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Lady Gaga: Hledání slávy
Biografie mladé americké zpěvačky, která je nejzářivější hvězdou současné pop music.
Kniha vypráví o prudkém vzestupu Stefani Germanottové a její přeměně v popovou hvězdu Lady Gaga.
K triumfu jí pomohlo vytváření nespoutané image, přitažlivé hity a dráždivá představa bisexuality, díky níž se stala ikonou gayů. Je to příběh jedinečné osobnosti, která se stala slavnou vlastním přičiněním.
Jako nadšená obdivovatelka Freddieho Mercuryho a Davida Bowieho nasála Lady Gaga esenci glamu osmdesátých let a znovu jej objevila pro digitální věk. Dosáhla komerčního úspěchu a příznivého přijetí u kritiky, vyrazila z obskurní klubové scény manhattanské čtvrti Lower East Side a krátce nato dosáhla celosvětové slávy. Je to příběh o jejím prudkém vzestupu ve hře o slávu vyprávěný s obdivem a současně s ostrým žurnalistickým pohledem.
Paul Lester je autorem řady životopisů, napsal mj. knihy o hudebních skupinách Gang Of Four a Wire a o zpěvačce Pink. Přispívá do mnoha časopisů a také do listů Guardian a Sunday Times.
Kniha vypráví o prudkém vzestupu Stefani Germanottové a její přeměně v popovou hvězdu Lady Gaga.
K triumfu jí pomohlo vytváření nespoutané image, přitažlivé hity a dráždivá představa bisexuality, díky níž se stala ikonou gayů. Je to příběh jedinečné osobnosti, která se stala slavnou vlastním přičiněním.
Jako nadšená obdivovatelka Freddieho Mercuryho a Davida Bowieho nasála Lady Gaga esenci glamu osmdesátých let a znovu jej objevila pro digitální věk. Dosáhla komerčního úspěchu a příznivého přijetí u kritiky, vyrazila z obskurní klubové scény manhattanské čtvrti Lower East Side a krátce nato dosáhla celosvětové slávy. Je to příběh o jejím prudkém vzestupu ve hře o slávu vyprávěný s obdivem a současně s ostrým žurnalistickým pohledem.
Paul Lester je autorem řady životopisů, napsal mj. knihy o hudebních skupinách Gang Of Four a Wire a o zpěvačce Pink. Přispívá do mnoha časopisů a také do listů Guardian a Sunday Times.
- GenresBiographyNonfictionMusic
158 pages, Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 2010
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62 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 27, 2012
I'm a total Gaga convert. When I first heard 'Just Dance' I thought, 'Holy crap. Not another pop part. That's the last thing the world needs.' I never paid her any attention. Then I watched her performance at the VMA's, the one where she did 'Bad Romance' and hanged herself. Yeah. Hooked. That voice? Are you kidding me? That's not a tart voice. AND she's a classically trained pianist? Done. I've been a fan from that moment. And she's proved to not be your standard, run of the mill pop tart. She is an artist. All you have to do is watch her music videos to see that. Or look at what she wears. It's not about sex. It's about expression.
So when LOOKING FOR FAME came across my inbox I jumped at it. Just to know a little more about this woman who's younger than I am who become such an influence not just in music but in life. It is an unauthorized biography and it's formulated mostly through quotes Gaga made but most of it went along with information I'd gleaned since I started taking an interest in her.
I think because of her age her rise seems a little too good to be true but to say she didn't work for what she has would just be a downright lie. If LOOKING FOR FAME is to be believed, she went so low as to be a stripper, not necessarily for money but as a means of performance, and became heavy into cocaine so she could recreate the artistic expressions of her idols, like Warhol. She kicked both habits quickly and learned from them. I guess it's just shocking to see someone with such a mind to learn that quickly and move on from it. For most that can take years. But Gaga was so driven to make her life the way she envisioned it that she knew she couldn't let that stuff get in her way. And it didn't.
I'm not one to idolize celebrities. I just don't think they're worthy. They act, the sing, in many cases they do nothing but whore themselves out. They're not curing cancer or ending world hunger. But I can't help but admire Gaga's drive, her will power, her sheer force to make her world her own. She's empowering and I can't help but be lifted up when I hear some of the things she says. Lester does a great job of amplifying that in his book. It's all about Gaga's rise. He doesn't sugarcoat anything but you can feel the admiration in the reading.
