of her life. It was off-putting at times to hear exactly what she was wearing, say at McLaren's funeral. I did love hearing about Vivienne Westwood, the shop SEX, and the fashion sensibility during the early years of punk in England. She claims to have been the one to popularize wearing Doc Martens with dresses!
I would certainly recommend this book to artists, and other people trying to live intentional lives. Albertine's resilience, determination and hard work are inspiring. I am very glad that her publisher did not insist on hiring a ghostwriter!
While I plugged away for a week reading the first half of this, I finished the second half in one consecutive evening and morning. When The Slits split she was heartbroken, poor and lost, so she moved back in with her mother. What could she do next, how could her skills and abilities translate into a new period of her life? She was a self-taught guitarist in a feminist punk band, but did not want to pursue music anymore . . .
She could have easily lived the rest of her life holding onto that legacy and living a quiet life. But after a stint as an aerobics instructor (!), she applied to art school to learn filmmaking and went on to enjoy a career making music videos that aired on MTV and doing projects for the BBC.
Albertine writes humorously about her search for a man during those years. So, it's incredibly disturbing to see how her sixteen-year marriage (or 17?) plays out. Once married, she decides she wants to get pregnant but ends up deciding to undergo IVF treatments, after an ectopic pregnancy. IVF was in its' early years of development and her experiences with invasive, and at times abusive, exams take their toll.
After having her daughter, she is subsequently struck by cancer. It takes her at least a decade to recover from, physically, to gain back her strength. Sadly, as she finds her health and rekindles an art practice for herself (which later leads to her learning to sing and returning to music), her husband who enjoyed being the dominant one becomes hateful as her domestic role becomes secondary to her art. During the period in which she is building up her self-confidence, Vincent Gallo sends her a letter and they regularly talk on the phone. He becomes a kind of muse to her, seeing her as an important artist, and not as everyone in her current life sees her, as a housewife and mother. Their relationship plays out strangely, certainly not predictably . . .
Albertine also details an unsatisfying reunion with her father in the last few years of his life, acting in a movie, recording her solo album, and the deaths of Malcolm McLaren, Ari and Poly.
While the title makes this book seem trivial, "oh girls, that's all they care about", it serves as a nice device to unite all the disparate parts of her life. It was off-putting at times to hear exactly what she was wearing, say at McLaren's funeral. I did love hearing about Vivienne Westwood, the shop SEX, and the fashion sensibility during the early years of punk in England. She claims to have been the one to popularize wearing Doc Martens with dresses!
I would certainly recommend this book to artists, and other people trying to live intentional lives. Albertine's resilience, determination and hard work are inspiring. I am very glad that her publisher did not insist on hiring a ghostwriter!