Life with My Sister Madonna by Christopher Ciccone, Wendy Leigh
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Book Reviews of Life with My Sister Madonna
Book Review: Not so pretty portrayal of a great American icon
Summary: 4 Stars
I am a huge Madonna fan since the early 80s when I was a child and I have followed her career intensely and still buy her music. I have never considered Madonna to be extremely friendly and likeable-in fact, she has spent most of her career being a show off and keeping us on our toes, but that's why we love her, right? Some would call her brother Christopher jealous, vindictive and pathetic for writing this book and trying to make some money on his own, but others would say, they don't blame him for writing it. I dont think anything in this book really shocked me.. she is bossy, egotistical, demanding, powerful and goes after what she wants, regardless. It did bother me a bit as to the emotional abuse she aimed at her brother and she seemed to get pleasure out of it. Christopher worshipped Madonna in the beginning, and wanted to be a part of her life for so long, and he was for a while. He designed a couple of her tours, dressed her, decorated her NYC apt, decorated some of her homes, but the turbulence and stress working for an un-appreciative woman just got to be too much for him. It was fun to read about her early days when she recorded her first album, "Madonna" and her starting out in NYC, being booed by the audience, breaking down somewhere in Africa, and being picked up by a couple of workers who had no idea who she was. And of course, he soon realizes his sister is becoming one of the most famous women in the world. He gives his feelings about Sean Penn and Guy Ritchie, both of Madonna's ex-husbands. He went on to say what he thinks are the reasons she is so involved with Malawi and the diarreah of the mouth she's known to have.He also wrote of the 5 day snob fest her wedding to Guy Ritchie in Scotland was, and how Nazi Madonna made her sister Paula buy her own ticket to it, even though she flew her maid and other servants over. She seemed a little too enraptured in Guy Ritchie to really care about his gay bashing, and her maternal instict was also questioned alot in this book. Madonna, who has never been around children other than her own, is now an author of children's books too,, Christopher pokes some fun at this. Maybe I'm a little disappointed that Madonna seems to be even a bigger Bit** than I thought, or maybe she's just misunderstood and that Christopher exagerrated alot of this. Regardless, I'm obsessed!!Book Review: Entertaining, gossip-rich look at celebrity from a bitter guy!
Summary: 4 Stars
Is someone who makes it really rich through hardwork, determination and lots of image control responsible for ensuring their grown sibling is financially set for an on-going luxurious life?
Christopher's answer is a resounding "YES!". So, here he is in his 40's upset. He's upset she's not fully supporting him anymore. He's upset he can't get an easy, fun high-paying job. He's upset that when he was living off her that she wasn't paying him enough or giving him the luxurious lifestyle he deserved. So, he's written a tell all book to get back at her.
Here's the big upside with this one:
- Even if you think morally he shouldn't have written it, it's an entertaining read (or in my case listen - since I got the audible version that is read by him - which allows the nuances of his petulance to shine through). Plenty of dirt is tossed about Madonna, all of her various boyfriends and her driven, controlling nature. Along the way, it's an interesting look into the crazy world of celebrity.
Here's the Big Downside with this one:
- It sure would be nice to hear Madonna's side. This book actually made me feel sad for her, more than anything. What Christopher writes as her mean-spirited, greediness could also easily be interpreted as her caring a great deal about him, giving him places to live, job after job and opportunity after opportunity - just hoping he would find a way to build his own successful life where she could be his friend instead of his meal ticket.
Bottom Line: Entirely entertaining and gossip-rich tell-all from one very bitter, whiney guy.
Book Review: Couldn't put it down!
Summary: 4 Stars
I read this in 1.2 days. I lost myself in it. It had me up til 3:00 AM!
I guess it isn't only us normal civilians that have siblings problems.
I really truly love Madonna's work, and especially her Ray of Light album shows great growth and maturity on her part. But this book really opened up my eyes
to her self-absorption and insensitivity. Wait until you find out how she treated her brother, and how cheap she was with her own sister!
The book shows that no matter how rich you become, you might not feel financailly secure, and no matter how famous you become, you nonetheless might not always feel loved.
The author, her brother that worked for her many years, gives her the benefit of the doubt often, but nonetheless vents his frustration. Imagine living a life in which no one wants to know about you, but rather only about your famous sister?
Book Review: Not insomnia -- MANIA
Summary: 4 Stars
Madonna has pretty much run out of fake personas (aka the False Self of the narcissist, designed to attract constant attention) to project to the world. She systematically cut off her family and, now, she has no significant other. Loneliness will continue to be a problem for her. Through adoption, she assured herself a continued source of narcissistic supply. But she also increased the chances that one of her kids will grow up to write a book about life with their famous, narcissistic/bipolar mother.Book Review: Life with my Sister Madonna
Summary: 4 Stars
The books were sent as a gift to someone else so I did not personally read them. The person who recieved the book loved it.