|
| Life with My Sister Madonna | 
 enlarge | Authors: Christopher Ciccone, Wendy Leigh
Publisher: Simon Spotlight Entertainment
Category: Book
List Price: $26.00
Buy Used: $8.75
You Save: $17.25 (66%)
New (54) Used (36) Collectible (1) from $8.75
Avg. Customer Rating:  197 reviews
Sales Rank: 6332
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.4 x 6.2 x 1.4
ISBN: 1416587624
Dewey Decimal Number: 782.42166092
EAN: 9781416587620
ASIN: 1416587624
Publication Date: July 14, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Customer Reviews:
 Accurate description of siblings November 11, 2008
I encountered Madonna in 1978 at U of M and I knew then and there that she was either crazy or on her way to stardom. I never spoke to her (I was much younger and was looking at the school) - she certainly made sure she was the center of any attention when I saw her.
What I find fascinating about this book is the basic sibling relationship. Did he live through his sister? Sure he did. Did she use her control over him? Sure she did. Can anyone with a dynamic family see themselves in this type of book? Yes we can.
This book is not boring and if nothing else it makes you feel a little bit better about your own crazy family.
 Boring. October 26, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book was a snore. I was hoping to read a little insight into Madonna's career during the mid-eighties, but that portion only spanned a page or two. This double spaced book reads like a memo or just notes of a book, with only a few details on the things you would really want to know. "The tour was a success. She sold XX albums. She flew to ___. Then she came out with the song___. It sold XX albums. I dressed her for the next tour." etc. etc. and then follows up with pages of whining.
Madonna's brother Christopher is one of those people who never reach for the check, they assume you will pay for lunch because you make more than them. They won't even make the *gesture* of pretending they will pay for it and let you wrangle it from their hands. He mentions throughout the book how much money Madonna makes and can't understand why she won't pay for X, Y and Z with all of the money she has. Christopher, stop being a leach. You have made enough off this woman, and this money is hers to spend as she sees fit. There is nothing worse than someone *expecting* you will pay their way, just because you can. That makes them not want to do it!
Christopher is also convinced that we will all agree with him that only doing *bumps* of coke rather than lines, is no big deal and nothing for Madonna or anyone else to terminate employment over. He says that to Madonna, you are either on drugs or you are not. Uh, yeah! That is pretty much what the rest of the world thinks as well, my friend. If you fail a drug test for a prospective employer, you cannot tell them "I only do bumps, not lines" and expect them to chuckle and say "welcome aboard!" Madonna was correct in not hiring you when you were on drugs.
Anyway, this book tells you little about Madonna. It really made a fool out of her brother, who seemed so sure we would all agree with him on drug use and letting the rich pick up the tab for his life. If you hate people who play the victim, this book will annoy you.I was shocked a full grown man would not see the error of his ways and how spoiled he was. He is completely clueless and this book was vendictive and a waste of time. It was pathetic.
 Sad Sibling Story October 15, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Yes, Christopher partied and helped Madonna along in her career, but like other reviews said....Madonna changed...she started having a family and children...and wanted a stable home life with a husband too. That puts your life in a whole different world. Christopher could not relate to that. He wanted things to be like old times. Yes, Madonna has a big ego, etc., etc., but she was done with the whole partying thing, and I think that's fine. Christopher needs to move on.
 Candid and insightful October 14, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
While I generally don't read celeb-bashing books, this one was quite candid. It is clear from the first paragraph of the intimate closeness that Chris has shared with M., and how it evolved more so over time. At times I felt like I was reading over someone's private letters, the details too delicate, perhaps better left between the two of them. And I was angered as well, mostly at her, for it is not just Chris's view of his sister that has tarnished her image--she has also done it many a time herself.
She comes across as a control freak, every piece of work that her brother has done for her has been at the expense of himself. Her relationship with him begins well, but over time it degrades as she must exact more and more terms of her favor over him.
His guilt perhaps lies in the fact that he has become too needy, and his life has become too enmeshed with hers to the point that to remain in her shadow, outside of her court is to be penniless. He has become a people-pleaser when it comes to her, and her incessant need to know the particulars of his life, to insist over time that he needs rehab when it is proven he does not, the only recourse one can expect from such a toxic relationship is extrication from it. I can't find fault in him for writing this, it's been a long time coming.
What's It Feels Like For a Brother of a Material Girl October 11, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I first saw this tome at Barnes & Nobles and actually resisted getting it. Considering it was written by her "beloved" brother Christopher, it must be one posterior smooching session. When I read the reviews on Amazon about how this book was a hatchet job on the Queen Bitch herself that I have to grab my own copy, and read it all within two days (hey, I've got a job, PEOPLE!).
It seems Chris has a tale to tell. The book itself re-affirmed what we know or suspected about Lady M herself: a tight-waded, egocentric, calculating, publicity-hungry harpy who is one step away from flying around in a broom. Well, to a Madonna fanatic, the fact that she IS one and the sheer spectacle of her being one and getting away with it with impunity is one of the secrets of her success.
On the other hand, one cannot help but sympathized with Christopher on how Madonna used and abused him, and there are several examples of Madonna's behavior that I cannot excuse in anybody...like having her sister Paula pay her own way to her wedding to Guy Ritchie? How tacky is THAT?
As for Christopher himself, as many other reviewers have pointed out, he is no doubt talented, and with friends with Demi, Gwyneth, Kate, Naomi, etc. etc., he can't parlay that into a career of his own? In the business side of thing, Madonna is the one who did all the real hard work: writing songs, photo shoots, video shoots, singing and dancing in tours and promotional appearances, endless sessions in the recording studios. It seems in the end, Chris just expected his sister to keep throwing him a bone.
Also, I agree with other reviewers that Mr. Ciccone downplayed his own drug use. The fact that he bragged about doing a "key line" with Jack Nicholson and lamented flushing into the toilet the "finest" grade of coke (as a non-user I wouldn't know to save my life) he's ever had, and actually showed Courtney Love how to do coke, I'd say Madonna's suspicions have some legitimate basis. And the fact that he is always broke...as in Prince's song "Pop Life", I think Chris' money went up into his nostrils.
Overall, this book is entertaining and fun. In the end, Madonna may be the "bad girl" here, but don' tell me Chris himself isn't totally blameless. It hasn't change my status being a Madonna lunatic. After I watched Truth or Dare, I came to the realization that while I will always enjoy her music, videos and concerts, I wouldn't want to know her personally. My relationship with Mrs. Ritchie is like millions of others...we pay and she entertains. A fair exchange, I'd say. Any dirt on her personal life is just a little bonus to amuse us all.
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| |