LOOKING FOR FAME is a good peek into the life of Gaga before she was Gaga. You get to see her young, before her craziness took her over. You get to see what it took for her to get where she is. And, for the most part, she's really sedate. There's no mention of backstabbing or throat slashing. Gaga didn't step on faces to rise. She may have been unmoving in some of her requests but people didn't get crunched under her boots as she stepped up. That I find pretty cool. And I think you will too if you're even a nominal Gaga fan.
And then you'll want to go crank at least one of her songs.
So when LOOKING FOR FAME came across my inbox I jumped at it. Just to know a little more about this woman who's younger than I am who become such an influence not just in music but in life. It is an unauthorized biography and it's formulated mostly through quotes Gaga made but most of it went along with information I'd gleaned since I started taking an interest in her.
I think because of her age her rise seems a little too good to be true but to say she didn't work for what she has would just be a downright lie. If LOOKING FOR FAME is to be believed, she went so low as to be a stripper, not necessarily for money but as a means of performance, and became heavy into cocaine so she could recreate the artistic expressions of her idols, like Warhol. She kicked both habits quickly and learned from them. I guess it's just shocking to see someone with such a mind to learn that quickly and move on from it. For most that can take years. But Gaga was so driven to make her life the way she envisioned it that she knew she couldn't let that stuff get in her way. And it didn't.
I'm not one to idolize celebrities. I just don't think they're worthy. They act, the sing, in many cases they do nothing but whore themselves out. They're not curing cancer or ending world hunger. But I can't help but admire Gaga's drive, her will power, her sheer force to make her world her own. She's empowering and I can't help but be lifted up when I hear some of the things she says. Lester does a great job of amplifying that in his book. It's all about Gaga's rise. He doesn't sugarcoat anything but you can feel the admiration in the reading.
LOOKING FOR FAME is a good peek into the life of Gaga before she was Gaga. You get to see her young, before her craziness took her over. You get to see what it took for her to get where she is. And, for the most part, she's really sedate. There's no mention of backstabbing or throat slashing. Gaga didn't step on faces to rise. She may have been unmoving in some of her requests but people didn't get crunched under her boots as she stepped up. That I find pretty cool. And I think you will too if you're even a nominal Gaga fan.
And then you'll want to go crank at least one of her songs.
April 18, 2022
As someone who has been a fan of Gaga's since the beginning of her career, I have (re)read multiple biographies about her in recent times. This was the first biography written by a male author that I have read and I'm afraid to say that it shows. In the worst ways.
The first half of the book was okay. It described the humble beginnings of Gaga's career as so many others have and I appreciated the sources of her quotes being named throughout the book.
The second half is where the book started going off the rails, completely discarding any notion of journalistic integrity and engaging in a gross display of misogyny, biphobia and fatphobia.
Why male authors feel the need to dedicate an entire chapter to their confusion about Gaga's jokes and references to her sex life (in response to being asked about it relentlessly by interviewers), I'll never understand.
A joke about what she looks for in a man (aimed at the ridiculousness of a question) followed by the statement that she's not promiscuous, was deemed as shocking and contradictory by the author. He clearly was not in on the joke.
Similarly as irritating is the mocking of her bisexuality, which is repeatedly referred to as "alleged" even though she'd clearly come out multiple times by the time this book was written and a section where her so-called former "friends'" opinions were regarded as more credible than her own words.
This biphobic and ignorant attitude of the author obviously leads to her entire career (and life) being viewed through a very heteronormative lens, which of course means a lot is omitted when writing about a queer person. The author doesn't just lack perspective, he seems to deliberately discard it in order to depict Gaga as simply a "straight woman seeking attention by any means necessary".
Not to mention the violent fatphobia displayed in a paragraph about how surprising Gaga's praise for a woman's talent is whose appearance the author does not deem attractive.
If you want to learn about the rise of Gaga's early career, I strongly recommend opting for a book by a female writer instead. Just Dance by Helia Phoenix is a much better option.
A book that seriously considers Gaga's queerness in illustrating her life doesn't seem to have been written yet.
The first half of the book was okay. It described the humble beginnings of Gaga's career as so many others have and I appreciated the sources of her quotes being named throughout the book.
The second half is where the book started going off the rails, completely discarding any notion of journalistic integrity and engaging in a gross display of misogyny, biphobia and fatphobia.
Why male authors feel the need to dedicate an entire chapter to their confusion about Gaga's jokes and references to her sex life (in response to being asked about it relentlessly by interviewers), I'll never understand.
A joke about what she looks for in a man (aimed at the ridiculousness of a question) followed by the statement that she's not promiscuous, was deemed as shocking and contradictory by the author. He clearly was not in on the joke.
