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131st out of 381 books
—
571 voters
Rebel Heart: An American Rock 'n' Roll Journey
Rebel Heart is Bebe Buell's no-holds-barred account of her life at the center of the rock scene in the '70s and '80s, when rock stars were royalty. A wild child model who took New York by storm, Buell captivated a generation of rock's greatest talents. Her relationships with musicians like wunderkind Todd Rundgren, Aerosmith's Steven Tyler--father of her daughter Liv-Mick...more
Paperback, 400 pages
Published
July 19th 2002
by St. Martin's Press
(first published August 13th 2001)
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This is my 3rd book written by a Playboy Playmate, the first was "Star" by Pamela Anderson, the second was "Sleeping With Bad Boys" by Alice Whoever, and now this. All three books have the following in common:
a) They all pretty much live through men, but don't forget, they're feminists too, y'nkow.
b) All three women are proud of the fact that they're drop dead gorgeous and will be happy to remind you of that fact every five pages, but they're feminists too, y'know.
c) None of the three books have...more
a) They all pretty much live through men, but don't forget, they're feminists too, y'nkow.
b) All three women are proud of the fact that they're drop dead gorgeous and will be happy to remind you of that fact every five pages, but they're feminists too, y'know.
c) None of the three books have...more
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It's a (mostly)fun look at the rock and roll scene of the 1970s and 1980s. Buell dated quite a few high profile people and was part of the NYC scene. It is striking to me in this book and other groupie memoirs that these women are in some ways far from liberated-they may be promiscuous (not always) but they really are just looking for a boyfriend. It seems kind of provincial and odd considering their social scene.
The book goes downhill fast after Buell has her daughter (Liv Tyler). She leaves h...more
The book goes downhill fast after Buell has her daughter (Liv Tyler). She leaves h...more
This book certainly has more exclamation points than any book I recall reading. Reviewing the content and style of this book fairly is difficult because the author is so distasteful. The level of self absorption Bebe Buell displays is astonishing. She leaves her infant daughter with her mother and cousin so she can run after rock musicians, and then repeatedly gets pregnant and miscarries, which, I guess, is a blessing since she was incapable of caring for even one infant.
On the other hand, Bue...more
On the other hand, Bue...more
Okay--can't deny that I read through this like greased lightning, but it left me with the same feeling that the Patti Boyd memoir did--at the end of the day, these women were in the center of some amazing cultural moments. However, they were simply bystanders; nothing they did themselves is worth much. All of their glory is by association. It leaves a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. It also drives me a lot crazier in my mature years to hear about the money that went into just drugs alone f...more
Bebe Buell could be called the Pamela Des Barres of the East Coast, but she lacks much of Miss Pamela's charm and likeability. Best known now as the mother of actress Liv Tyler, she famously raised Liv to believe that she was Todd Rundgren's daughter, until Liv figured it out herself that Steven Tyler was in fact her daddy. Some of Buell's claims of how she influenced popular music (and musicians) sound far-fetched. (She says that Elvis Costello was singing about her when he used the word "baby"...more
I pretty much enjoyed this book. The first two thirds of the book are the best... when she is young and should be out partying. After that point it's kind of odd that she can't give up her groupie ways. The reason I liked this book as much as I did was because it is just another point of view of a time I am jealous to not have grown up in.
Bebe has a tendency to be a completely conceited woman which is really off-putting. It even seems like she is jealous when her Daughter Liv whom she conceived...more
Bebe has a tendency to be a completely conceited woman which is really off-putting. It even seems like she is jealous when her Daughter Liv whom she conceived...more
I had been looking forward to reading this for a while but it turned out to be very disappointing. Unlike similar books chronicling the time (Pamela Debarres et al) there was a distinct lack of any social comentary and the whole book seemed to be an endless round of name dropping and anecdotes which didnt really seem to have any direction. For me, the book lacked flow and purpose and I didnt feel that the author came across terribly well. The continual claims of influencing almost every piece of...more
I love a good, juicy tell all from a groupie. I wasn't necessarily let down with the goods in the book, she delivers some good groupie get down.
The stuff about her and Elvis Costello was unbelievably tender and heartbreaking.
However, I just DIDN'T like Bebe at ALL. She fawns and preens over her daughter when she is born....but constantly sends her off to live with grandma and an aunt for LONG periods of time. I know each child is raised differently and traditional parenting may have been a long...more
The stuff about her and Elvis Costello was unbelievably tender and heartbreaking.
However, I just DIDN'T like Bebe at ALL. She fawns and preens over her daughter when she is born....but constantly sends her off to live with grandma and an aunt for LONG periods of time. I know each child is raised differently and traditional parenting may have been a long...more
Liv Tyler must be a saint!
I enjoyed this book, but the more I read the more I was in awe of lovely Liv Tyler. Bebe Buell comes acoss as basically a nice person, but incredibly silly, shallow, scatterbrained, disorganized, needy, child-like . . . basically all the things you don't want in a mother!
How Liv Tyler could grow up to be a great actress, successful model, sensible businesswoman, and a devoted single mother, is really one of the great triumphs of the human spirit.
