I started with 3* but progressively downgraded the ranking after reaching the halfway point of this book. Overall, this is a shallow autobiography. The account of the cultural context and origins of the Go-Go’s gave a revealing snapshot but the subsequent career reminiscences focus on, and circle around, personal insecurities, cocaine addiction and eating disorders. Carlisle’s evaluations of her music, relationships and impulsive behaviours appear unreflective and largely unexplained, and I couldn’t develop much empathy or appreciation for her experiences: self-centred, self-indulgent but not self-aware. ( )

how can you go wrong with 80's autobiograhies?! Interesting life she has led, though not particularly moving. Perhaps what makes this book so good...no need to go "Atta a girl!"...very Go-Go's ish, I suppose. ( )

Undistinguished memoir; notable only for the author's confession of the undeserved attention to most lead singers, when the other musicians and songwriters are ignored. ( )

the beginning of the book was good, where she wrote about her early years. but i think she glossed over too much of the 'on the road' antics. and she doesnt even bring up any of the plastic surgery she had. the book could have been so much more. ( )

Grown up in the SF Valley, she made a pact on a street curb in Venice, California to form the Go-Gos with two others. This book is almost a journal in that she portrays her life as a struggle towards personal enlightenment. Fighting a long drug addiction, she claims that she is now past that stage of insecurity and shame. She claims yoga and mediation have helped her first cope and then accept herself for what she is. The beginning of the book mentions her attraction to witchcraft but she doesn't connect that with her addictive personality. She describes this phase as a type of searching that left her empty and the process would repeat itself over and over again in her life. As a whole, not what I was expecting when I bought this a few years back. One the most successful singers to come out of LA, Carlisle does a good job in this work. The book isn't highly crafted literature but its a solid memoir of the music business and her family-social life. ( )

All I can say is I think she was much too kind to herself in this book. ( )

I was (and remain) a HUGE fan of the Go-Gos. My cousins and I used to dress up and sing and dance to their records; I wanted to be Belinda Carlisle. No surprise, then, that when I found out this book existed, I was dying to read it.

Well...meh. It was good, and I learned a lot about Belinda Carlisle that I never knew - that woman has done some serious cocaine, for example. Whoa. But I was ultimately disappointed, because I felt like she glossed over a large part of the Go-Gos' career. She does tell about the drug problems some of them had, and some of the crazier times they experienced touring, and she touches on their internal conflicts, but she never really tells any real stories. She doesn't really delve into how the conflicts began, why Jane really left the band, personal details regarding their relationships. It's almost like they were 5 girls who happened to meet, hit it off, started a band, did pretty well, started hating each other, and kept breaking up and getting back together. End of story. I felt like there was MUCH more to the story overall that she just wasn't telling.

Otherwise, the main thing(s) that I took away from this book were that she fought, and eventually beat, a serious addiction to drugs, and her husband is quite obviously a saint.

Pretty good. Could've been a lot better. ( )

Engaging in a tabloid -magazine -kind -of -way. I did enjoy this read, (since I grew-up listening to the Go-Go's and idolizing Belinda Carlisle-- at least when I was in 6th grade). Interesting to see the path her life took her on. ( )

Typical rock star redemption story, filled with name-dropping and "personal demons". Mildly interesting, but not very compelling. ( )