No Regrets: The Life of Edith Piaf

by Carolyn Burke

The iconic French singer comes to life in this enthralling, definitive biography, which captures Edith Piaf’s immense charisma along with the time and place that gave rise to her unprecedented international career.

Raised by turns in a brothel, a circus caravan, and a working-class Paris neighborhood, Piaf began singing on the city’s streets, where she was discovered by a Champs-Elysées cabaret owner. She became a star almost overnight, seducing Paris’s elite and the people of its slums in equal measure with her powerful, passionate voice. No Regrets explores her rise to fame and notoriety, her tumultuous love affairs, and her struggles with drugs, alcohol, and illness, while also drawing on new sources to enhance our knowledge of little-known aspects of her life. Piaf was an unlikely student of poetry and philosophy, who aided Resistance efforts in World War II, wrote the lyrics for nearly one hundred songs (including “La Vie en rose”) and was a crucial mentor to younger singers (including Yves Montand and Charles Aznavour) who absorbed her love of chanson and her exacting approach to their métier.

Here is Piaf in her own world—Paris in the first half of the twentieth century—and in ours. Burke demonstrates how, with her courage, her incomparable art, and her universal appeal, “the little sparrow” endures as a symbol of France and a source of inspiration to entertainers worldwide.

Genres: Biography, Music, Nonfiction, History, France, Biography Memoir, Adult

282 pages, Hardcover

First published March 22, 2011

About the author

Carolyn Burke was born in Sydney, spent many years in Paris, and now lives in Santa Cruz, California. She graduated from Swarthmore College and earned a Ph.D. in English Literature from Columbia University. She is a member of PEN and the Authors Guild. A practitioner of Zen Buddhism, she took the precepts with Tenshin Reb Anderson in 2010.

Her latest book, No Regrets: The Life of Edith Piaf, was published in 2011 by Knopf (U.S.) and Bloomsbury (U.K.) Since then it has appeared in French, Spanish, Portuguese, Ukrainian, Czech and Russian. The definitive life of the chanteuse, No Regrets has been called "an eloquent embrace of the famed French singer-songwriter" (Publishers Weekly, starred review); "sympathetic . . . captivating . . . highly effective" (New York Review of Books); "masterful storytelling" (Library Journal); and listed among the best books of the year by the San Francisco Chronicle and the Sunday Times (U.K.). Burke has performed with singers of Piaf's repertoire in Paris (Caveau des Légendes), London (The Vortex), Los Angeles (Catalina Jazz Club), and San Francisco (City Lights/Litquake). She recently took part in the BBC 4 special on Piaf's iconic song "Non, je ne regrette rien" and in the U.S. Postal Service's launch of their Piaf stamp.

Burke's Lee Miller: A Life, published by Knopf and Bloomsbury in 2005 and Autrement in 2007, was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and a finalist for The National Book Critics Circle Award. The Chicago Tribune gave it a cover review; People called it "a great read"; The Telegraph (U.K.) judged, "Lee Miller was an astounding woman, brought memorably to life by this astounding book." Burke appears in the BBC's docudrama Lee Miller: A Crazy Way of Seeing.

Her interest in Miller began when she met the photographer while working on her first book, Becoming Modern: The Life of Mina Loy (FSG, 1996). Becoming Modern won praise in the TLS, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Atlantic, The New Republic, and The Nation. The definitive life of the expatriate artist/poet, it sparked a Loy revival, including a cabaret musical about her.

Burke's essays and translations have appeared in many magazines, including Heat, Vogue, Poetry Flash, La Nouvelle Revue Française, and the New Yorker. Her art writing includes essays in Artpress, Art in America, and in exhibition catalogues (Roland Penrose and Lee Miller: The Surrealist and the Photographer; Julien Levy: Portrait of an Art Gallery).

She has taught non-fiction and life-writing at book festivals and universities in the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, and France. Recent appearances include talks at CUNY's Women Writing about Women seminar, NYU's Maison Française, Princeton University, Universities of New South Wales and Sydney; radio talks and readings (NPR, BBC, Australian Broadcasting Company); and for No Regrets, musical soirées in some of these same venues.

She is currently writing a group portrait about the intertwined lives and work of four twentieth century artists.

