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Faithful and Devoted: Confessions of a Music Addict
Both an ode to the joy of music and a cautionary tale of obsession, Jenna Rose Robbins’ coming-of-age adventure offers a glimpse into a subculture where unchecked fanaticism can lead to both euphoric and devastating consequences. As a love letter to fellow music addicts, the memoir of her time following Depeche Mode on the 1993 Devotional tour brings readers face to face with the artists she idolized, while speaking directly to the heart of every music fan.
- GenresMusic
234 pages, Paperback
Published May 10, 2017
8 people are currently reading
275 people want to read
About the author
Jenna Rose Robbins
2 books30 followersJenna Rose Robbins is a writer and editor who has ghostwritten more than 12 books, including two New York Times bestsellers, and is the author of Faithful and Devoted: Confessions of a Music Addict, which was a BookLife Prize finalist. After graduating from the University of Michigan, Jenna went on to receive her Master's of Professional Writing from the University of Southern California. When she's not getting eyestrain at her computer, Jenna can generally be found trying to avoid emergency rooms around the world.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
August 12, 2018
Very interesting book, especially if music shaped your adolescence. Love of music was the significant factor for many of this talented writer's decisions.
November 11, 2017
I gave this book five stars because it is professionally written and professionally published. The reader will not find bloopers, typos, clumsy phrases...this writer can write.
Whether or not a reader likes the story depends on whether or not the reader likes reading about other people's misadventures and coming-of-age experiences. The book is autobiographical and concerns the author's family, relationships, and personal growth. It isn't really about Depeche Mode, though the band is definitely in the story.
The tone of the story is humorous but emotionally truthful, which means sometimes the humor is a way of dealing with pain. It's a rollicking narrative, a picaresque, but the author avoids the superficiality which is the bane of humorous books. Instead, she goes for depth of characterization; you will feel, by the end of the book, like you really know the author and the other characters more deeply than many of the people in your life.
Whether or not a reader likes the story depends on whether or not the reader likes reading about other people's misadventures and coming-of-age experiences. The book is autobiographical and concerns the author's family, relationships, and personal growth. It isn't really about Depeche Mode, though the band is definitely in the story.
The tone of the story is humorous but emotionally truthful, which means sometimes the humor is a way of dealing with pain. It's a rollicking narrative, a picaresque, but the author avoids the superficiality which is the bane of humorous books. Instead, she goes for depth of characterization; you will feel, by the end of the book, like you really know the author and the other characters more deeply than many of the people in your life.
February 4, 2018
I admit, I had to Google the members of Depeche Mode for a visual of the famous players in this memoir. But that didn't make it any less relate-able or entertaining. Jenna Rose Robbins shares her story from following the band through Spain, to trying to act cool in their presence, to reveling at the experience of a lifetime.
Faithful and Devoted is a must-read for anyone who's ever put aside a moment to follow a band they love. It reads more like a novel than a memoir which made it go very quickly for me. I've already recommended it to several of my friends.
Faithful and Devoted is a must-read for anyone who's ever put aside a moment to follow a band they love. It reads more like a novel than a memoir which made it go very quickly for me. I've already recommended it to several of my friends.
June 22, 2017
There are many entry points into this 1993 week-long Spain trip memoir by longtime ghostwriter Jenna Rose Robbins. Get to know Jenna as an affable, determined teenager and U of Michigan student, learning to distinguish herself from her family. You might be curious to compare her college European travels - New York-style - to your own. Or, perhaps you are a Depeche Mode fan, like Jenna. Get the inside scoop on the band’s fashion details and drinking habits, what hotels they chose and clubs they enlivened. You might use the book as a travel guide for your next trip to Madrid, Barcelona, Pontevedra and Léon. Jenna is also a model travel companion to her penpal-become-hostess, Marta, that is, a model both to exemplify and avoid following. Maybe you’re agnostic, wondering what faith is all about. Learn what it’s like to be faithful, devoted, AND an atheist. “...The crowd, as if partaking of a religious ceremony, stopped shoving and became one with the universe - or, at least, the arena” (140). However you approach this book, it doesn’t disappoint. Jenna’s no-nonsense, easy-going articulation of her experience makes the read well worth it.
April 12, 2017
I absolutely love Depeche Mode, this is a must read for any fan. The author was incredibly lucky to have that experience of meeting them, especially talking to Alan!