Liv honey, we're all wa...more
I enjoyed this book, but the more I read the more I was in awe of lovely Liv Tyler. Bebe Buell comes acoss as basically a nice person, but incredibly silly, shallow, scatterbrained, disorganized, needy, child-like . . . basically all the things you don't want in a mother!
How Liv Tyler could grow up to be a great actress, successful model, sensible businesswoman, and a devoted single mother, is really one of the great triumphs of the human spirit.
Liv honey, we're all wa...more
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sort of fascinating, in a terribly-written way.
I knew Bebe Buell as a kick ass female rocker first, not Liv Tyler's Mom, not lover of everyone from Mick Jagger to Iggy Pop. And somehow reading of her never ending heart ache about Elvis Costello or the parade of men she played her role of "muse" for really pissed me off. I'm like "Bebe, just rock!" Because sadly, as with most women I know, this hits home hard. Like Bebe, I gave up my goals to assist men with theirs, to be what supports their dreams. My anger with her was probably anger with m...more
Mar 12, 2008
Rebecca
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
aspiring groupies
Shelves:
rock-bios
I lived for Rock Scene Magazine. Everyone looked interesting doing interesting things, like hanging out at Max's Kansas City or the lower east side.
Bebe Buell was a regular. Looking wholesome glamorous hanging off the arm of a drugged out rocker. I wanted to know more.
She made a lot of strange choices. Chasing emotionally unavailable men, ruining her contract with Eileen ford, getting involved with Elvis Costello while he was married. Never learning anything just dating more bottom feeder musici...more
Holy Cow. This girl got around!
But not in a such a slutty way, amazingly enough. She was so young and had this sweetness about her that somehow balanced out the fact that she was with so many rock and roll gods. Well, that and the fact that much of her motivation seemed to come from a sense of trying to "even the score" with her main boyfriend who was going out on her every time she turned her back.
The real heart breaker of the book is the story about Elvis Costello. Wow. I won't spoil anything...more
But not in a such a slutty way, amazingly enough. She was so young and had this sweetness about her that somehow balanced out the fact that she was with so many rock and roll gods. Well, that and the fact that much of her motivation seemed to come from a sense of trying to "even the score" with her main boyfriend who was going out on her every time she turned her back.
The real heart breaker of the book is the story about Elvis Costello. Wow. I won't spoil anything...more
A slightly lesser cousin to 'Im With the Band' by Pamela Des Barres, it's still got the dirt about Liv Tyler thinking her dad's Todd Rungdren and all the hell Elvis Costello put her through (Costello fans will not like this book, though he appears on and off all the way through it. It's a little more eightie's - and I'm not convinced that Prince is actually singing 'Bebe, you're much too fast' on LRC.
I have never read anything my anyone so vain. "Everyone said how beautiful, talented,smart I was." "Everyone asked me for style advice because I..........." On and on and on. We only know who she is because she happened to have a child by a famous man. Period.
i really didn't like this book because she thought she the one who got into everyone famous. what she did to liv tyler was really wrong and he was everyone girlfriend but still with a guy saying that she cheating on him with may rock stars
Compelling for the stories but this woman has an appallingly over-developed sense of self-worth.
If you love classic rock and wish you were around for all the good gossip, read this.
One of my all time favorite books.
This was a wild book. Lots of crazy things Bebe Buell did. I loved it!
Aug 22, 2011
Tamelyn Feinstein
rated it
2 of 5 stars
Shelves:
i-know-it-s-only-rock-n-roll-but,
memoirs
unintentionally hilarious.
I am currently on a rock-and-roll memoir kick, and I found this one quite interesting. Knowing you have to take everything Bebe says with a grain of salt, the hardest part to overcome might be her constantly reminding you of her beauty. All in all, I found it fascinating. You know she wasn't the first young woman to run from the arms of one man to the next in search of love ... hers just happened to be on the cutting edge of rock and roll history.
Absolutely loved this book. Really got to know bebe inside and out. Really respect her honesty while sharing her uttermost secrets
Out of all the many groupie books I've read and loved, this was actually my favorite. I liked it much better than Pamela Des Barres, "I'm With the Band." Ms. Buell isn't always particularly likable, but her stories are juicy and delicious -- a true crazy groupie during rock's most decadent years.
I should be embarassed that I read this but I like groupie/rocknroll/sex/drug books. She's ditzy and has an inflated sense of self, but she did have sex with a lot of interesting people and she gave the world Liv Tyler.
Bebe is prone to making some grand statements that I don't quite buy, but the book is juicy and fascinating if you are interested in the 70s rock scene. She's surprisingly endearing. Great beach read.
extremely entertaining. bio on liv tyler's mom who was a total groupie. she's pretty full of herself and i never would have chosen to read this if it weren't for a book club. a light, fluffy read.
Horrible! I couldn't even finish because it was so bad. Badly written by someone who's only interesting qualities are the people they've slept with.
Interesting, but she has delusions of grandeur.... I DO NOT believe Prince was writing about her in the song "Little Red Corvette!"
This woman is delusional and this book is so awesomely trashtastic! Unintentional hilarity!
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