Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys

Such a great memoir. Viv Albertine recounts her experiences growing up, in the music scene with the Slits, and life after the band. I love Viv Albertine's writing style, all in the present tense, so you feel like you're experiencing things with her. Her style is so matter of fact but expresses her emotions about the situations she experiences...almost like speaking with a friend. She's not afraid of the emotions she feels and is so honest and alive. I absolutely loved this book.

The London 70s punk story has been told many times, but not like this. Viv Albertine was involved with many of the names you'd know, and also in her own band, the fabulous and unconventional Slits. This is the meat of the first part of the book, but the second, less glamorous, half is just as compelling, as Albertine opts for a life of domesticity and encounters some awful traumas before a hard fought artistic rebirth. A good book from an unashamedly strong female perspective. I'll give this to my daughter to read (but not for a few years yet).

Loved it. The first half, about her time with the Slits, was interesting. The second half, though, about being married, having a child, and then returning to music, was fantastic. She includes a review of one of her early solo shows written by Carrie Brownstein, which in itself was well worth reading.