Synopses & Reviews
A frank and funny pop culture memoir in the vein of Caitlin Moran's How to be a Woman, this is "how to be a woman artist" This is the story of Tracey Thorn, one half of the internationally successful group Everything But the Girl, collaborator with such artists as Paul Weller, Massive Attack, and dance legend Todd Terry. Tracey was only 16 when she bought an electric guitar and joined a band. A year later, she formed an all-girl band called the Marine Girls, played gigs, signed to an indie label, and started releasing records. Then, for 18 years, between 1982 and 2000, she was one half of Everything But the Girl. They released nine albums and sold nine million records, went on countless tours, had hits and flops, and were reviewed and interviewed to within an inch of their lives. Tracey has been in the charts, out of them, back in. She's seen herself described as an indie darling, a middle-of-the-road nobody, and a disco diva. As she explains here, she hasn't always fit in, a fact that's helped her to face up to the realities of a pop career. She discusses her realizations—that there are thrills and wonders to be experienced, but also moments of doubt, mistakes, and violent lifestyle changes from luxury to squalor and back again, sometimes within minutes. This is the funny, perceptive, and candid story of her 30-year pop career.
Review
"[Tracey] Thorn is a gifted memoirist. Her writing is spare and to the point, but with an added intelligence and sense of humor that reads more like a charming best friend than an anti-establishment rock star." — Bust.com
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"Entertaining and informative. . ." —The Barnes & Noble Review
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"A charmingly frank, wryly funny, and surprisingly pragmatic account of [Tracey Thorn's] life and remarkable career . . . It's about self-discovery and love, and will be an inspiration for quiet girls everywhere to pick up guitars." —Bitch
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"Thorn's literary voice is as cheekily offbeat as her singing voice is rich and mellifluous." —Time.com
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"A really good book." —Huffington Post
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"A witty and charming chronicle of a career full of happy accidents and success found in the least likely of places." —Gawker.com
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"[A] lovely, funny memoir." —NewYorker.com
About the Author
Tracey Thorn was singer and songwriter with Everything But the Girl from 1982-2000. At that point she semi-retired from the music business to bring up her children. She has since recorded two solo albums, Out of the Woods and Love and Its Opposite, and is currently working on a Christmas album to be released in November 2012. She lives in London with her husband Ben Watt and their three children.