Reviews

[Το Άθχημο γατί του θενιόρ Γκουαναμίρου · Rating 5 out of 5]

Γεννημένη στα 1915 στις λαϊκές συνοικίες της Belleville από πατέρα ακροβάτη και μητέρα τραγουδίστρια η Edith Piaf ή Edith Giovanna Gassion όπως ήταν το αληθινό της όνομα ήρθε για συγκλονίσει τον κόσμο με το ανεπανάληπτο μέταλλο της φωνής της. Πέρασε τα πρώτα χρόνια της ζωής της σχεδόν τυφλή, ανάμεσα στις πόρνες που εργάζονταν στον οίκο ανοχής της γιαγιάς της και έπειτα ως τσιρκολάνα και καλλιτέχνις του δρόμου μαζί με τον πατέρα της. Έμεινε έγκυος στα δεκάξι της και άρχισε να τραγουδάει στα καταγώγια της Place Pigalle, μπλεγμένη ως τον λαιμό στα πλοκάμια της τοπικής μαφίας, κάτι που παραλίγο να της κοστίσει τη ζωή.

Η μουσική παράδοση την οποία υπηρέτησε σε όλη τη ζωή της, εμπλουτίζοντάς την με άλλα είδη, είναι εκείνη των chansons realistes. Τραγούδια συναισθηματικά ή ακόμα και σατιρικά που περιγράφουν τις ζωές και τα πάθη των ανθρώπων που ζουν και πεθαίνουν μέσα στη φτώχεια και το περιθώριο. Κάτι που ευχαριστήθηκα στο βιβλίο της Burke είναι πως παραθέτει όλα τα τραγούδια της Piaf, την ιστορία που κρύβεται πίσω από τη δημιουργία του καθενός, και ένα μικρό απόσπασμα από τους στίχους στο γαλλικό πρωτότυπο και σε αγγλική μετάφραση. Κάθε φορά, σταματούσα για να ακούσω το τραγούδι, και καταλαβαίνοντας το περιεχόμενό του πλέον, ήμουν σε θέση να κατανοήσω το έργο της καλύτερα. Να βλέπεις στη σκηνή το “σπουργιτάκι” με το μαύρο του φόρεμα, να τραγουδάει το “Padam” και την στιγμή που αρχίζει η μουσική να τη σταματά με μια χειρονομία, ενώ στο τέλος ο τρόπος που χτυπάει ρυθμικά το στήθος και το μέτωπό της αφού έχει πει τους τελευταίους στίχους του τραγουδιού:
J'en ai tout un solfège sur cet air qui bat...
Qui bat comme un cœur de bois...
Θεέ μου πόσο καταλαβαίνω το κοινό της που μαγεμένο την αποθέωνε κάθε φορά.

Παθιασμένη γυναίκα η Piaf, μεταμόρφωνε σε τέχνη τα πάθη της και ήταν πολύ αληθινή, ειλικρινής και τίμια, δίνοντας, κάθε φορά, επάνω στη σκηνή, ένα κομμάτι από τη ψυχή της. Και είχε πολλά πάθη. Παθος για τον έρωτα, για το αλκοόλ, για να ναρκωτικά τα οποία έπαιρνε σε μεγάλες ποσότητες για να καταπολεμήσει τα προβλήματα χρόνιου πόνου που ξεκίνησαν από πολύ νωρίς στη ζωή της. Σκορπούσε τα χρήματά της χωρίς να νοιάζεται για το αύριο, περνούσε από τον έναν εραστή στον άλλο αναζητώντας πάντα την έμπνευση μέσα σε μια αγκαλιά και απεχθανόταν τη μοναξιά, γιατί της ξυπνούσε τους εφιάλτες της περασμένης της ζωής. Όπως τότε που αναγκάστηκε να κοιμηθεί με έναν άγνωστο άνδρα για να εξοικονομήσει τα 10 φράγκα που της έλειπαν για την κηδεία της μικρής της κόρης, που πέθανε από μηνιγγίτιδα. Ωστόσο πέρα από τον έρωτα είχε άλλες δύο γιατρειές για τα προβλήματά της: Το γέλιο και τον αποκρυφισμό.

