Face It: A Memoir

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She never ceases to amaze but what leaves me most curious are her "para" normal experiences and sensitivity (and I wonder if she knows anything about UFOs. It explores her successful acting career (she has starred in over 30 film roles, including David Cronenberg’s Videodrome and John Waters’s Hairspray), her weekends with William S. She also doesn’t spend a lot of time complaining about the “boy’s club” mentality of the music business, but her determination and drive show clearly throughout the book. Blondie fans will love its piquant atmospherics and the energy and honesty of Harry's take on her singular saga.

Harry and Stein told some of the episodes of their lives together that are also featured in the book. I couldn’t wait for my library to get a copy, so I listened to the audio on Scribd without the benefit of having a digital or print book to complement it- something I rarely do. Unfortunately, Debbie skimmed over some of the things I think people are most interested in knowing.We get a superficial account of her childhood and her adopted family and then move to NYC in the late 60s. This has Debbie Harry reading/performing her "Face It" book with vocal guest appearances from Chris Stein, Clem Burke, Alannah Currie, and Gary Valentine, with original music by Chris Stein. Although I was a little underwhelmed by the book, and I may have made it sound worse than it really was, I’m still glad I read it.

She has also had some success as a solo artist, recording five solo albums and has sold more then 7 million records. In one scene she talks about how Miles Davis was a patron in a bar she worked out and all she says is that his date spoke for him and she (Harry) didn't understand why they sat him in a table upstairs.Her tales of life before, during, after, and beyond her time with Blondie are intermixed with interludes that capture the eclectic and electric passion she has for the creative process. she asks, treating us to her morning schedule of letting the dogs out and making coffee, to which the answer is: no. Rather than it being a more obvious type of autobiography documenting her famous photogenic looks as there's more to her than just her pretty face of course! Early on, Harry offers a vivid portrait of a seedy, bohemian scene in late-60s New York in which drugs were “part of your social life, part of the creative process, chic and fun and really just there.

Regardless of whether DH is talking about her house burning down, being stalked and raped Blondie splitting up or throwaway waitress jobs, there's no change of pace or tone and only the merest superficiality of detail.A precious edition in which Debbie describes the obstacles overcome to follow her vocation and express her talent.

Humility, false modesty or refusal of a self that she did not want to find or rediscover, know or recognize, with perhaps the fear of reduced freedom as well as an impediment to entertainment, a complex mix of all that? With all the grit, grime, and glory recounted in intimate detail, Face It re-creates the downtown scene of 1970s New York City, where Blondie played alongside the Ramones, Television, Talking Heads, Iggy Pop and David Bowie. On the contrary, she seems to take her distance from episodes where she behaves in an exemplary manner, but which she takes care to justify by the circumstances to make them normal, while she has great merits in them, as to mask an aspect that may reveal vulnerability.Their ensuing fame, success despite managerial problems, record corporation resistance, and financial ruin and break-ups, then reunions, are told in a personal way. It goes without saying, sadly, that this memoir will NOT teach you how to achieve Debbie Harry-levels of coolness, but we can't expect miracles. She was and is one of the most recognizable stars in the world and makes no apologies about taking advantage of her looks throughout her career. I had heard she had a drug addiction, but other than that I couldn’t have told one other thing about her. Upending the standard music memoir, with a cutting-edge style keeping with the distinctive qualities of her multi-disciplined artistry, Face It includes a thoughtful introduction by Chris Stein, rare personal photos, original illustrations, fan artwork installations and more.