I'll Never Write My Memoirs

I just finished reading this book and it is amazing. The reviewers that called it a bore are not REAL Grace Jones fans. Grace has always been rumored to be eccentric and unpredictable, I love that the books humanizes her. In the book she talks about her childhood in Jamaica, her family, her relationships and the fact that she is human and vulnerable like everyone else. I have always loved her but now I love her even more. I believe the people writing that the book is a bore, wanted to read some crazy and outrageous stories about the rumored eccentric Grace Jones but she fooled them all and wrote a book about simply being a human, having a history like everyone else that includes heartbreaks, failures, triumphs and finding peace.

Grace Jones has been an exciting, electric person for a long time. Her public persona during the disco years was one of incredible art and excess. This fills in a lot of blanks, plus I learned a lot about Jamaica- a bonus. I had no idea what her family was like (interesting and surprising) or what she's been doing since the early '80s.She does tend to go into a lot of detail about a lot of things, sometimes a little bit too much for my attention span, but in general I enjoyed reading the book very much.

Grace Jones has been my hero since I was 8 years old and saw her in Conan the Destroyer. Her dating advice of 'Grab him and take him' has not always worked out for me, but it was way more real than 'wait for him to notice you and pretend he's hilarious and/or fascinating to keep him interested' which is what girls were usually told back then. I had followed her career since, and was familiar with her ferocity, her fearlessness, and the legend about her single-handedly introducing ecstasy to the New York club scene in the 70s/80s. I was really, REALLY looking forward to this memoir.It has a strong start with her youth in Jamaica, and the strict, oppressive upbringing she experienced there. The writing in the first few chapters is fascinating, especially concerning the history of Spanish Town and just the history of Jamaica in general. These and the chapters toward the end are the most cohesive and easy to follow. Toward the middle, I had trouble staying interested, and it is NOT because Ms. Jones's life is boring. Far from it! But the lack of focus and scattershot storytelling makes for a sometimes confusing read. People are named once and then mentioned again several paragraphs later and you've already forgotten who they are. I suspect that this content was dictated and transcribed later, and the writer had difficulty maintaining Ms. Jones's vibrant speaking style with print.The book is fascinating and definitely soul-baring. The high cost of staying true to one's artistic vision is unpacked but never lamented - Ms. Jones definitely wishes she had made a few different choices, but she has lived her life on her terms and no one else's, with all the triumphs and regrets that entails. However, Ms. Jones is so deeply entrenched in that artistic vision that translating it into ideas accessible to others creates a challenge, and I think therein lies the book's weakness.Overall, I enjoyed this work. If you are interested in Grace Jones even a little, you should read this book. If you are interested in the life of an artist, or the history of Studio 54, or fashion or art, you should read this book. If you have little patience for artistic temperaments, then you should probably give it a pass.

Grace Jones's autobiography is one of the best I have read. It's entertaining, informative, and inspiring. Miss Jones demonstrates that there is more depth to her, and by extension some other celebrities, than the media depicts. In addition, the tone and flow of her writing is impressive, displaying a brilliant mind. My only regret is that Miss Jones has not written a sequel.

Don't look for an index in this autobiography, it's not that sort of book. I was pleasantly surprised by the detailed childhood of Grace Jones, her strict surrogate upbringing by the extended Jamaican family making her quite the uninhibited type the moment she got her freedom and came to America. I was disappointed not to find a section on her experience filming Conan the Destroyer, but her life is so rich with interesting experiences that this was lost by the wayside as she related her life to the expertly invisible Paul Morley.Several places through this book caught me by surprise and had me laughing, there's a bit of wit here and there that's a joy to read. There are some things you may not want to read, such as Grace's sulky reaction to Duran Duran winning an award over her filmed show, and then not being invited to the after awards party. Why would either of those matter, if she is truly as above-it-all and blase as her persona suggests? But that's part of the charm of this book which is Jones as she is, without worries over whether she will offend this reader or that celebrity. She learned an important lesson in signing autographs from Andy Warhol, and I think that's a good summary of the book with the life that one should live.Most of us spend our whole lives trying not to offend anyone, to conform to not be noticed, and to finish our lives not having made any impact or mark at all. Read this memoir and discover that there is another way to view life, as a delight to surprise yourself and others. Grace Jones could have spent her life in a small village in Jamaica. She followed her bliss and the world is better for it.

From the foreword you can tell the writing style will be baroque and self-referential; though poignant, childhood and Jamaican roots are extremely tough to go through; if you managed to keep reading you will be rewarded with a nice recollection of her showbiz career. Decent final chapters.Frankly one of most boring bios I had ever read

Boring and repetitive , the follow on pages always reiterated the previous pages context, considering this is an autobiography from such a live wire personality there is very little evidence in this book of her alleged flamboyance . a damp squib unfortunately

Strange book. She was a law until herself enjoyed the read I must buy a tape of her voice hope it sounds good

So good I was dreading getting to the end.Brilliantly written by Paul Morley a music journalist that I have always respected.Grace who I have seen in concert at least six times is a personal inspiration and this book really helped me to understand what makes Life Force the FEARLESS MAN-EATER.David Bowie Prince & Grace are right up there.

If you have any interest in Grace, this is a must read.