Από τις πιο όμορφες φιλίες της αυτή με τον Jean Cocteau, ο οποίος πέθανε μια μέρα μετά από εκείνη, μόλις του ανακοίνωσαν τον θάνατό της προχώρησε σε μια δήλωση στο ραδιόφωνο:

“Η Edith Piaf κάηκε μέσα στις φλόγες της ίδιας της δόξας. Δεν ξέρω αλλον άνθρωπο που να αδιαφόρησε τόσο για το πνεύμα του. Δεν κράτησε τίποτα για τον εαυτό της, έδινε τα πάντα αφειδώς. Όπως όλοι οι γενναίοι άνθρωποι, δεν σκεφτόταν τον θάνατο. Τον αψήφησε. Μόνο η φωνή της παραμένει, αυτή η υπέροχη φωνή, σαν μαύρο βελούδο, που ενίσχυε ό,τι τραγουδούσε. Μπορεί να έχω ακόμα τη φωνή της, ωστόσο έχασα μια σπουδαία φίλη”.

Μια ώρα μετά τη δήλωσή του αυτή... πέθανε. Ο θεατρικός μονόλογος με τίτλο “ Le Bel Indifférent” που έγραψε για εκείνη στα 1940, παραμένει ένα έργο συγκλονιστικό που ανέδειξε το πολύπλευρο ερμηνευτικό ταλέντο της Piaf.

Από τα πιο γνωστά τραγούδια της το πιο αγαπημένο μου είναι το Milord, όπου οι δύο διαφορετικοί ρυθμοί ο χαρούμενος και ο μελαγχολικός μου δημιουργούν ένα ζεστό αίσθημα ανθρωπιάς και παρηγοριάς:

“Allez, venez, Milord!
Vous asseoir à ma table;
Il fait si froid, dehors,
Ici c`est confortable.”

[...]

“Mais vous pleurez, Milord?
Ça j`l`aurais jamais cru!
Eh ben, voyons, Milord!
Souriez-moi, Milord!
Mieux qu` ça! Un p`tit effort...
Voilà, c`est ça!
Allez, riez, Milord!
Allez, chantez, Milord!
Mais oui, dansez, Milord!
Bravo Milord!
Encore Milord!”

Από τα λιγότερα γνωστά της αγάπησα πολύ το μελαγχολικό “ Dans ma rue”:

“dans ma rue y a des ombres qui s' promènent
et je tremble et j'ai froid et j'ai peur.”

Και υπάρχει ένα όμορφο, νοσταλγικό τραγούδι “ J'm'en Fous Pas Mal” που θα το φυλάω για τις δύσκολες στιγμές:

“Je m’en fous pas mal
Y peut m’arriver n’importe quoi
Je m’en fous pas mal
J’ai mon dimanche qui est à moi
C’est peut-être banal
Mais ce que les gens pensent de vous
Ça m’est égal!
Je m’en fous!”

Η συγκεκριμένη βιογραφία είναι εξαιρετικά προσεγμένη. Η Carolyn Burke αξιοποιεί με τον καλύτερο δυνατό τρόπο τις πηγές της και δίνει στο τέλος του βιβλίου μια πλούσια βιβλιογραφία και αρκετές, σπάνιες φωτογραφίες ειδικά από την άγνωστη, νεανική ηλικία της ερμηνεύτριας. Ένα έργο γραμμένο με σεβασμό και αντικειμενικότητα. Για εμένα ήταν μια απολαυστική εμπειρία. Αναγνωστική και μουσική συνάμα.

[Steven Godin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although clearly written with a great admiration for Piaf, this book didn't go as deep into certain areas of her life as much as I'd hoped. It's a solid enough bio without being extraordinary, on the life of the 'little sparrow', but the book could have really benefited from being at least 100 pages longer. For 30 years, as Burke puts it, Piaf had represented France to the French and up to 40,000 mourners joined her funeral procession. Then began the story in which her few intimates including Marlene Dietrich, and others gave incompatible accounts of Piaf’s rise to fame while striving over who had really known her the best. There are other books out there on Piaf’s life, it's certainly a biographer’s dream, and Burke approaches her subject matter in a rational way rather than anything romantic, dispensing with a good deal of the myth. Always waiflike, by the time she died in 1963, aged only 47, she seemed somewhat smaller than her 4ft 10in. Those famous hands, which fluttered about on the stage like dancing moths, were terribly stiff with bad arthritis, her liver was practically destroyed, and her swollen face was yellowed by drugs. This was all sad to read, but what I'd known before, so it was her early years I found the most interesting. Of course most of us know she raised by the prostitutes in her grandmother’s brothel, but other moments of interest include like how when aged six, she lost her sight and the women of the house took their rosaries to the grave of St Theresa. When her vision returned soon afterwards it was treated as a miracle, and her life was seen as blessed. Even though it's suggested a doctor cured her and not a saint, Piaf remained a devoted Catholic with a sense of having a divine purpose, and how she was encouraged by her father to belt out her boulevard ballads on street corners, where she was first discovered by a nightclub owner Louis Leplée. Piaf’s public life is explored greater than her private demons, but it's those demons I wish Burke would have delved deeper into, and I was left wanting to know more about the terrors that plagued the singer at night (Piaf compared sleep with death), and which left her paralysed both sexually and emotionally. This was a passionate bio, with lots of heart and soul put into it, but I wouldn't describe it as definitive, as it just wasn't long enough.

[Lacey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Edith Piaf lived an amazing life. Tragic, triumphant, and utterly entertaining. It reads like fiction, but indeed Piaf's amazing story is true. She has a mother who was a prostitute and drug addict who abandoned her, so she lived in her grandmothers brothel. Then taken away for a time to live with her father a contortionist gypsy.

She was dicovered when she was pettling for cash on a street corner, singing. This tiny little 'sparrow' has a story you wouldn't believe.

I couldn't put it down. I also listened to her music intermittently while reading this book, and I highly recommend you do so.

[Alec Downie · Rating 2 out of 5]

After decrying other books for focusing on Piaf's numerous lovers in the intro, the author spends most the book focusing on her numerous lovers.

It is also a good example of why devotees should never write books.

As for Piaf's life, I knew it was sad but the hangers on made it more sorrowful than I had remembered.

For those that can't get enough and for others, try a different bio as while this was well researched and a labour of love, it was adequate at best and there must be a better one out there.

[Jade · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic. The best and most thorough biography of Piaf that I have read so far. I was on my monthly library trip (or book orgy as I like to call it) when I came across this book. I was of course thrilled as Piaf is one of my great loves and obsessions. I adore her music as well as her as a person.
I have read everything I can find on her and sadly, much of it is so terribly slanted it is difficult to suss out the woman beneath the myth. I believe this book does such a good job of that. It does not ignore Edith's excesses in men,alcohol and drugs but it does truly bring home her true life force, her exquisite voice.
The book is extremely well researched and is very current (including references to the Oscar winning film of her life, La Mome or La vie En Rose as it was called in the U.S.). One of the things I love about reading about Edith is that for a little while, she is alive to us. Her vivacity is that strong--just reading about her can make her alive for you. That is so beautiful for me--I love her and of course sympathize with her so much (it's impossible not to do so).
I loved that this book highlighted the extent of her Resistance work--while she was not political, she was patriotic and she took many great risks to help her people during WWII. Her love life and struggles with her health were so huge, they tend to dominate her biographies. While this is valid in terms of her love affair with love, she had many facets. Another of wonderful qualities that is highlighted here is her loyalty and generosity and kindness to others. Her wonderful quality of sharing everything she had with her friends and lovers, from rations during the war to her homes and money. There is much on her assistance to other performers (often her lovers) even at the cost of her own dignity and health.
One walks away with a true sense of Edith as a complete woman and a fascinating one. There is more here as well for those of us with romantic hearts, about her great love, Marcel Cerdan. Some people are very cynical about this love affair--feeling it would have gone the way of her others had Cerdan not passed away (this is not a spoiler as it's very commonly known--Cerdan was nearly as big a celebrity as Edith herself at the time)--but I have to say in reading this book, and dissecting her love affairs that this one was truly different. I do believe she grieved for him the rest of her life and was never the same. I do believe that had he survived her life might have taken a different turn. But that is only my opinion. I do know that along with Cerdan, her greatest love was her singing. That once her health began to compromise that, she lost her will to live and began to fade like a dying flower.
Despite the fragile aspects of her personality and body, the impression one walks away with is of an incredibly strong woman, compromised from the day of her birth by circumstance and resilient in the face of her many travails, both of the heart and body. Edith lived her life as if it was going to be short (she is the essence of the Kerouac quote about "the mad ones") and despite sadness, you appreciate how much she enjoyed so much of her life--every moment of happiness clutched to her breast and truly savored. Like Judy Garland, who she is often compared to, despite her reputation as being tragic, she was a woman who loved to laugh and had a true love of life.

[Brooke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Edith Piaf is an individuals whose life would seemingly make for an excellent biography: her mother was a failed singer who abandoned her, her father an acrobat who toured with the circus; she was raised in a brothel run by her grandparents. She is France's nightingale.
She is also a woman who understood her own myths and embellished them accordingly, thus making the truth somewhat difficult to determine. I am a huge E.P. fan and this is not the first biography I have read about her, however I would say this is the most dispassionate, which I found to be a good thing. Many of E.P.'s biographies are hyperbolic when they recount her many lovers, her addictions, and her health issues. Carolyn Burke takes facts and replays them. Yes, sometimes it is dry (especially when she speaks of Edith's interest in religion, which I found doubtful), but I like that it leaves out a lot of the romanticism. A solid beginning about Edith Piaf.
Of note, this book explores several of E.P.'s relationships with men, however minor (my opinion). It gives short shift to nearly every relationship with women, including her 25-year collaboration with one of her top composers, Monnot. Biggest fault of the book. And the book's total omission of Edith's female lovers (does not mention that she may have had them) and only a hint that her husband and several young men in her life in the final years were, in fact, gay - well, that seemed odd. It's a biography - explore it.

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even if you're not a devoteé of The Little Sparrow, her amazing life is well worth reading about. At least, I found myself transported to a time, and times as well as cultures I found myself ignorant of. This is especially true of Piaf's early life in Belleville, Normandy, and the streets. Although I've certainly read about show biz before, the Gallic version is different.

Burke presents the lyrics of the songs Piaf sang interspersed with the story of where she appeared. Both in French and English translation, they reveal much about Piaf's longings, fears, sorrows, joys and beliefs. These enhanced the biography greatly.

One sidenote: I read this as an eBook. I mention this for one reason. Both in biographies and 1000 page Russian novels, a multitude of characters appear, disappear, and reappear. Burke adds to the burden of who's who by variously referring to everyone by their surname, first name, and nickname, either alone or in combination. Who is Guite, I'd wonder. With an eReader you can do a quick search for the pages each character was first mentioned on, and can quickly situate him or her. Perhaps your memory is better than mine so that you do fine with a physical book. Perhaps my growing reliance on electronic fact finding is ruining my memory.

[Michele Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wish I’d read more of the book when recently in Paris, so I could visit places mentioned. I really enjoyed the book. In my opinion it makes this fabulous eternal Star, human. An interesting read.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very good read. Impeccable research and well written. I would like to think Edith Piaf herself would have been very happy with the portrait left behind in this volume. It certainly put to rest some myths about Piaf's public persona versus her private self. Mercurial as she certainly was, a life with tragedy and much joy in her short span. Much more joyous than myths and legends would lead you to believe. No doubt her beginnings were very hard and harsh, she paid her dues and earned the platitudes she so rightly deserved. A worthy piece of work on an artist so worthy of examination.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative and thorough, but a bit dry. Looking forward to seeing the Piaf show, and glad to know a bit of background.

[Rusty Berr · Rating 3 out of 5]

..... and I thought my life was messed up!

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good comprehensive biography of a fascinating artist and woman. However I found the writing to be less than compelling. It seems to me that it's more of a vanity project for the author to show off her knowledge of facts & dates than a real attempt to explain the context and history for her readers. For example, she switches wildly between calling people by their proper and nicknames and in some instances name drops celebrities of the era without telling you what they were actually a celebrity for. Very frustrating, especially when you feel like you need a scorecard of who's who.p in the book. Plus she starts out translating French lyrics for understanding, thenDorothy much drops the practice half way through. She barely mentions La Vie En Rose and doesn't translate thetree lines she does reference. I do love Edith Piaf though and this seems a good attempt to chart her journey from street singer to national icon.

