Who's Sorry Now?

by Connie Francis, Dick Clark (Introduction)

The popular singer recalls her early life, her dramatic rise to stardom, her friendship and romances, the brutal rape that almost ended her career, the murder of her brother, and her struggle back.

Genres: Nonfiction, Music, Memoir, Biography Memoir, Biography

332 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero, known professionally as Connie Francis, was an American pop singer, actress, and one of the top-charting female vocalists of the late 1950s and early 1960s. She was estimated to have sold more than 100 million records worldwide.

Francis retired in 2018, and lived in Florida the remainder of her life.

Abridged from Wikipedia

Reviews

[Kay · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can answer the question, Who's Sorry Now?-- I am-- after taking the time to read this book. Poorly written, it mainly reads like a teen's diary. The only parts of the book [where it possibly deserves 2 stars:] that show any character is when she was raped and when her brother was killed. But she never answered- did they find the rapist? and did they ever find her brother's killer?

[Samantha Glasser · Rating 3 out of 5]

"So far in this book no names have been changed to protect the innocent or the guilty, and I don't intend to start now. And Eugene Lieberman was guilty, all right!" Connie writes like she talks, so I can practically hear her telling me these stories.

The book starts out cheerfully with lots of colorful scenes. "When we're young we feel all kinds of emotions more strongly than we ever will again."

I wish she would have written more about her working relationship with Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield. There are a few stories here, but no commentary on how their stars rose in conjunction with hers or whether they kept in touch in later years. She also barely talks about her film career, mentioning Where the Boys Are but no details about the shoot and writing the endeavor to star in movies off as a mistake. I grew up hearing Connie Francis songs periodically, but I didn't become a true fan until I saw her in the movies. Her first is her best, but I think all of them are worth seeing if you enjoy her personality, with Looking For Love as the second best.

Unfortunately, Francis went through a lot of heartache in the 70s and 80s, and I'm sure the depression she felt made the time blur together. She was raped by a burglar in her hotel room after a show, her marriage broke up, her brother was murdered by organized crime, and then she had plastic surgery on her nose which ruined her singing ability. Because this book was written in the midst of all this heartache, the end is rather dreary, disorganized and unfulfilling. I want to know what happened to the rapist? Was he ever caught? Was anyone charged in the murder of George? Why would the mob want to wipe him out; did he owe them money?

There are nuggets of wisdom in these pages from an interesting life. “I recently heard— and it makes sense— that the breakdown of a human relationship occurs not so much because the words are misunderstood, but because the silences are misunderstood.”

I enjoyed the book, because it made me feel closer to the woman behind the music, but I was left wanting much more.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

My daughter was assigned Connie Francis for her wax museum project. I decided to read the biography that we got from the library. As talented as Connie obviously was at so many things, her writing style was not polished. It was written in 1984 and took us through her childhood, her career development and her collaborations with young unknowns trying to make it with her (Bobby Darin, Frankie Avalon, Neil Sedaka to name a few). But after what seemed like a family focused protected childhood, she befell some big tragedies like a brutal rape, several divorces (one husband actually beat her) and the shooting death of her beloved brother. What it did want me to do is to go to youtube and try to find some songs. I don't even know if I'd recognize her biggest hits. She was also a groundbreaker for singing songs for various countries in their own language and repopularizing God Bless America.

[Mark Dolce · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite line among this books wealth of wrought prose is her assertion that in her neighborhood nice Italian girls leave home in one of two ways, either in a wedding dress or a coffin. How can you not love an author who constantly refers to herself as CF.

[Cathy Biggers · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting and deeply personal account of her life's story, highly recommend this to those who grew up listening to the music and talents of Ms. Connie Francis.

[Elizabeth Ulrich · Rating 5 out of 5]

In light of the passing of Connie Francis, I wanted to read her autobiography. She had one of the best voices in pop music, and since the music industry is a man's world Connie worked very hard to make herself known. She made it, but she paid a hefty price going back to when she was a child. She had an overbearing Italian father whose word was law with no compromise. Her mother was the Italian woman who loved her family, and she never stood up to her husband. Connie sacrificed the love of her life, Bobby Darin, because she would not go against her parents. She dealt with a nervous breakdown after the demise of her second marriage. She dealt with spousal abuse. When she did marry for a third time it looked like she found stability and love, but then a shattering rape in 1974 took her out of the spotlight for seven years. The one constant in her life that held her together was when she adopted her son Joey, and he was her world. She also suffered the tragedy of her brother being brutally murdered. Through a lifetime of ups and downs, she managed through therapy to make a come back in her musical career. The younger generation is exposed to her music thanks to Pretty Little Baby and Stupid Cupid, but Connie's music was so much more than that with Everybody's Somebody's fool, Where the Boys are, and Mama and so much more. If you want to read an honest memoire, this is it, but I wish Connie would have wrote a more extensive memoire in her later years.

[Wendell Hennan · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love reading Memoirs especially when part of the author's life intercepted mine. I remember vividly the cover of a Connie Francis lp that I played repeatedly and knew the lyrics by heart.

Her book tells of her life with much drama, but since she is Italian, what else would you expect. Her relationship with her father and mother was equally high drama, but she was raised to be honest and respectful.

A beautiful story, despite the dark years following her rape and the realizations following the murder of her brother.

"I recently heard - and it makes sense - that the breakdown of a human relationship occurs not so much because the words are misunderstood, but because the silences are misunderstood. "

A beautiful journey reading her memories from her life, even and especially so, 41 years after they were written.

[Pam Strahan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am a fan of autobiography’s plus I love old Hollywood, older performers etc. This book is no longer being published so it took awhile to find it second hand. One person wrote a review that it seemed like we were just reading Connie’s diary but not in a good way. I agree. I finished the book but found it dragging at times. Her relationship with. Bobby Darrin was barely mentioned here and there. I really thought there was more to it. Guess not. Maybe not every entertainer’s life is worth writing about. I feel this is one of them.

[Piper A · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definition of bad things happen to good people :(

[Syd · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think autobiographies are generally a bad idea...unless you actually are a writer which Connie Francis definitely is not.