From Library Journal
It took Raitt over 20 years to make it big as a mainstream blues singer, and her struggles are chronicled in this unauthorized account by prolific celebrity biographer Bego (most recently as ghostwriter for Martha Reeves's Dancing in the Streets, LJ 8/94). Though such bios usually put fear in the hearts of their subjects, this is an unabashedly flattering portrait. Raitt was born into show business (her father is Broadway star John Raitt). She left college to become a serious student of the blues and a political activist. She struggled and partied until alcoholism led her to Alcoholics Anonymous. Two years later she won four Grammies and, at age 40, found personal happiness with her marriage to actor Michael O'Keefe. Bego did not work with Raitt but relied mostly on print interviews, and that is the book's greatest weakness. It is detailed in its discussion of each of Raitt's songs but weak when it comes to her private life. Purchase according to demand.?Rosellen Brewer, Monterey Bay Area Cooperative Lib. System, Cal.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Booklist
Bego has found a groove writing about or acting as coauthor with such divas as Aretha Franklin, Linda Ronstadt, and Martha Reeves (Dancing in the Streets, 1994). Here he offers an unauthorized portrait of the generous, socially responsible, and ever-creative Bonnie Raitt. Bego does gush, but we Raitt fans demand a certain amount of reverence for our heroine, and Raitt has kept her private life so private we're grateful for any information, however facile. Raitt comes by her music and her political activism naturally: her mother is an accomplished pianist, her father is Broadway star John Raitt, and both are Quakers. But her love for the blues, her feisty independence, and her artistic authority are all her own. Bego lovingly describes the production of each of Raitt's innovative and heart-winning albums, capturing the essence of her highly original, sexy, "womanly-wise" music. Commercial success was long in coming to Raitt because she never played glamour girl or compromised her artistic integrity, so when she received four Grammy Awards in 1990, her many loyal fans rejoiced. And they'll be on the lookout for this overdue tribute. Donna Seaman