October 2, 2022
I was very excited to read Jenna's book from the moment I saw it. I am a huge Depeche Mode fan and I loved their stage presence and interpretation of their shows during the Devotional tour, despite all the problems the band was going through.
I knew about the writer because of the DM map in her site, that helped me a lot in finding locations where the band took photos and videos around the world, that made me go and see them with my own eyes, so I trully recommend that too and you should really take a look in case you didn't see it yet.
Back to the book... I was surprised about the fact that ever since I started it, I got so captivated of Jenna's descriptions and it felt like I'm living the same experiences. I found the book a bit funny and I'm sure you will too at some point, especially if you're that obsessed fan, who knows absolutely everything about the band.
As a fan, it was great to read about the adventure of a young fanatical music addict, who ventured across the ocean and gained new experience in a foreign land, went to shows from one of my favorite tours ever and had the opportunity to meet the band that we all know and love.
I had the chance to read the book in Madrid, and that was AMAZING, it was much easier for me to get into the action and imagine myself living the same experience. It gave me the chance to see the world from back then through the eyes of the author. (It even made me go see some places around here.)
When it comes to the structure of the book... well, to be honest, I did not expect it to be written in such a professional way. I love the attention to detail and the thorough characterization that the author uses. It really puts you inside the action, and it gives you the impression that at the end of the book, you have personally known the characters for a lifetime.
After all, this book is even more than a Depeche Mode fan experience (as i expected it to be), it's a great adventure, written by a great adventurer, that managed to grab my attention, make me laugh and even cry.
Anyway, these few lines are not even enough to review the book, but I trully recommend it to everyone and I'm sure you'll be as hooked as I was.
I knew about the writer because of the DM map in her site, that helped me a lot in finding locations where the band took photos and videos around the world, that made me go and see them with my own eyes, so I trully recommend that too and you should really take a look in case you didn't see it yet.
Back to the book... I was surprised about the fact that ever since I started it, I got so captivated of Jenna's descriptions and it felt like I'm living the same experiences. I found the book a bit funny and I'm sure you will too at some point, especially if you're that obsessed fan, who knows absolutely everything about the band.
As a fan, it was great to read about the adventure of a young fanatical music addict, who ventured across the ocean and gained new experience in a foreign land, went to shows from one of my favorite tours ever and had the opportunity to meet the band that we all know and love.
I had the chance to read the book in Madrid, and that was AMAZING, it was much easier for me to get into the action and imagine myself living the same experience. It gave me the chance to see the world from back then through the eyes of the author. (It even made me go see some places around here.)
When it comes to the structure of the book... well, to be honest, I did not expect it to be written in such a professional way. I love the attention to detail and the thorough characterization that the author uses. It really puts you inside the action, and it gives you the impression that at the end of the book, you have personally known the characters for a lifetime.
After all, this book is even more than a Depeche Mode fan experience (as i expected it to be), it's a great adventure, written by a great adventurer, that managed to grab my attention, make me laugh and even cry.
Anyway, these few lines are not even enough to review the book, but I trully recommend it to everyone and I'm sure you'll be as hooked as I was.
June 29, 2017
Faithful and Devoted: Confessions of a Music Addict is exactly what it sounds like. Jenn’s journey through Spain following Depeche Mode is quite the adventure.
And it comes with the most heartbreaking ending.
The tone is fun and inviting. Though the novel definitely for a niche audience, writing style will beckon the reader to stay. Events flow so naturally together that it makes the ending shocking—forgive the Clickbait aura I just channeled.
It’s full of conflict. And yet it never feels like a disheartened story. In fact, for all the risks taken, there’s plenty of learning done. And plenty of reward. Almost all the events were delicious morsels of happiness for any fan. They’re sure to leave a jaw or two on the floor.
Regardless of who the reader’s favorite band is, this is a fun little read. It highlighted a wide array of the ups and downs of being a die-hard fan. It also sends a positive message about risk-taking. There’s always going to be a risk of something bad happening. Don’t let it stop you from enjoying your life.
And it comes with the most heartbreaking ending.
The tone is fun and inviting. Though the novel definitely for a niche audience, writing style will beckon the reader to stay. Events flow so naturally together that it makes the ending shocking—forgive the Clickbait aura I just channeled.
It’s full of conflict. And yet it never feels like a disheartened story. In fact, for all the risks taken, there’s plenty of learning done. And plenty of reward. Almost all the events were delicious morsels of happiness for any fan. They’re sure to leave a jaw or two on the floor.
