Desperately Seeking Madonna: In Search of the Meaning of the World's Most Famous Woman

by Adam Sexton (Editor)

From cartoons to academic essays to tabloid journalism, Madonna has been interpreted in almost every way possible. Here is an original collection of these writings that is almost as diverse as the Material Girl herself which attempts to uncover as many interpretations of Madonna's appeal as is possible.

Genres: Music

316 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1992

About the author

ADAM REID SEXTON is the author, editor, or adapter of more than ten published books. His fiction and nonfiction have been published in the Bellevue Literary Review, the Boston Phoenix, Edible Brooklyn and Edible Manhattan, the Mississippi Review, the New York Times, Palimpsest, Post Road, and the Village Voice, as well as on the Websites babble.com and offassignment.com, among others.

Sexton teaches creative writing at Yale University. He has lectured at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., in Central Park, and elsewhere. He has been interviewed about writing and literature by Time, the Washington Post, and npr.com, and one of his classes was broadcast on BBC radio.

Sexton received his B.A. in English from the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a Benjamin Franklin Scholar, and his M.F.A. in Fiction Writing from the School of the Arts at Columbia University.

Reviews

[Mary Fons · Rating 4 out of 5]

I adore Madonna.

I have been a devoted fan for years before I was even able to fit into a bra -- conical or not. I appreciate her as an artist, as a pop icon who has actual value, as a businesswoman who has been able to run an successful empire.

That this book exists is good -- I feel like there needs to be a new version. The text leave off in 1993, the year of Truth or Dare and the Blonde Ambition Tour. There's a lot more to Madonna's ever-unfolding (and highly scrutinized) story since and it's time for an update.

Still, the essays and articles hold up. Some of them seem funny, since a few writers in the early 90s pegged her as having no staying power whatsoever. Most of them, though, are fascinating whether you care about Madonna or not.

Camile Paglia triumphs her as "a true feminist" and it's one of my favorite essays in the book. Why should women behave like men? It's an insulting concept and one that Madonna either totally eschews or makes fun of through parody.

bell hook's "Plantation Mistress" is asinine but fascinating -- I don't see how Madonna using black dancers firmly places her in racist territory, but whatever, bell. Keep chastising and I'll be over here happily Vogue-ing with my black friends.

I've picked up this book time and again for tidbits about my No. 1 hero. It's an engaging, illuminating read, one made excellent if you care a lot about the subject of all these critiques.

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This covers Madonna's beginnings, and 1980s heyday up to the censor-baiting Justify My Love. It's very much a product of the cultural studies boom and quite dated. At worst, the opinions can be wildly pretentious or downright insulting. But there's some strong analysis too, and original texts like the Forbes profile and a transcript of her Nightline interview.