172 replies to this topic

[Lainey]

Off-topic, but Dr. Phil gives me the creeps. He just looks like a freaking perv. Let us know what you think of the book - we trust your judgment!

[Rockesquirrel]

Crol, I've never had you pegged as a Dr. Philaphile or a Member of the House of the Oprah Book Club, you seem so much more reasonable!

I shall look forward to your review, my friend.

[Moody's Mood]

Did I mention that members that buy this book will be banned?


No really! *pokerface*

[Rockesquirrel]

Fight for your right to party.....and read what ya want!

[PabloD]

Can't wait for a review from someone from the forum. Will someone be that kind??

[Lainey]

^ crol's reading the book right now, and mentioned that he will give us his opinion when he's done

[crol]

so the book only took about 3 hours to read (very short). and i officially can't stand daphne barak.

her grammar is terrible, so many typos (not that i can talk, but i'm not writing a book). and it seems like english must be her second language. while i have no doubt about her schmoozing ability, she's no writer. she never missed an opportunity to mention her expensive clothes, limousines, past interviewees (michael jackson, liza minelli, hillary clinton, nelson mandela), high powered friends ("this good friend of mine is a top lawyer...") and how many cities she has "offices" in. she wormed her way into the winehouses inner circle by throwing them parties, buying them gifts and seemingly showering them with compliments ("Janis is a very sexy woman"). Mitch especially seemed to be sucked in by this, she talks about one night when she takes mitch along to a dinner with diplomats and politicians; what he could have had in common with them i have no idea.

having said that, she did get pretty good access to the winehouses.
mitch was overall portrayed as a well-meaning control freak, who devotes his life to 3 women - amy, janis and jane. he comes across as paranoid, melodramatic, self-absorbed and domineering, but at the same time he seems to mean well.
janis comes across as being a bit frightened by amy, and a bit insecure. i really feel for her - theres one moment in the book where janis goes in to amy's hospital room to have a chat, and she emerges quickly without talking to amy about all the things she had planned to. her 'step back' approach came across as actually just being a fear of being rejected by her own daughter, as if she knows she cannot compete with mitch.
how amy was portrayed i don't really need to describe - daphne's actual time with her was brief, and it was pretty clear most of the incidents were grossly exaggerated and dramatised. the one thing i found interesting was that amy felt completely out of the loop with regards to the business side of things - she expressed her disgust at mitch constantly wanting her to sign papers that the record company wouldn't just bring to her in person. i guess that's what happens when you develop a drug addiction - no one trusts you to understand anything. i also found it interesting that in st lucia salaam was basically just recording everything he could and the plan was to just take what he had and make something of it - i'm glad these recordings were scrapped.

it seems like daphne thought nothing was too private - she brought up amy's menstrual cycles on a few occasions and had no problem telling the world about amy's private (and painful!) piercings. she also spoke about janis's boyfriends - some of her conversations with janis were so irrelevant to the book, and completely unneccesary to publish. i felt embarrassed for janis. she also unforgivably suggested that janis subconsciously finds amys sickness convenient, as it means she gets to spend more time with mitch. even if this is somewhat true, to write this is horrible, especially straight after recounting intimate conversations with janis, where she was quite open and trusting with daphne.

overall, there was a lot of interesting moments in the book, but i think she failed on her ambition of providing help to other families suffering due to a loved one's addiction. this project was, and always will be, a sensationalist look at a world-famous artist. it's obviously a better read than any other amy book out there, but read it with objective eyes.

so less johnny rogan, more rita skeeter.

[Lainey]

That was a really great review! Thanks so much crol - it's appreciated. Typos and bad grammar drive me absolutely crazy, too. Barak appears to be the leech we all suspected. Yuk! The whole Amy situation sounds very messed up/ dysfunctional. In reading your review, I feel bad for Janis. Barak has well and truly stitched the Winehouses up. As we suspected.

[ashlee]

thanks for sharing babe.
its nice to hear from a forum insider, as our point of view is more objective and faces the facts with a realistic perspective.
I admit I was hoping for a more positive review of the book, as i was decieved by the comments from its facebook page. Now i'm kind of pissed off at daphne, i did not like her before, now she's worse than a cheap leech.

thanks again crol. x

[sarahbol]

That was a really great review! Thanks so much crol - it's appreciated. Typos and bad grammar drive me absolutely crazy, too. Barak appears to be the leech we all suspected. Yuk! The whole Amy situation sounds very messed up/ dysfunctional. In reading your review, I feel bad for Janis. Barak has well and truly stitched the Winehouses up. As we suspected.

Completely agree with you. Thanks Crol, very valuable review!
I also can't stand bad grammar and typos. Like Crol, I don't really have the right to say this because my English is far from perfect, but when you publish a book, you need to get it right (or in Daphne's case, it would have been better if she just never started writing at all).
The things Daphne wrote sound even worse than I expected.

[Iulian]

Thanks, Mister Crol!

when you publish a book, you need to get it right (or in Daphne's case, it would have been better if she just never started writing at all).

That made me lol

[Rockesquirrel]

I think it's probably self-published, hence the piss-poor editing and slapdash information. I didn't read the book, maybe there wasn't any disclaimers for libel. Maybe that's why Mitch and Daphne had hoopla about the content.

I'll wait to read that book at the library. If I wanna plunk down $13 (on Amazon.com), that grammar better put ME to shame, LOL! Thank so much, Master Crol for that wondeful review.

[Sassy]

Damn ALL the exploiters! From the family & friends, paps, press, bloggers and others who profit from the troubles of someone else.

I have a question: Why do we all care so much?

[crol]

reading what i said now, i've just realised i was quite negative. as vile as daphne is, the stories she has to tell i found quite fascinating, which is probably why i read it so fast. it is by all means an 'exclusive', which no other biography of amy can claim. i'm sure all of you would love to read some of the moments in the book - its far better than any tales the tabloids have given us over the past 4 years.

i think the library is the best bet - i hate to see daphne buying more herve leger dresses because of us!

[sarahbol]

I think I would feel bad reading it because it is exclusive. It sounds like there are a lot of things in this book that Amy and her family wouldn't want the rest of the world to know, so I don't feel the need to know these things. The fact that some stranger writes a book revealing other people's secrets or personal problems bothers me.