Reckless

My Life as a Pretender

De: Chrissie Hynde

Narrado por: Rosanna Arquette, Chrissie Hynde

From Chrissie Hynde, one of rock's most iconic, alluring, kick-ass, and (let's face it) sexy women, a brilliant, no-holds-barred memoir of a rock life lived to the hilt.

Chrissie Hynde, the songwriter and front woman of The Pretenders in its various incarnations, has for 35 years been one of the most admired and adored and imitated figures in rock. This long-awaited memoir tells her life story in full and utterly fascinating detail, from her all-American Ohio '50s childhood to her classic baby-boomer seduction by the rock of the '60s to her sojourn in the crucible of punk that was '70s London to her instant emergence with her band, The Pretenders, in 1980 into stardom as a frontwoman and songwriter. She brings a fantastic eye for detail, a withering and sardonic sense of humor, and a fearless and sometimes naked emotional honesty to her memoir, and every line, every word of it is unmistakably hers. It is sure to be recognized as a classic of rock literature - and, man, is it fun to listen to.

With an introduction read by Chrissie Hynde.

©2015 Chrissie Hynde (P)2015 Random House Audio

Honesty! Could have been subtitled "Survivor"

I enjoyed this tell-all, and the details of Chrissie's story feel genuine, even when she admits painful episodes and mistakes. She concludes that the moral of the story is that music, humor and honesty are enough for joy... That drugs, booze and smoking are just a dead end side track ... As Anne and Nancy Wilson also explain in THEIR rock autobio. But while CH paints the picture, she does not state definitively that they cause us to lie and pretend to each other and to ourselves... That youth and rock can be about expression and new perspectives WITHOUT the fake party atmosphere that substance abuse creates. I wish she could have pointed to some rockers that created art, had fun, but did NOT disintegrate due to abuse. Steve Miller is on that comes to mind (though I think he has been married three times, so I am not sure if there is a connection with abuse or not.) Also, I would have enjoyed more revelation about how she crafted her lyrics, which are quirky, personal, and NOT "poppy" ... "Kid" is a great example... Who is the "kid"? Herself? Anyway, I am a big fan, I learned a lot... Rock on, from the middle of the road!

Not Much Discussion on the music

I buy autobiographies of artists as I want to know behind the scenes regarding the music. There was very little of that here. Though this isn’t a guarantee that an artist will write about that aspect of their career it is always my hope they will.

Great book with a so so read.

What did you love best about Reckless?

I love the story of Crissie's rise to fame. Shows that sometimes if you just hang out with rockers long enough you'll become one.

What other book might you compare Reckless to and why?

No other book. It's her story.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

Learned the pronunciations of the towns she was talking about. I'm from Ohio and know how to pronounce Cuyahoga.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

"I shot my mouth off and he showed me what that hole was for."

Any additional comments?

I felt like this was her perspective on the story, but also like there was info missing. Like how does she happen to always just meet celebrities and instantly get to hang out with them?

Especially good if you're from Northern Ohio

I listened to this while driving to Cleveland. Hynde's memories of Cleveland and Akron in the 1960's and 1970's are evocative & true. It's quite a statement about persistence of character, too. The drug abusers might make a listener want to go get wasted, but finish the book before you do--it has a strong message about that in the end. Arquette's performance was great for the material, too. Overall, I enjoyed it.

Narration takes away from the fascinating story...

Would you consider the audio edition of Reckless to be better than the print version?

No, in this case the jumpy, uneven, mispronounced and in some spots halting narration or consistently incorrect inflection take away from the great story Chrissie has to tell. It's very distracting. Maybe it was the bad editing that is to blame? I would have had her re-read 25% of what is in this book.

What did you like best about this story?

The whole story is fabulous. Love it.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Rosanna Arquette and Chrissie Hynde ?

I would definitely listen to one by Chrissie, I would REALLY hesitate before listening to another narration by Rosanna.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I laughed out loud on a number of occasions.

Any additional comments?

I really wish Chrissie or someone else had narrated this book. I found the less-than-stellar narration SO distracting that it takes away from the story. I listen to audiobooks on my way home from work as a way of relaxing and disconnecting because at times you can REALLY get into the story and lose yourself. I swear, every time I am getting to that point in this book the flow of the narration is interrupted by a stumbling of words, phrases or weird, unnatural stops and it completely snaps you out of the zone. I don't mind her voice at all (and nothing against her personally) but this was not good.

It started a little slow...

But then once you got into the teeth of it all, it became incredibly entertaining. This is a piece of rock and roll history. Unfortunately I didn't think Rosanna Arquette was quite right for the performance of this book...

The Story We've Waited For - Part I

Chrissie's story meanders through her middle-class Rust Belt upbringing for several chapters before she finds the off ramp to teenage wasteland to never look back. I was surprised to be almost three quarters through the book before The Pretenders are mentioned for the first time. Chrissie hardly lead a charmed life, but had fascinating encounters with so many influential musical heroes along the way, including being witness as the Sex Pistols and The Clash found their way out of the London Underground. Her recollections of Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen were fantastic!

The untimely deaths of James Honeyman-Scott and Pete Farndon we're mere mentions in the final chapter and somewhat devoid of much emotion. Maybe it was Chrissie's intention, maybe it was Rosanna Arquette's brash, uninvolved narration...but I expected much more from two of the most pivotal moments of Chrissie's early career. Granted, Pete was already gone from the band, but it seemed like his death was announced abruptly and never allowed the reader/listener to grieve or emotionally understand the author's point of view before the book ended abruptly.

Admittedly, I look forward to the next book...if there will be one.

Good Night Moon

This book would have been so much better if Rosanna Arquette didn't read it like a children's story. Maybe it's just me.

Great Rock and Roll Story!

I have loved the Pretenders from the first time I heard them but knew little about their backgrounds. I can’t believe how fiercely Chrissie Hynde pursued her dream of being in a band from Ohio to Mexico to Paris and ultimately to London; her story is fascinating. I wish Chrissie had narrated her own story. I found Rosanna Arquette’s performance irksome to the point of distraction, especially her weird pronunciation of the letter ‘t’ which she suddenly stopped doing in the final chapter. But to end on a positive note: Thank you Chrissie Hynde for sharing your experiences and for being a total bad ass in the male-dominated world of rock!

Candid, compelling and no pretence

What made the experience of listening to Reckless the most enjoyable?

Rock bios so easily slip into self-indulgent pondering and rose-tinted reminiscence, but Chrissie Hynde avoids both of those traps, delivering a book that’s honest, compelling and direct.Reckless has been one of the most enjoyable rock bios that I've read or listened to. But I was still left waiting for more. Chrissie leads you on a compelling journey through her early years of drugs and hopelessness in Ohio, through the excitement of 1970s London up to the second album, global success and the loss of half of her band. But there's a whole career's worth of stories yet to tell, and I hope she has another volume planned.

What about Rosanna Arquette and Chrissie Hynde ’s performance did you like?

Rosanna Arquette was a good choice of narrator; her voice is not as deep as Chrissie's, but she has a confident edge that suits the book. But while Arquette is a good reader, she's also the one problem in the audiobook: If you're British, you're going to have trouble ignoring her criminally painful assaults against British accents. We all know foreign place names and accents can seem weird to Americans, but to hear Rosanna Arquette struggle to mimic a London, Birmingham or Welsh accent is an agonising distraction. I'd rather listen to a cat in a liquidiser than hear Ms Arquette impersonate Sid Vicious again.