Face It: A Memoir

Product Information

There are books that chronicle those times better ( Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk by Legs McNeil, Gillian McCain) but hey, it's Debbie Harry - nice to read her perspective of her journey and learn of how some of the band's top hits and records were created. We want to know about Chris Klein- not just that there was a relationship- but what came between them- what broke them up. I wasn't submissive or begging him to come back, I was kicking his ass, kicking him out, kicking my own ass too. In an arresting mix of visceral, soulful storytelling and stunning visuals, Face It upends the standard music memoir while delivering a truly prismatic portrait.

She describes the albums and songwriting, but doesn’t spend much time talking about the other members of the band with the obvious exception of Chris Stein.We learn how, having been given up for adoption at three months old, Harry was raised by her adoptive parents in New Jersey. For all ebook purchases, you will be prompted to create an account or login with your existing HarperCollins username and password.

My favourite kind of memoirs are the kind that feel as though you’re just sitting down with a friend and having them tell you a story, this is that kind of memoir. From an irreverent Lower East Side punk goddess to a bona fide international ambassador of New York cool, Debbie Harry will forever be synonymous with that punk spirit that lives somewhere in all of us. But some sections read as if Harry wrote them down (including the amusing 'thumb'-themed afterword). Read or listen to her life's story and go out and listen to her solo albums which are amazing as well. This is, of course, the author’s prerogative and doesn’t mean that the book is without depth or charm.

Her spectacular voice drips with a sophisticated elegance rarely heard in pop music and she continues to infuse her work with an exquisite artistic sensibility. I think Debbie has lived quite a colorful life and deserves her place in music history and as a pop culture icon. It must have been hard to be a female frontwoman in a male-dominated industry, yet Harry never looks for sympathy.