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Lily Allen: Smile - The Story Of
Winning awards, losing love, longing for stability and affection, being pitted against Amy Winehouse by the press - Lily's meteoric rise to fame has been peppered with extreme highs and lows, no lower than when she tragically suffered a miscarriage in 2008. A story that was, like every step of Lily's life, pored over by the press. Unlike many more demure pop princesses, Lily smokes, drinks, eats - yes, eats - and has a damn good time doing it, all the while keeping the tabloids on their toes. From her debut album "Alright, Still" to sophomore release "It's Not Me, It's You", Lily has been singing sweetly about all of it from bad sex, naughty boys, beating depression, joint-smoking brothers, cocaine to her gran, her insecurities and her home town.
192 pages, Paperback
First published December 15, 202
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 5, 2017
Total Star Rating: 2 Stars
Before I go in on this book, I want to make it clear that this is in no way a review of LILY. This is a review of the information within the pages of this book, and some of you may be surprised at the rating I gave it. "Two Stars? But Britt! You LOVE Lily Allens work!!" Yes, Yes I do. Which is why I have given this such a low rating. And I will attempt to explain why it's so low in this review.
I was very excited to read this when I found it while browsing the Internet. (Specifically Thrift Books if anyone is interested.)
I've made it no secret that I admire both Lily and Alfie. They are two people that I have a deep respect for which makes this immensely difficult to review.... I also want to say that Bella Wolfson is a really good writer in the sense that she makes you feel like Lily is having a nice chat with you. This, in my opinion is a double edge sword.
I know this is a biography, and its supposed to educate you on the life of the person, and it does that very well. At times, in my opinion a little TOO well.
I have very mixed feelings about this. (if you couldn't already tell) There are times where I felt like I was getting information I really shouldn't know. That it got personal, very quickly. Particularly when it touched on personal things like her family. It felt strange reading another persons word about these certain familial matters.
I recently read Carrie Fisher's "Wishful Drinking" and the difference between that, and "Smile: The Story of Lily Allen is this. Whatever Carrie shared, that was coming from her directly. That is not the case for this book. I felt at times I was reading from her diary.... And at times that made me uncomfortable. Because they were Not words from Lily, but From Wolfson.
Now Lily is quoted a lot in thiis book, and a lot of the information present was out for the world to see. (Lily's MySpace blog is sited often)
HOWEVER I do have good things to say about this! There were times where Lilys quick wit, made me laugh. I felt myself becoming very inspired by a lot of Lily's words. There were times where I laughed, and felt deep, deep sympathy for the singer and her family that I've become so accustomed to seeing around the internet.
i'm happy I read this. It gave me a glimpse into the life of the people I admire. (Even though at times it felt like it got a little TOO much)
Or maybe I'm just simply not yet accustomed to reading Biographies and it is perfectly normal for things like "Yeah, my little brother sometimes uses the bathroom while I'm in the bath."
So as much as I wish I could give this book a higher rating, at the current time I feel like I bit off a little more than I could chew.
Before I go in on this book, I want to make it clear that this is in no way a review of LILY. This is a review of the information within the pages of this book, and some of you may be surprised at the rating I gave it. "Two Stars? But Britt! You LOVE Lily Allens work!!" Yes, Yes I do. Which is why I have given this such a low rating. And I will attempt to explain why it's so low in this review.
I was very excited to read this when I found it while browsing the Internet. (Specifically Thrift Books if anyone is interested.)
I've made it no secret that I admire both Lily and Alfie. They are two people that I have a deep respect for which makes this immensely difficult to review.... I also want to say that Bella Wolfson is a really good writer in the sense that she makes you feel like Lily is having a nice chat with you. This, in my opinion is a double edge sword.
I know this is a biography, and its supposed to educate you on the life of the person, and it does that very well. At times, in my opinion a little TOO well.
I have very mixed feelings about this. (if you couldn't already tell) There are times where I felt like I was getting information I really shouldn't know. That it got personal, very quickly. Particularly when it touched on personal things like her family. It felt strange reading another persons word about these certain familial matters.
I recently read Carrie Fisher's "Wishful Drinking" and the difference between that, and "Smile: The Story of Lily Allen is this. Whatever Carrie shared, that was coming from her directly. That is not the case for this book. I felt at times I was reading from her diary.... And at times that made me uncomfortable. Because they were Not words from Lily, but From Wolfson.
Now Lily is quoted a lot in thiis book, and a lot of the information present was out for the world to see. (Lily's MySpace blog is sited often)
HOWEVER I do have good things to say about this! There were times where Lilys quick wit, made me laugh. I felt myself becoming very inspired by a lot of Lily's words. There were times where I laughed, and felt deep, deep sympathy for the singer and her family that I've become so accustomed to seeing around the internet.
i'm happy I read this. It gave me a glimpse into the life of the people I admire. (Even though at times it felt like it got a little TOO much)
Or maybe I'm just simply not yet accustomed to reading Biographies and it is perfectly normal for things like "Yeah, my little brother sometimes uses the bathroom while I'm in the bath."
So as much as I wish I could give this book a higher rating, at the current time I feel like I bit off a little more than I could chew.
October 19, 2012
Tudo sobre Lily me agrada, e não foi diferente com essa biografia.
Com uma vida tão... alternativa, penso que poderia ter sido um livro melhor, muito melhor. Detalhes mais ricos poderiam ter sido inclusos em passagens mais demoradas, aí sim tudo ficaria lindo.
Os erros gramaticais da versão brasileira foram muitos, o que me deu uma vergonha alheia imensa. Como podem chamar Lily de Lilly ou Lili? Foi o cúmulo.
Enterrem vivo o tradutor!
Três estrelas pela gramática, mesmo. Se tivesse tudo correto com certeza eu teria dado 5. :)
Pois é, apesar de tudo isso, adorei.
Com uma vida tão... alternativa, penso que poderia ter sido um livro melhor, muito melhor. Detalhes mais ricos poderiam ter sido inclusos em passagens mais demoradas, aí sim tudo ficaria lindo.
Os erros gramaticais da versão brasileira foram muitos, o que me deu uma vergonha alheia imensa. Como podem chamar Lily de Lilly ou Lili? Foi o cúmulo.
Enterrem vivo o tradutor!
Três estrelas pela gramática, mesmo. Se tivesse tudo correto com certeza eu teria dado 5. :)
Pois é, apesar de tudo isso, adorei.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews