Reckless: My Life as a Pretender

.com Review ----------- An Best Book of September 2015: ( //www..com/b/?node=390919011 ) With her new memoir, Chrissie Hynde makes one point abundantly clear: She, and no one else, could have been Chrissie Hynde. It’s hard to imagine how anyone else could so consistently find oneself time and again in the eye of the cultural storm: In just over 300 pages, Reckless charges through her life with, ahem, reckless abandon, taking us from her Northern Ohio upbringing through the demise of the first, combustible incarnation of her iconic band, The Pretenders. Against a tapestry of the urban decay of her hometown of Akron, Hynde walks a fine line between fan and groupie, effortlessly ingratiating herself with the day’s rock & roll royalty, including David Bowie, Iggy Pop, and Rod Stewart. As a somewhat shiftless student, she finds herself witness to the tragedy at Kent State University that changed the country and the course of an unpopular war. In London at its punk zenith, Hynde rubs elbows with Johnny Rotten and Joe Strummer while looking for the band that would transform her songs into one of the most stunning debuts in rock history. Permeated with sex, drugs, and rock & roll--and sprinkled with sly hints about which experiences became what iconic songs—Hynde’s tell-all is as audacious, raw, and thrilling as her lyrics.-- Jon Foro Read more ( javascript:void(0) ) Review ------ Praise for Reckless: “Chrissie Hynde’s autobiography, Reckless, out-rocks them all. You can read her book and wax nostalgic about band culture in the late ’60s and early ’70s. Or you can promptly check yourself into rehab. She wouldn’t care; as she writes in the prologue, 'I regret half of this story and the other half is the sound you heard.' .... Rock on, Chrissie.” —Sibbie O'Sullivan, The Washington Post “Chrissie Hynde serves up a hearty and satisfying meal in Reckless, writing with the sort of candor and humor rarely found in books by her male counterparts…. In the end, it’s understandable that Hynde has some regrets, but it’s also heartening that bad girls sometimes finish first.” —Mark Shanahan, The Boston Globe "Restless and emphatic... a tell-all memoir (and) given all Ms. Hynde has to tell, it’s sharp, posturing, moving, exposing, evasive and at times obtuse." —Lavinia Greenlaw, The Wall Street Journal "Reckless is the literary equivalent of a long set of bangs, obscuring a heavily shaded pair of eyes. As a portrait of an era, it's fascinating." —Julia Feslenthal, Vogue.com "'Chaos and disorder were to be ongoing themes for me with a mouth that flapped like a rag nailed to a post in a windstorm,' Hynde writes. That mouth, literally and figuratively, is what has made Hynde famous. It's the hole out of which that beautiful burr of a voice comes. And if she still has a tendency to shoot her mouth off recklessly, well, that's Chrissie. Maybe Reckless should come with a trigger warning: Caution: Violent scenes, lousy judgments, internalized misogyny and great rock 'n' roll ahead." —Evelyn McDonnell, Los Angeles Times "A sensitive and rowdy coming-of-age-story." —Dwight Garner, The New York Times “Frank and witty… Hynde’s story contains no shortage of eye-popping hi-jinx and hilarious missteps which, together, give the reader a stunningly clear idea of the character at hand. Hynde's writing style might also be described as classically masculine. It's hard-boiled enough to suit Sam Spade, and her book snaps with wit.” —Jim Farber, New York Daily News “Rich and ragged .... The memoir is certainly candid; you would expect nothing less of the songwriter who laid down lines like 'I just feel pity when you lie, contempt when you cry.' .... [Hynde] writes just like she lives, and just like she makes music. She does it her way, which is an inimitable multiplicity of things: impulsive, untamed, ragged, proud, a little sad around the edges. This is her story.” —Melissa Holbrook Pierson, The Daily Beast.com “If you think this rocker chick is special, so special, you’ll want to read this book.” —Billy Heller, New York Post "Fitfully entertaining, surprisingly well-written, Reckless is worth a read." —Laura Malt Schneiderman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Read more ( javascript:void(0) ) See all Editorial Reviews ( /dp/product-description/0385540612/ref=dp_proddesc_0?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books&isInIframe=0 )

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