Recently read “Face It” by Deborah Harry, frontwoman of Blondie. I have never been a fan of the band, but on NYE we had a handful of friends over and one insisted on watching Miley Cyrus’ rendition of “Heart of Glass”. I later watched the music video and became entranced by the music and Harry’s look. She’s hot. Bought the book the next day and finished it this afternoon.
Memoir (not autobiography, yes, there is a difference) happens to be my favorite genre of all time. I love reading what people have to say about their experiences, especially with drug addiction and fame. I don’t know why these are things that entice me, but here we are.
Harry’s description of heroin, fascinatingly, is not like others I’ve read (i.e. Keith Richard’s, etc.). She says absolutely nothing negative about her experience with it, instead posing it as some sort of catch-all fix for depression: “For those times when I wanted to blank out part of my life or when I was dealing with some depression, there was nothing better than heroin. Nothing.” (97) To be fair, it seems to be the case that she never injected it, only snorting it, which may or may not make a difference. She doesn’t even detail her recovery, either, saying she just went cold turkey with her partner, Chris, after visiting La Prarie spa in Switzerland, and that was that.
There is nothing I love more than a woman with balls…my favorite passage is when she talks about why she never settled down. “Like most girls my generation, I’d been programmed since childhood to look for a strong man to carry me off and look after me. I bought into these fantasies as a kid at least to some degree, but by the time I was in my midtwenties I was done with that. I was wanting to have control, and as Dad always said, I was too damn independent for my own good. I looked for adventure and new experiences instead of settling down. I needed to keep learning more and more.” (290) I totally agree.
All in all, the book was great…apparently, she had a legendary sex life and has romanced as many women and men as she could have. Some famous, others not. I liked how upfront and honest about it she was. Guessing from her career and the band’s image, why wouldn’t she be? 7/10
