Favourite book this year

I loved this book and often think about it. I bought the book expecting it would be a straightforward punk memoir from someone who was there. I finished it wanting to be a better father and husband. Honest, beautifully written and impactful. Must get the second volume now.

The performance is also spot on by Jasmine Blackborow.

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Great Story Slightly Let Down by Narrator

The story was great and really took me back to the sounds and characters of my youth. The narrator, while giving a very consistent performance overall, let the side down with some sloppy mispronunciation of names which, for me, was hugely distracting and annoying. For example, she correctly pronounced Poly Styrene, then went back and called her Poly as in Jam Roly Poly….all I could think from then on was It’s Polly, It’s Polly, It’s BLOODY POLLY!!! It may seem like a small thing to fixate on, but this was just one example from many, the cumulative effect of which was extreme irritation - not at all conducive to an enjoyable listening experience!

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1 person found this helpful

amazing book! honest as hell!

amazing book! relatable, honest as hell! loved it. blood, sweat and tears. a real biography of a great woman.

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2 people found this helpful

A refreshingly honest perspective.

A great book, reminded of my younger times and the confusion. Thankfully Viv has pulled through the early bit and the grown up bit and still has a great perspective on art, creativity and how women can be excluded from this process in tiny ways that demean and belittle.

I also agree also with her opening about aging musos writing autobiographies. Absolutely true but we are all twats in our own run down little ways. Nice to be reminded of it.

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amazing life so far

I became a bit addicted to this story. viv is clearly a very strong person and has come through a lot. she is inspirational to me and reinforces my belief that playing your own music live is not just for young people. there is enough to be angry about in your fifties and people identify with that I think. well done

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Brilliant book.

Loved this book - such an honest account of life’s ups and downs. What an incredible music era. Loved listening to the descriptions of the clothes and boys all so brilliantly narrated by Jasmine Blackborow who brought it all to life. Highly recommend this book.

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"Not unless he wants to xxxx his mother" Shocking

A compelling book, and a story of survival. Especially the horror of her husband's words "not unless he wants to xxx his mother" when she tries to talk about her emotional closeness to another man. The sadness of two doctors who abused her, one emotionally - a Dr Shah who says "your husband doesn't love you" and another doctor who sexually abuses her, amid cancer terror. The sheer amount of cruelty that goes along with Viv Albertine's life, along with her own creativity, her own positive response and inevitable depression..... its just very compelling and challenging. Its a book that needs a few listens. I have to say that Jasmine Blackborow is excellent as a reader. She really is the best that I've heard. It is not HER fault that she pronounces Gill Scott Heron as JILL Scott Heron. It is not HER fault that she pronounces Polly Styrene, as Powe-leee…. The fault lies with those involved in the production of this audio book - presumably they were too lazy to research via youtube, into the era of this music and listen to interviews and thereby get the pronunciation right. How awful for Albertine to have written an excellent book, only to be let down by shoddy producers of the audio book.... !!!! How awful for us to have to cringe while we listen to it. Not the fault of the narrator. The fault lies with lazy producers.

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12 people found this helpful

Classy, Brilliant, Moving

Viv Abertine is an extrodinary, brave but normal woman who has led an extrodinary, brave, determined life. A nostalgic, strikingly fierce, warm read. Could not put down. Would miss Viv in my life right now so straight into To Through Away Unopened. *Thanks Viv, you'll never know how much your words have propelled me *

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Written with the heart of a warrior

Being of the same generation as Viv Albertine, so many of the reference points resonate. I loved the Slits. I have the album ‘Cut’, with I bought when it came out. It has various comments written on it by the band members, such as ‘I sign dis so you can get Cut for 3 quid Ari’ and ‘Go on a character diet signed Newage Skipper’. I loved the playfulness of the words and that they bothered to write directly to whoever was buying this album. On the cover Viv stands mid-photo, bare chested, covered in mud, a defiant warrior stance. I loved the sense of challenge, on so many different levels, to the established norms of the time. As a boy, who did not feel he could be a Typical Boy, despite trying, I loved these girls sending up the gender stereotypes of Typical Girls. Much of punk had already become it’s own stereotyped establishment by then, but not The Slits.
The same brave confrontation with social pressure to conform runs throughout the book. The pain and loss of trying to conform and the deadening of life that can come with that, when it means denying your essential nature, is in here too. The struggles with illness, being a parent, being a woman in a world that does not take her seriously, the loss of relationship and the death of friends, are all powerfully described. The ‘punk ethic’ of raw honesty runs throughout the book, not in a regressive, nostalgic way, but as an approach to facing the knocks that life brings without tidying it up and sanitising it. Deep vulnerability sits alongside determined resistance. It’s all here. And that’s where the power of the book lies. It’s not about trying to be cool, and that’s really cool.

Thank you Viv. Having taken my own knocks in life, as we all do, the punk ethos always stayed with me. Be true to yourself. Create from what is within you. Do it yourself. Don’t conform to other people’s expectations. This was always what was important. It was never about a style. At least that’s how I experienced it. And that’s what The Slits personified. If this had been just another rock’n’roll memoir it would have been boring. It’s not. It’s a creative masterpiece. It touches every emotion you have - if you let it. I recognise the warrior stance from the cover of ‘Cut’ in the warrior’s heart that beats throughout these pages. It’s brave and beautiful. And, the narration for the audiobook is great. And, if you are inspired by the book, as I am, I would add the new music is great too.

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A joyous read

I know little to nothing about the punk era but my husband said I would enjoy this and he was right. It’s a brilliant life story and later, a great account of a more mature woman still striving for her own identity and all the good stuff she deserves. Fantastic book!

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5 people found this helpful