Regardless of who the reader’s favorite band is, this is a fun little read. It highlighted a wide array of the ups and downs of being a die-hard fan. It also sends a positive message about risk-taking. There’s always going to be a risk of something bad happening. Don’t let it stop you from enjoying your life.
September 11, 2017
Well, and I considered myself a fan of the band! In this day & age it is so much easier to keep in contact with people all over the globe with similar interests & I know many who travel 10s of 1000s of miles to see the band perform throughout their 18mth concert spell. To do this in the early 90s, without the use of Internet & mobile phone, to fly halfway across the world to meet up with someone you have only corresponded with via written letters, this takes massive courage & would not be something I would even have contemplated at that age. And, unless anyone is holding out on me, I do not know anyone who has got up this close & personal with them. This book is funny, scary & sometimes sad throughout, and to be honest, unless you have been to a Depeche Mode concert, you really can't understand the level of devotion that they do receive.
May 24, 2020
Just a normal person experiencing the highs and lows of superfandom.
“It was the first time that I truly felt as if I belonged to something that actually mattered, something that existed beyond the boundaries of my limited experience and that would continue to exist when I didn’t show up backstage at the next concert. Like some fairytale world, the party would transport itself elsewhere and the revealing would continue, long after I had gone. It was far bigger than me, but I had been a part of it, if only for a brief instant.”
Lessons were learned. Other girls backstage were called derogatory names more than once (not by the author in every instance, but boo/hiss regardless).
2.75 stars?
“It was the first time that I truly felt as if I belonged to something that actually mattered, something that existed beyond the boundaries of my limited experience and that would continue to exist when I didn’t show up backstage at the next concert. Like some fairytale world, the party would transport itself elsewhere and the revealing would continue, long after I had gone. It was far bigger than me, but I had been a part of it, if only for a brief instant.”
Lessons were learned. Other girls backstage were called derogatory names more than once (not by the author in every instance, but boo/hiss regardless).
2.75 stars?
March 26, 2017
Excellent book. I went into reading it with no expectations except possibly to enjoy some stories from the author’s experience being a Depeche Mode groupie, but the book is so much more than that. It reads as part travel memoir, part adventure, and part coming of age story. It’s such a fun read, I had a difficult time putting it down.
The author calls herself “devout” and “obsessed.” She clearly felt that way in order to go to the lengths she did. I think it’s also an exploration story — exploring how far she would go for her goal to meet Depeche Mode and what her limits were for herself as a young adult. I loved how Robbins described her experience as an American in Spain in the early 1990s. Great character exposition and top notch storytelling.
The author calls herself “devout” and “obsessed.” She clearly felt that way in order to go to the lengths she did. I think it’s also an exploration story — exploring how far she would go for her goal to meet Depeche Mode and what her limits were for herself as a young adult. I loved how Robbins described her experience as an American in Spain in the early 1990s. Great character exposition and top notch storytelling.
August 4, 2021
I took me a while to get around to read this book (guilty as charged!).
But oh my god. What a carousel of emotions and feelings went through me while reading it! It triggered quite a few memories of my own... I simply couldn't put down this book.
As Jenna wrote herself - this book is worth a read to any music lover, really. But! If you are Depeche Mode fan - this is just a must!
But oh my god. What a carousel of emotions and feelings went through me while reading it! It triggered quite a few memories of my own... I simply couldn't put down this book.
As Jenna wrote herself - this book is worth a read to any music lover, really. But! If you are Depeche Mode fan - this is just a must!
January 6, 2021
Funny, touching, heartbreaking!
Robbins is such an excellent writer! This book takes you on a journey back in time when we were carefree kids in our 20s. I am a Depeche Mode Devotee, but anyone who is a fan of music and has been passionate about a band or musician would undoubtedly relate to this story.
I laughed, I cried, and indeed dropped my jaw at a couple of moments. This book is so engaging, and you won’t want to put it down. “Faithful and Devoted: Confessions of a Depeche Mode Addict” is a fantastic read that gets my highest recommendation!
Robbins is such an excellent writer! This book takes you on a journey back in time when we were carefree kids in our 20s. I am a Depeche Mode Devotee, but anyone who is a fan of music and has been passionate about a band or musician would undoubtedly relate to this story.
I laughed, I cried, and indeed dropped my jaw at a couple of moments. This book is so engaging, and you won’t want to put it down. “Faithful and Devoted: Confessions of a Depeche Mode Addict” is a fantastic read that gets my highest recommendation!
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews