There Will Be Rainbows: A Biography of Rufus Wainwright

by Kirk Lake, James Fox

'There Will Be Rainbows' is the first ever biography of Rufus Wainwright.

Genres: Music, Biography, Nonfiction

312 pages, Paperback

First published May 28, 2009

Reviews

[Carol D'Amico · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is, by far, the worst book i have ever read. The author has no idea how to write a sentence. I found myself running out of breath wondering when the period was going to appear. The author’s lack of writing skills is what made me mostly irritable and pissed off. I felt forced to finish the book due to my obsession for Rufus's music. Lake goes off on tangents that have little or nothing to do with where he started on his topic. Mostly the footnotes went on and on and often were irrelevant. It was tortuous to pick up the book each day and try to get to the end. What little information i did absorb about Rufus is the only reason i kept with the reading. The never-ending information about his family was so unrelated and unimportant most of the time (not all of the time), that the title of the book should have been named 'The Wainwright/McGarrigle family'. Lake's opinionated slant was so off the mark, i am stunned this book was actually published. Hopefully someone, one day, will be able to write a biography about Rufus that will be completely informing from start to finish and will add personality to the facts. It was boring, it was slow, and it was torturous to get through.

[Katrin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I should have known that there is already a book about Rufus Wainwright ... I'm not sure I would pay for a new one, I stumbled upon this one in a secondhand bookshop. It's a typical celebrity biography where someone has taken the trouble to put together all the interviews and stories that are available and has made a book out of it. There are many things in it I didn't know about Mr Wainwright, especially because it speaks about his whole family, how his parents met, what his sister Martha did and so on. So in this regard it was interesting, I read it like an extended magazine story. His father Loudon Wainwright III comes across as rather disagreeable, by the way. Of course the book is already outdated (it is from 2010); big events have overrun the narrative: new records have come out; both Rufus and Martha are parents now, their mother Kate McGarrigle has died, and tomorrow Rufus is getting married!

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

My dreamboat - if he ever comes knocking at our door - Jesse better beware! I had met him at an AIDS services benefit performance a few years ago and acted like a giggly schoolgirl.

[Gayle · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book gets two stars purely because the author bothered to write a book about Rufus Wainwright (even though it really should be called a biography of all the rest of the family too-there's more about them than there is about Rufus when it comes down to it).

It actually deserves one star. Boring boring boring. Why????????? It should be good and interesting and absorbing given it's about Rufus.

I spent most of my time reading it rolling my eyes at stuff like the high school lit student-esque critique of the songs and the stupid footnotes.

It's like one big album review of various Wainwrights and Mcgarrigles interspersed with boring production info and bits taken out of magazine interviews, with a little family history thrown in.

It felt like he had only a little bit to work with so he just extrapolated it to death.

I have to admit I skimmed the last 60 pages. Something I NEVER do.

Very very disappointing.

[Mark Coel · Rating 2 out of 5]

With an artist as interesting as Rufus this biography is disappointing. Of course you cannot have a biography of him without mentioning the carreers of his parents, but the author seems much more interested in them then in the subject of the book. What's worse, the whole book is written with hearsay, quotes from interviews and booklets.
This makes the book shallow, as you never understand 'why'...
Shame...

[Hannah Eads · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book hasn’t really aged well in the sense that it feels incomplete or, rather, written too early on in Rufus’ (and Martha’s) career. I was hoping for more of an insight into his creative process but was stuck with too many album reviews—reviews of nearly all Rufus, Loudon, Martha, and Kate albums—that tore apart individual songs and even lyric lines. I disagreed with his idea that Poses is far from perfect. Eccentric, sure, but wonderfully so and my first introduction to his music that felt like an epiphany in how pop music could sound. The family history was interesting enough to follow through with finishing the book, the biggest merit of which is probably the name-dropping—of other musicians, albums and quirky individuals that led to me enjoying the music of Van Dyke Parks, the performances of Penny Arcade and some haunting pictures of Judy Garland backstage. I give it 3 stars simply for providing me with more information to follow through with online lol.

[Ira R · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is a whole library of fascinating information on the Wainwright-McGarrigle family that I found educational and interesting. I particularly enjoyed the author's detailed breakdown of each track, explaining instrumentation and contributors.
However, the author's clear dislike of Rufus Wainwright's genius is apparent and off-putting. For a supposed Rufus Wainwright biography, the author instead idolizes Martha Wainwright. While Martha is also a genius musician, reading extensively about her in Rufus's biography feels strange and misplaced. The personal assessments of Rufus's music read like a harsh restaurant critic. Although filled with history and anecdotes, the writing is very dry and lacks intuitive flow.