[Lia · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best biography on Piaf I've read. Though I grew up with my mother playing her music it wasn't until about 10 years ago that I took a serious interest in her life. After documentaries and the successful film "La Môme" or in the US ""La Vie En Rose" this is the book that neatly and succinctly captures Piaf's life, talent and essence. I learned how devoted to love she was and how there were so many layers to her, actress, political activist during WWII, self-appointed manager of numerous talents, a mother, sister, daughter, wife and international icon. The book is very well researched and uses direct quotes and firsthand sources and is cleanly annotated and indexed. I highly recommend this to any fan of hers or fan of biographies. You will find a multi-layered individual with flaws and immense strength that inspires and awes the reader.

[Jenny Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

This tedious biography goes overboard in trying to heroicize its subject, but nevertheless presents her in a very unflattering way. Like most biographies of celebrities who left few or boring letters, it too often turns into a dull list of gigs followed by snippets of reviews.

The author's attempt to suggest that Piaf became an intellectual is strained and reeks of whitewashing. In the few scenes where Piaf actually comes to life in this book, we are left with the impression of her as an overwhelmingly self-involved and self-destructive woman who had no ability to form real relationships with other humans and a very limited emotional range in her music, the lyrics of which when translated give a new definition to the word "banal".

[Rosie Beck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loving biography of the truly remarkable Edith Piaf. From her early life-abandoned by her parents and raised in her grandparents brothel-until her father, a circus contortionist, takes her "on the road" to perform with that heavenly voice, one realizes how impassioned she was with music. France's "little sparrow" climbed to the top. Her connections with Lepee, a possible mobster from the very seedy Pigalle, through an astonishing amount of lovers to the death of her one true love Marcel Cerdan are covered. What is glossed over somewhat is her descent into alcohol and drugs leading to her early death. What a gal.

[ian · Rating 1 out of 5]

Crap.
Really difficult to get through.
Repeats itself. Doesn't go into much details...
though - if there aren't details there in the first place -
why bother writing the book?
Maybe we want a story that only Piaf herself knows to any extent.
And her past was probably so painful that she never really told
anyone her story. Whats left is just the highlights -
but nothing deeper.

The author tried... but doesn't make the book any better.

If edith read this, the song would have gone...
Non, Je ne regrette rien (Mais l'achat de ce livre de merde)!
(I do not regret anything, but buying this shit book).

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first biography that I have read. I was hoping for more info about the atmosphere that surrounded Piaf through the years. There were a lot of facts about where she preformed and who she collaborated with and dated, in fact so many it was a bit boring at times. I fell like I know a lot more about Piaf, but I don't know who she really was in many respects.

[Dr. Jeffrey H. Schnitzer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have listened to Edith Piaf almost everyday since I was in high school. It's how I learned French because I loved her so much. This book does a very good job In covering her life and career. Thank you Mr. Ross. You were a weird French teacher, But you gave me 1 of the great loves of my life.

[Tove]

DNF
A part of me wants to finish this book, another don't.
I've read Édiths own biography and that gave me enough I think. I've also watched the movie "La Vie en Rose" and read several Wikipedia-pages. Reason - I have a presentation today in french class about Édith Piaf.
But by now it's to late to finish this book for the presentation and I don't know what more this book can give me. Of the pages I've read it seems like there's a lot of information about the people, the areas of Paris, the era, the atmosphere etc. and that's not really what I'm interested in reading about, I just wanted to know about what happened in her life, not live in it. There is also a lot of other namnes of people that was famous during this period, and in France, but I don't know of them at all so it gives me nothing.

For some people who is really interested in Édith Piaf and her life, I guess this book has a lot to offer. But as of now, for me, I don't really have the time or the interest to finish this book.

