A good celebrity read
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It takes me ages to finish a book but I was hooked with this one. I just kept on wanting to find out what happens next and it was all the more enjoyable because it was all true! She does reveal all her flaws and at times she isn't likeable because she comes across so selfish but she admits that and doesn't play victim so I would recommend this autobiography - finally a book I enjoyed!!
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Can't someone help this woman?
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I really don't know why people are giving this book 5-stars. It's not a classic. I don't actually feel that Pearl got to the bottom of her addiction and what drove her to it. She also didn't delve too much into the ramifications of her addiction on her children, which is who I really feel sorry for. She keeps going on about how she loves them more than anything and loves spending all her time with them, but the next paragraph she's saying she couldn't cope and would spiral back into a smack/coke haze. I'm sure she loves her children but they seem to be incidental to the story or to her addiction. Her partner, however, does not come off all that good in this. He clearly cannot comprehend the meaning of her addiction - he's either too ill-equipped to understand it (he doesn't come across as the sharpest tool in the box) or puts his own 'fun' before Pearl's health. She was put in a psychiatric ward, finally gets clean of heroin and stays clean for six months and then he throws her a birthday party at Soho House with all her friends who use ... to anyone with half a brain that would seem like a really bad idea. No wonder she snorts half of London's supply up that night. But he obviously never received counselling himself - which surely he and their children needed so they could support her in the right way in her battle against her addictions - and work through some of the damage that her addiction brought on the family. And having Pete Doherty around the house while being clean (and extolling the joy of making roast dinners) doesn't seem the brightest idea. A couple paragraphs on from that ... another coke binge that lasted six months. I really hope she stays clean although with friends like that, you have to wonder. But is the book really honest? Only in that she admits what she's done, but she never goes any further than the surface of it all.
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Interesting but disappointingly avoids gossip
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This is well written and candid account of Pearls drugs struggle. There are plenty " I resolved, then and there, to get clean" episodes only for her to fall off the wagon in the next chapter. There are a few people that you can guess at their identities but this is much more about her personal drugs struggle than dishing the dirt on others. The Jude Law rumors and other well known stories are glossed over - and not commented on.
So if you are after Pearls story, this is a quick good read - but no real gossip
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I always thought she was a rock cliche, but this book made me change my mind
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Pearl Lowe is probably best known for being a minor player and 'hanger-on' during the Brit-pop scene based in and around Camden and the partner of Supergrass drummer, Danny. Having paid to see some truly awful Powder and Lodger gigs 'back in the day', I was interested to read this memoir. I did find it really absorbing from start to finish, although not as candid as I thought it might be. The memoir describes her progression from recreational drug use to heroin and cocaine addiction and how this affected her role as a mother and partner. It's full of the self-delusion and rationalisation normally associated with addicts.
Where I think this book is slightly lacking is that it glosses over some of the more important events in Pearl's life. Any regular reader of NME will know that her eldest daughter's biological father is Gavin Rossdale. Although she talks about getting the paternity test and the fact that they don't speak to each other, it was clear that there was a lot more to this story than was revealed in the book. Fine if you want to keep that private, but it did make me wonder why you would mention it at all? Similarly with the accusations in the press that she and Danny went to wife-swapping parties, which she never actually accepts or denies.
Despite the minor criticisms, I really enjoyed this book and it made me look at Pearl in a completely new light.
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I loved this book!
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I had been vaguely aware of Pearl Lowe for years and this book appealed to me straight away. Pearl comes across as likeable and a lovely person, and you really feel for her through her highs and lows. This is not a dirt dishing celebrity memoir at all - it is about one woman's very personal and private struggle with drugs. I think it must have taken Pearl a lot of courage to write this book, and found it inspirational - I wish her well and hope she stays clean!
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