Similarly as irritating is the mocking of her bisexuality, which is repeatedly referred to as "alleged" even though she'd clearly come out multiple times by the time this book was written and a section where her so-called former "friends'" opinions were regarded as more credible than her own words.
This biphobic and ignorant attitude of the author obviously leads to her entire career (and life) being viewed through a very heteronormative lens, which of course means a lot is omitted when writing about a queer person. The author doesn't just lack perspective, he seems to deliberately discard it in order to depict Gaga as simply a "straight woman seeking attention by any means necessary".
Not to mention the violent fatphobia displayed in a paragraph about how surprising Gaga's praise for a woman's talent is whose appearance the author does not deem attractive.
If you want to learn about the rise of Gaga's early career, I strongly recommend opting for a book by a female writer instead. Just Dance by Helia Phoenix is a much better option.
A book that seriously considers Gaga's queerness in illustrating her life doesn't seem to have been written yet.
July 14, 2011
This was the first book I have borrowed via the library as an ebook. Can't say that I am wild about the ebook format though it was easier on the eye than I expected. Laptop was a lot heavier than a book and harder to put down.
What was fun was being able to flip between the book and YouTube so that as Lester mentioned the videos of various songs I could find them and watch them. Technically I could have done this with a physical book but this just seemed handier.
The book itself was fine: a compilation of various sources about the rise of Lady Gaga. All I really knew about her background was via a few magazine interviews and the like and a Channel 4 documentary. As I was quite late to appreciating her music, so I felt it served its purpose.
March 14, 2016
I enjoyed the Lady GaGa story!
December 30, 2010
One of those biographies that is rushed out whenever a new pop star emerges. All the material is culled from previously published sources, but it's a passable summary of Lady Gaga's career so far. Where it fails is that the author seems to have little feeling for the music. It might have been a better read if written with greater understanding of the pop, theatre and fashion subcultures that have influenced Gaga's work.
July 30, 2014
I have always been a fan of Lady Gaga, but this book taught me more about her rise to fame and her early years. I seriously loved reading it. It was easy to read and very informative.
I liked how it sited where her quotes came from and was very detailed about what she wore and to what event. It was written a while ago so it only spans her The Fame and The Fame Monster years, but very good for people who want to know how she got started and about her early life.
I liked how it sited where her quotes came from and was very detailed about what she wore and to what event. It was written a while ago so it only spans her The Fame and The Fame Monster years, but very good for people who want to know how she got started and about her early life.
July 31, 2011
A really nice book about Gaga. It tells everything essential about her. Some of the dates and other details are not precise enough though. A discography with release dates would have been nice - I'm looking for a book like that.
April 24, 2012
LoVe Gaga for sure, a fascinating and talented driven young woman. Most everything I read in this book I knew already from being obsessed with her story and rapid rise and watching most every show that was made about her. But it was a nice refresher!
November 30, 2014
Lady Gaga is one of my favourite singers. I love her.
August 19, 2024
“I never really did the drugs for the high,” she confessed to the website ShockHound. “It was more the romanticism of Andy Warhol and all the artists that I loved. I wanted to be them, and I wanted to live their life, and I wanted to understand the way that they saw things and how they arrived at their art. And I believed the only way I could do this was to live the lifestyle, and so I did. So it wasn’t about getting high–it was about being an artist. About waking up in the morning at 10: 30 and doing a bunch of lines and writing a bunch of music, and staying up for three days on a creative whirlwind and then panic-attacking for a week after. It was one of the most difficult times in my life, but it was important for me to experience, since it unlocked parts of my brain. But I wouldn’t encourage people to do it for that reason–you can arrive at all those things on your own.”
pop art wird zu art pop 🕵🏻♀️
pop art wird zu art pop 🕵🏻♀️
September 7, 2020
U potrazi za slavom opisuje na koji način se Lady Gaga ‘od malih nogu’ borila i izborila za mesto slavne ličnosti. Knjiga pokriva period do 2010. godine, sadrži puno razgovorora, odgovora, natpisa iz medija i drugih stvari koje ćete verovatno zaboraviti čim sklopite korice knjige.
Između redova saznajete da je Stefani Germanotta devojka fantastičnih glasovnih mogućnosti i mnogo više od onoga što se može videti na prvi pogled.
Između redova saznajete da je Stefani Germanotta devojka fantastičnih glasovnih mogućnosti i mnogo više od onoga što se može videti na prvi pogled.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews