Life with My Sister Madonna
by Christopher Ciccone, Wendy Leigh
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Book Reviews of Life with My Sister Madonna
Book Review: What's It Feels Like For a Brother of a Material Girl
Summary: 4 Stars
I first saw this tome at Barnes & Nobles and actually resisted getting it. Considering it was written by her "beloved" brother Christopher, it must be one posterior smooching session. When I read the reviews on Amazon about how this book was a hatchet job on the Queen Bitch herself that I have to grab my own copy, and read it all within two days (hey, I've got a job, PEOPLE!).
It seems Chris has a tale to tell. The book itself re-affirmed what we know or suspected about Lady M herself: a tight-waded, egocentric, calculating, publicity-hungry harpy who is one step away from flying around in a broom. Well, to a Madonna fanatic, the fact that she IS one and the sheer spectacle of her being one and getting away with it with impunity is one of the secrets of her success.
On the other hand, one cannot help but sympathized with Christopher on how Madonna used and abused him, and there are several examples of Madonna's behavior that I cannot excuse in anybody...like having her sister Paula pay her own way to her wedding to Guy Ritchie? How tacky is THAT?
As for Christopher himself, as many other reviewers have pointed out, he is no doubt talented, and with friends with Demi, Gwyneth, Kate, Naomi, etc. etc., he can't parlay that into a career of his own? In the business side of thing, Madonna is the one who did all the real hard work: writing songs, photo shoots, video shoots, singing and dancing in tours and promotional appearances, endless sessions in the recording studios. It seems in the end, Chris just expected his sister to keep throwing him a bone.
Also, I agree with other reviewers that Mr. Ciccone downplayed his own drug use. The fact that he bragged about doing a "key line" with Jack Nicholson and lamented flushing into the toilet the "finest" grade of coke (as a non-user I wouldn't know to save my life) he's ever had, and actually showed Courtney Love how to do coke, I'd say Madonna's suspicions have some legitimate basis. And the fact that he is always broke...as in Prince's song "Pop Life", I think Chris' money went up into his nostrils.
Overall, this book is entertaining and fun. In the end, Madonna may be the "bad girl" here, but don' tell me Chris himself isn't totally blameless. It hasn't change my status being a Madonna lunatic. After I watched Truth or Dare, I came to the realization that while I will always enjoy her music, videos and concerts, I wouldn't want to know her personally. My relationship with Mrs. Ritchie is like millions of others...we pay and she entertains. A fair exchange, I'd say. Any dirt on her personal life is just a little bonus to amuse us all.
Book Review: All the Things We Never Talked About...
Summary: 5 Stars
Christopher explains how he comes from a very religious family that never talked about anything... Especially after their mother's death. Madonna held reign. Simply, she had their mother's name and her father saw her mother in her eyes and face. Madonna never had to be accountable, because this was a family that didn't talk. They were sent, instead, to the church, for confession.
The new stepmother was intimated by Madonna. And then, there was the problem of the stolen Angel Food Cake - who took it? Any brother such as Christopher, who would be willing to take a week's-long punishment for a cake he didn't steal? can't be all bad.
Madonna invited him into her secret life on the premise that she also knew he had a secret... He was gay. This is a story about how things come full-circle in people's lives. Christopher blindly trusted his sister for most of his life, due to the fact that he saw, and still does, see her as being a Good Catholic Girl. Christopher tells his own story, of meeting Madonna in New York, going out to clubs with her, being invited to dance by her side in her first video, Luck Star. He was there for all the early tours as her left-hand man, traveling the world with her to make sure she was safe. She also had him design her shows and decorate 8 of her houses. Other biographers and Madonna, herself, will have you believe that Madonna was a maverick of her own self-invention. No one really paid attention to her brother backstage (unless to think of him as Madonna's Brother, a shadow of her). Now you know the truth.
Sure, throughout his 20's and 30's, Christopher made enough money to survive on. He didn't care because he loved his sis and was having a great time!
Imagine how he must of felt when Truth or Dare was being made... And Madonna outed him publicly to the entire world as an alleged alcoholic and a definite homosexual.
Imagine what it must have been like to witness Madonna reveling in his ideas, taking personal credit for all the help and faith he was showing in their friendship. Madonna slowly eased him out of her existence by setting up arguments with him, refusing to PAY HIM a real salary. He made the mistake of presuming his sister was his best friend. Repeatedly.
Finally, imagine what it must be like to have to take second place to her husband, a homophobic, who attempts to run over your foot with his car. Then denies it.
All the things we never talked about... Christopher has now gotten down on the page and created a record that is long overdue.
Book Review: Sprinkle the people you love with...sort of...love
Summary: 4 Stars
The quote on the back jacket of this books feels true: you can't understand Madonna without understanding her brother Christopher. He proves it with this book, the first thing I've ever read about Madonna that makes her seem like a true, flesh-and-blood human being. She should be grateful to Christopher for many things, but particularly this one: he helped us see her as a real woman, warts and all. Horrible! she would probably respond. However, I can identify so much more with her because of this portrait. Here are two children who have been grieving the early death of their mother. One is a driven Me Monster, the other a confused, frightened little boy who just needed a lot of hugs, and confused the Me Monster with the mother he didn't get. All those of us who didn't have a mother or didn't get our mother's love can feel for both siblings. Sadly, unlike her friend Gianni Versace, who splurged royally on his sibling, and made her feel totally loved, Madonna appears to have "cheaped out" on Christopher, in a push-pull relationship that has him sleeping in crappy hotel rooms, flying coach while Big Sister is living it up in first class, and often withholding money for jobs he did for her, as control-freak blackmail. Ugh. That's not a pretty picture. But it is understandable, because her mother was tragically lost to her, that Madonna is stingy, greedy and driven, and that she doesn't know the concept, "SHOWER the people you love with love." Of course, she's probably different with her kids, but if anyone needed her total, one hundred per cent love and support - and someone who gave his to her, unconditionally - it's Christopher. I hope Madonna gets onto herself and stops thinking that she's "done so much" for her kid brother, because so far, no matter how conciliatory Christopher is, finally, in this book, it's obvious that Madonna has let her brother down again and again, coldly and imperiously. Hey, Maddie - he was there for you all the way, right from the start. How about playing against type and crawling on your hands and knees to beg for his forgiveness? I can assure you, this is the true message of all spiritual disciplines: unconditional love and amends (to the hilt) for one's crappy behavior. And snap it up. You're not getting any younger. P.S. My kid brother passed away four years ago and it ripped my heart out. Believe me, there is nothing sadder than losing a sweet baby brother who adored you and whom you adored - your "buddy" from early on. The regrets at how you dropped the ball with Christopher would be legion if you lost him.Book Review: Most shocking thing is that Christopher is the jerk
Summary: 2 Stars
OK, so I'm not a huge Madonna fan (I think the last thing I bought was her Immaculate Collection in 91 or something), but I am interested in how she managed to go from obscure Michigan teen to a huge, world-dominating superstar. So I went out and got the book. And then was disappointed.
First off, the only thing you learn is that Christopher is an arrogant, childish druggie with an undue sense of entitlement. I mean, do you think you're really entitled to the best of the best when it's simply because you're Madonna's sibling? That's annoying at best. Second, he complains incessantly that she treats him poorly and acts like it's undeserved, when in actuality he's clearly not as irreplaceable as he thinks he is. Just because you have a knack for design or art, doesn't mean there aren't a thousand others lining up to fill your shoes and fill them well. Being her brother doesn't make it mandatory for your own success--you have to earn it in your own right.
And he complains that she outed him. Yet he uses this book to bad mouth just about every celebrity he's known, including divulging their supposed drug uses. Is he any better for outing their drug uses than his own sister outing his sexuality? His double standard is frustrating and again, shows his immaturity as a person.
Speaking of, he's absolutely childish in what he thinks is appropriate. For instance, he boasts endlessly about the jabs he's given Madonna and various persons he's dealt with. Do you really think you sound mature when you brag about a crude toast that insults Guy Ritchie, on the eve of his wedding? And that's just the end of a long line of immature statements in a book that could've used more reflection and less accusation.
Lastly, he sheds no new light on who Madonna is as a person--she's a superstar beyond fathomable heights. Do you think she got that way by being courteous and passive? No, she stepped on heads to get there--including Christopher's cocaine-laden nostrils. So to think that this was written w/o her permission is clearly ridiculous in itself. I'm sure she read it and gave her blessing, knowing that he divulges nothing taboo about her, but clearly expresses that he's little more than a self-righteous coat-tail rider. Maybe he's not a total jerk (since he does mention that he knows it's her that gave him opportunities that he normally may not have had), but still. There's more trash in here that exposes Christopher than the intended target. Smart move again, Madonna.
Book Review: Loved it! But It Made Me Mad!
Summary: 5 Stars
I asked for this book for Christmas (everybody laughed at me) and started it last week. I couldn't put the damn thing down. Although my husband hates biographies, and anything to do with celebrity drama... HE couldn't put the damn thing down. This whole book was very intriguing, but very infuriating at the same time - from both sides. I never could have imagined that Madonna, the icon I grew up with the 80's was such a self-centered ass. Nor can I understand how Christopher could have allowed her to continue treating him so badly for almost three decades! It was like witnessing self-flagellation. I wanted to reach inside the book and throttle both of them.
I believe the details of the events described in the book are probably closer to the truth than they are to fiction. Christopher exposes Madonna on several of her half-truths just to make the point that celebrities take creative license on just about everything. But the fact that their own father and stepmother have read the book and are prepared to back him up - this should tell us something.
Big deal Christopher was doing recreational drugs in the 80's and 90's. I'm sure if Madonna were that judgemental about drugs with everyone else, she would have been shunned in the entertainment industry. We all have our issues with siblings, but extortion and blackmail shouldn't even be on the radar.
I loved the book. But I leave with disappointment. I loved it because it was something NEW that has never been written before about Madonna. Any other biography about her is going to contain the mythological half-truths that have been circulated for years, such as the 'story' that she arrived in the middle of Times Square with little more than $35 in her pocket. I'm sure Madonna would rather those biographies stay in circulation. I typically don't read autobiographies as they usually end up being self-serving, but this is kind of a hybrid of the two - it is Christopher's autobiography but offers an unbiased, insider look into the world of Madonna that even a renowned biographer would simply not be privy to.
I leave disappointed because growing up and even into adulthood, I've always admired Madonna for her gusto, her musical and dancing talent, as well as what I thought was a savvy business sense. After reading Christopher's book, I learned that all is not as it seems and I've certainly learned a lesson about idol worship.