Rebel Heart: An American Rock ‘n’ Roll Journey
December 25, 2009 | Filed Under Product Reviews
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5 Responses to “Rebel Heart: An American Rock ‘n’ Roll Journey”
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I could not put this book down for a minute. I started to neglect my household duties for the weekend it took for me to read it. Wow, this is one heck of a wild ride! Stephen Davis wasn’t kidding when he praised it. Neither was Cameron Crowe. The only thing I was dissapointed with was that I just wish she would have been a bit harder on her subjects. She treats everyone with such kid gloves that its hard to tell if she likes them or not. I’ve read some of the reviews on here and a couple seemd planned and bias. Way too over the top in negativity to be believed or to be from real readers. The book is so positive and cheerful that is makes you wonder how much pain this woman is really covering up inside. Overall this book is sheer entertainment and a delight. It really feels like you are there living the whole experience with Bebe and she holds nothing back in her observations. I came away completely believing the entire story about Bebe and Elvis Costello. When you listen to the music he wrote during that period, it is very obvious that what she says could absolutly be true. I believe her stories and I think they are told with compassion and sweetness. There is no need for anyone to compare this to I’m With The Band and I don’t know why anyone would want to. This book is very different but equally as charming. I highly recommend this book to young woman and those who have survived a tough life. Bebe proves you can do just that and still come out shinning. I only wish it had more dirt.
Rating: 4 / 5
i read this book with very mixed feelings. while i enjoyed some of the stories bebe buell had to tell from the glory days of rock n’ roll, i couldn’t get past her obsessive need to try to convince the world that she was/is fabulous, wonderful, gifted, beautiful, talented, etc. and her constant justification of how she raised (or didn’t raise) her daughter.
And some of the her claims that she inspired half of the songs created during the 70s and 80s are laughable. Particularly her claim that Prince wrote “little red corvette” about her. they had never met each other!
The intriguing rock and roll stories here are just too few and far between, getting lost somewhere between her ego and her guilt.
Rating: 2 / 5
I recently read an article in the New York Times about fellow authors, exes, and peers that come on here JUST to trash the products of people and authors they don’t like. I see this happen with “Rebel Heart” on a steady basis.
For those of us who have read the book, enjoyed it and reveled in it, I want to lend my critique. As an author myself and a reader of all things “pop culture” geared, I was overjoyed by this book. Victor Bockris has had his hand in many of these types of tomes. Everyone from Ali to Andy Warhol. His pairing with Bebe Buell was a soulful choice. Maybe not a perfect one.
What I got from the tone of RH was a woman with confidence but also demons and pain. It revealed itself in many ways. What I DID NOT get was any tone of conceit or self service. I found the honesty sometimes damning and yet it was touching too. Bebe Buell touched many a heart not excluding my own.
I feel that most of the reviews on here, with the exception of a few, depict an almost “highschool” childishness veiled by envy and extreme jealousy. I would not rule out a scorned ex penning the more ridiculous assertions. It reeks of that.
In a nutshell RH is a joyous read coupled with a quick study in the music of the 70′s and 80′s. It explores one woman’s quest to be loved and NEEDED. If Bebe Buell had been born just twenty years later she would be an icon herself in music. Her talent is rare and true. But being part of the era of which she was raised, most of those opportunities were devoured by the times. When she finally did find her “voice” she had already done things that branded her for life. She posed for Playboy, was a fashion model, the other half of some of the biggest names in music, a muse, and then a mother- all before she was 24 years old!
As Cameron Crowe says about her, she absolutely DOES transcend the word “groupie”. That is a very LAZY description if you ask me. Bebe Buell was important to the times and the music of the eras addressed in RH. Anyone who can look past their envy and hatred can observe that and digest it. She should NEVER be put in the same catagory as Pam Des Barres or any of those ladies.
It was hard to put the darn book down. I was glued to it and even read it again just to relive some of the tales. Front row seat is an understatement.
As an editor for a national magazine, I feel that I am in a position to review Rebel Heart honestly. It was not a “perfect” book but it was a damn good one. I was drawn to pen my review after reading some of the obviously “made-up” ones. A lot of the annoying ones don’t even discuss the book but Bebe herself. As a journalist I try to review the actual “book” and not the person. That is a dead giveaway if you ask me. It shows that 80% of the people that THINK they have read something have not really read anything at all.
If it had actually been READ by some of you, you would know first hand that Bebe does not credit herself as the subject of any Prince songs nor does she claim to be the topic of “all the best songs written” in the 70′s and 80′s. That is an extreme exaggeration and not true at all. She puts herself where she WAS and where she IS. Nothing more or less.
To sum up the importance of a book like this, I want to give Rebel Heart an almost perfect score. There were some “little” things that got on my nerves but not enough to warrent criticism. Bebe Buell has a great “spirit” and outlook that is enchanting. Not to mention she is one of the most beautiful women on earth. She passed her legacy onto her equally enchanting daughter, the actress Liv Tyler. If any of the so called “groupies” in the world could do as good of a job parenting as Bebe Buell did, there would not be so many lost souls. Does it matter that she enlisted the help of “family” to help her rear Liv? Not in my estimation- she was a single, working YOUNG mother. It was common sense for her to reach out and nothing wrong with it. Perhaps that is why Liv turned out so well- there was no shortage of love and attention in that young lady’s life and it shows. She says it herself and has always credited her mother with her success and level head.
I do not think we have heard the last of Bebe Buell nor do I think we should. There is a lot to give and a lot to explore. She knows her stuff and her endorsement can guarantee any new band or talent sure recognition. I wish she would write for me. Stay tuned.
Rating: 4 / 5
This book was a lot of fun to read. I love getting all the inside info about her life. I wish she would have added more detail on some of the people she talks about like sometimes she does not tell you who this person she is hanging out with. She does go on quite a bit about how she was the muse for so many people, which is fine, but she talks about her beauty and how great she is a lot. At each chapter, is some lyric’s from songs she wrote. I think she was wise to be the “muse”.
Rating: 5 / 5
I bought this book for a few reasons I LOVE steven tyler and I love the old rock n stories I enjoyed the srories of the artist’s she wrote about but found myself skipping the info on herself I couldn’t take it anymore!! she is sooooo conceited it’s not rocket science to be a groupie even though she swear’s she was everyone’s muse not a groupie when she made the comment about it being liv’s destiny to be with a musician making it seen it’s a right only a rockstar’s daughter should have iIabout threw up I would suggest pamela des barres i’m with the band way better book
Rating: 2 / 5