Walk Through Walls: A Memoir (CROWN ARCHETYPE) Hardcover – Deckle Edge, October 25, 2016

I enjoyed the first half of this book. Abramovic writes in a very direct and frank manner that lends itself well to constructing a compelling narrative. She's a bit "off the wall" sometimes, but I even enjoyed this aspect and learning of a perspective so different from my own. It was fascinating to learn about her different pieces and the challenges and lessons learned through execution.My issue with this book is Abromovic's apparent lack of knowledge of Christopher Columbus and the details of his most famed expedition in which he failed to reach Asia. In the book, she says "this is why I love the story of Christopher Columbus-Columbus, who was sent by the queen of Spain to discover a different way to go to India, who was given a crew of convicts, because everybody was convinced the earth was flat and you would fall off the edge if you sailed across the Atlantic." I was completely horrified by her admiration of a man who perpetrated genocide. For someone who has travelled the world and studied various different cultures (as detailed in the book), I was shocked at this apparent level of ignorance of the atrocities committed by Christopher Columbus on his expeditions to the Americas. It forced me to question her cultural sensitivity and knowledge, which is very disappointing and disheartening. I don't know if I can continue the book as I now have serious doubts of the reliability of Abramovic as a narrator.(Also, Columbus and his crew would not have feared falling off the edge of the earth as if was common knowledge at this point in history that the earth is spherical. A much more minor issue.)

The artist's life and her strife and commitment in art as a means of communication of all human experience is quite impressive and moving. For me, not familiar with performance art, there are many things she says and does in her personal life and in her art that made me uncomfortable. However, this book opened my eyes and educated my mind to see the context of the artist's performances and mostly her courage to face all things feared, judged, ignored or euphemized socially and politically. Her "Serbian" endurance, "walk through walls" as well as her human vulnerability and frailty is candidly told in this book.Frankly, I didn't like the style of her writing a bit too simple...but perhaps that is why she does performance art which is much more interactive and reflexive.

This book was absolutely excellent. Marina Abramovic is a visionary in the art and spiritual world. In this book she accounts for her entire life up until this point. With stories about her travels among the Tibetans and Aboriginals, she keeps you fascinated with more than just her art pieces, delving into the meaning and backgrounds of her work, peeling away layers to reveal its beautiful mysticism. The woman is, sadly, frequently demonized, if you are interested in finding out the truth of her life and work, read this book. Life is made up of so many things that we are here to experience. I feel Abramovic opens us up to these possibilities to explore and expand consciousness through art.

Its a well written memoir, takes you in from the first pages. A lot of sad and horrible things happened to her and shaped her art and love realtionships, but theres also humor. Marina Abramovic is certainly one of those who lived fully. I liked her text also because it really makes you feel like you know her personaly, and also know better about this form of art, this type of artistic market and Yugoslavia. It was intersting to get to know that in Yougoslavia "second hand communism country", as Abramovic names it they had cafeterias with capuccino, modern art exhibitions, sex in cinemas, access to Kafka and even strip clubs. They never had it in so called "first-hand communism" version in Russia!I also like the end of the book, it ends like alsmost every other modern alternative festival movie - with nothing...author just went for a swim and felt good.

Marina Abramovic is the single most courageous person in the world. Fact. Her story is art and art is her story. She is amazingly talented and immeasurably deep. Her story, her life, her vision, and her art will change your life.

I only got to the 4th disk. It was really boring and the tape was like a do-it-yourself job... WAY overpriced for what you get

I was hoping for a bit more about the thought and reasoning behind the discussed pieces. Not a treatise on the work, but how she came to decide the implementation of any of the pieces, the way they were done and choices made, certainly were filtered and defined through who she is, and are at least partly biographical. There is definitely some of that,but with more, it would have been 5*.

Now one of my favorite books. Dynamic, juicy, and so very human. Thank you, MA, for sharing your story.

International book clubMehry, Shaya, and AliWe as a trio group started our club by selecting the first book which was an autobiography by Marina Abramović titled "Walk Through Walls: A Memoir". Since a book review considered as an argument three of us in the different corners of the world collected to argue and discuss the highlights of the book from our perspective aiming to gain a holistic image of the book from different viewpoints. It said that the most important element of a review is that it is a commentary, not merely a summary. So we start our review with a very brief summary of the book. In sum, the book is a personal memoir that spans Marina Abramovic's five-decade career and tells her life story using a monolog that is almost as exhilarating and extraordinary as her groundbreaking performance art. We can say that all three of us with different background and experience found it interesting that the book extended our definition of art to embrace even activities which were previously difficult to be digested as a piece of art! Mehry found it very interesting that Marina against all odds and her difficult upbringing in a communist society with rigid discipline succeed to go through all the difficulties although coped with several heartbreaking experiences. She also thought that Marina might be consider as a Masochist because of the harms and humiliation she imposed on herself deliberately. Her approach to dealing with emotional trauma could be considered as a form of life coaching. Mehry believes that people going through severe emotional trauma can get inspiration from these experiences and some of her performances. Shaya completed this argument adding that Marina was even successful in selling her entire hard, soft and sometimes usual and routine life experience as the pieces of art and making considerable big lump sum of money. She also thought that she might be better considered as a businesswoman instead of an artist because she made money out of her parents' final breaths. I (Ali) believed that Marina's rediscovering herself and acceptance of her overall package of life as it was and feeling no regret about the past at 60 was an interesting and inspiring part of the book. We all believed that if autobiographies are written to depict a person all aspects of life Marina was brave enough to shed light on the darkest secrets of her life, something which most people like to keep as a secret and reluctant to be revealed. Anyway, we also believed that the book in parts is one-sided written and never talked about the other side of her relationship. Shaya even read between the lines and discovered that Marina might have not been very honest in her confessions and cleverly explained and exposed parts of her life which gain the readers' empathy and fidelity even in situations that Marina might have been blamed for! (Clever people!)In conclusion, all three of us found the book very interesting and a suitable source for keeping busy during the isolation which has been imposed on all of us globally.We will give 4 stars out of five as a rating

Until recently i didn't really know who Marina Abramovic is but I watched an interview with her on you tube and became curious. This book satisfied my curiosity about what kind of person will do such performances. I'm not a fan of the performing arts but became a fan of Marina Abramovic. She is very interesting person and very inspiring. Highly recommend this book to everyone.

I was so chuffed to finding this edition - hardback signed copy.This is copy number 4. How did I get this number will remain a mystery but I am so so so happy to have this memoir at home. I will be reading it over the weekend and shall dive myself into Marina's world.Absolutely stunning edition. Absolutely delighted. Love it.Thank you Marina

I enjoyed reading Marina Abramovic's autobiography immensely; she is an excellent storyteller, with a quirky sense of humour. Even if some of the stories seem exaggerated or completely made up, they are still a testament to her 'baroque' personality. I admire her for her courage, her determination in creating and promoting performance art, and her quest for spirituality. This might be my no 1 book this year, it really has made an impact.

This item was purchased as a Christmas present for my wife who had seen it online. Although she has seen it she has not opened it and is delighted with what she has seen so far.