[Elena Sotelo-McCrary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always loved the way this woman sang. But, I never knew much about what "made her" the international star. Even her name was a revelation--Piaf (french slang for Sparrow). She loved life in the fierce sense, as she was unloved by her mother (who only sought her out for a handout). How awful for her. But, that is what makes her story so incredibly gripping. You want her to succeed, even when life (or critics) try and sometimes succeed in tearing her down. Yet, like a phoenix she rises to new heights. I never knew she wrote music, but was at first shutdown with her lyrics. Yet, she persisted. Here we have a street fighter, a lover, a muse, a mentor. So much in such a small package. If you have ever felt as if you struggled, you must take time to read, "No Regrets" for Mome Piaf lived as she sang with ever fiber of her being.

[Zelmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was only recently that I discovered Edith Piaf and her songs. After listening to both Non, je ne regrette rien and La Vie en rose, I was hooked. I have since then bought a two CD collection of her songs, a picture, the movie based on her life, and this biography.

I enjoyed this book. I knew some of her life story, but I had no idea how passionate she was about singing and love. Though she didn't find any long lasting happiness with any man, her fans were always there for her.

I would recommend this book to anyone who's a fan of this extraordinary woman and anyone else who wants to know why Edith Piaf is considered one of the best singers of the 2oth century and understand why she is still fondly remembered in both her home country, France, and the rest of the world.

[Ika Valentová · Rating 3 out of 5]

Edith bola Popoluškou, ktorá sa síce navonok stala kráľovnou, ale myslením zostala pri peci, v jej prípade na ulici. Spev ju držal pri živote a zároveň ju zabíjal. Príbeh jej života bol dychvyrážajúci, preto by som mu dopriala kvalitnejšie spracovanie. Tu ju autorka príliš adorovala a nevedela som sa tým stotožniť. Počúvala som ako audioknihu českého rozhlasu, ktorá bola skvelo doplnená ukážkami šanzónov, pekne to tam pasovalo.

[John Kube · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I must have been French in a previous life because I can put this woman's music on and listen to it all day long. It speaks to me. I can't explain it and don't understand, but it is what it is.

That being said, what a sad, tragic life this woman led. She did a lot of good things for a lot of people, including French prisoners of WWII. Unfortunately as often happens, people took advantage of her kindness.

Fortunately for us, her music lives on.

[Thomas Cooney · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

A decade before the film “Piaf” came out, I wrote a bio-pic of Edith Piaf, that was optioned in Hollywood but never came to fruition. To say that I know something about Piaf is an understatement, as my mother won an Edith Piaf singing contest when she was a young woman in Paris in the 1940s. I found a few errors in this otherwise fantastic bio.

[Bosorka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Život Edith Piaf by vydal za několik životů, stihla toho za svůj krátký život opravdu mnoho, jak těch pěkných, tak i nehezkých věcí. Životopis je poměrně tradičně zpracovaný, ale pečlivě a citlivě, přinesl mi spoustu nových poznatků o této nevšední šansoniérce. Velké plus bylo poslouchat jako audio, které libozvučně načetla Petra Špalková.

[Hereswhatsgoingon · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 - A few months in Paris, one spent living on same street Piaf was born, piqued my interest in Piaf, which was the impetus behind watching the Marion Cotillard movie about her, which brought me here, to a book that was a more complete, and balanced version of Piaf's life. It was clear and easy to follow, quite a feat, given the complexity of the subject matter.

[April · Rating 3 out of 5]

Edith's life is utterly fascinating. Tumultuous from beginning to end, it's unbelievable the number of tragedies and triumphs she experienced. While the story is stranger than fiction, this telling of it is remarkably dry - quite a feat when considering the riveting details being told.

[Joy Page · Rating 5 out of 5]

Piaf

What can you say .she was and still has the voice .just fantastic. Been a fan for over sixty years .must go back to Paris again.just realised there is also a museum for Edith .never knew that .has to be a must .best book I’ve read about her. Lots of information xx

[Rhonda Beaugh · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sad story, but such a talent. At some point in her life, she got sober and became a well noted singer and everyone loved her. If you have a chance, watch the video of her life. The video is in French, but somehow I understood it all. Reading her book was a whole lot sadder than the video.

[Laura Marques · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lindo, emocionante e tocante.. A riqueza de detalhes da vida de Piaf foi algo muito bem trabalhado e apresentado pela autora. A vida da cantora foi muuuito sofrida e é admirável sua trajetória artística e sua voz, que pra mim, é uma das mais bonitas do mundo.