[Todd Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

A biography of legendary singer/songwriter/composer Rufus Wainwright,

The book reveals the integrity and complexity of Wainwright's work while fully embracing the self-deprecating humor, wild flamboyance, and fascinating contradictions that embody Rufus Wainwright, the man.

There Will Be Rainbows tells Wainwright’s true story, which includes tales of sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll

The book also tells the story of the musical family he grew up in. His father, Loudon Wainwright III, is successful with his folk style. His mother, Lucy Wainwright Roche, did folk music along with French songs.

His sister, Martha, has also become a well-known singer.

The book really follows the whole family, which adds to our understanding of him.

[Dick · Rating 4 out of 5]

As others have noted this is more a biography of the Wainwright/McGarrigle family than Rufus himself. As such it does an admirable job following the members through the years and offering judgement on their various works. The author is not afraid to be honest and will often say when work is not up to scratch.

[Natalie Mays · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was interested in this book because I am a big fan of Rufus Wainwright, and enjoy learning about the lives of my favorite artists, and how their life events may have impacted their art. I enjoyed the book for that reason as well, but for that reason only. Besides the subject, the book was not very well written, containing a lot of strange and poorly-crafted sentence structure. Kirk Lake also seemed to paint Rufus in a somewhat negative light, giving most of his albums and works mediocre reviews, which made me wonder sometimes why he even bothered to write a biography about an artist he supposedly loved at all, if all he was going to do was criticize him. Additionally, there was so much history and background information on Rufus' family, which I did enjoy, that the title really should have been something more like, "A Biography on the Wainwright and McGarrigle family," instead of making it seem like it would be all about Rufus. Lake also seemed to ramble quite a bit throughout the book, switching back and forth between family members so much that there was really no real structure to the book, making the layout (the different sections, labeled as Acts, and subsections within) obsolete. Despite the flaws in the writing itself, however, if you like Rufus Wainwright enough to want to know about his and his family's history, I highly recommend this book.

[Rebekah · Rating 4 out of 5]

The subject was extremely interesting to me. And while I can see how one would get lost in so much information on Rufus' parents and relations I found it intriguing. It not only rekindled my already passionate love for Rufus' work but gave me a deeper understanding of most of it. I will admit that at one or two points the author makes points that cross the line between fact and opinion and offers advice in what Rufus "should've done differently" in a few situations that I do not believe totally supported or backed up by complete knowledge. However, this only bothered me on two points, overall I highly enjoyed the book and would most definitely recommend it to those interested in Rufus.

[Leila Chieko]

No stars. Boring. I usually LOVE biographies of musicians because they're typically an intimate peek inside the colorful/creative/chaotic lives of the artists, but this book... I actually haven't even bothered to make it past the first third of it because it focused so much on his parents' career. Seriously, if I wanted to read about an absentee jerk of a father and a track by track account of his underwhelming albums, I would have picked up a book about Loudon. Author drops too many names and references which makes it read like a snobby magazine article. I hope it gets better and more personal, though I'm left way too uninspired to pick it back up to find out.

[Casey · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars - I enjoyed this book, but it feels as though there could have been something more. Of course you won't have a Rufus Wainwright biography without mentioning members of his famous family, but it veered off at some later points and focused more on Louden and Martha's careers than was necessary. At the beginning, it made sense; it provided a background and a picture of the state of daily living while Rufus was growing up. Later, when it is separate from the happenings dealing with Rufus, it is more like a mini-biography for both Martha and Louden. Also, no childhood pictures of Rufus? Really?

[Moira · Rating 3 out of 5]

This should be titled Rufus Wainwright, his family and times. It covers so much about his world but, Boy, does it ramble! I must confess that I skim read much of it. Even so it does give detailed insight into his artistic growth and relationships. And it has taken me back to his music - I am playing "Release the Stars" as i write this.

So, thank you Kirk Lake for all the research and extra information. As Rufus's life has changed a lot since publication, how about an update, heavily edited?

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I expected something more from this biography. It does cover this singer's life to date, and is also as much a biography of him as it is his sister, Martha, and parents, Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle and her sister Anna. It also "reviews" most of their work musically. An okay biography, but also somewhat skims the surface.

[Lana · Rating 1 out of 5]

TOO much about the parents and NOT enough about him.

[Schwitters · Rating 5 out of 5]

lots about the r est of the family but that only adds to understanding of the artist.