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49th out of 63 books
—
25 voters
Everything I'm Cracked Up to Be: A Rock & Roll Fairy Tale
by
Jen Trynin
"With plenty to say and ample musical gifts with which to say it, Boston newcomer Jennifer Trynin is poised to join the upper ranks of GenX alternative rock queendom . . . One of the year's best debuts. A revelation."-BILLBOARD
It was 1994-post-Liz Phair, mid-Courtney Love, just shy of Alanis Morissette. After seven years of slogging it out in the Boston music scene, Jen Tr...more
It was 1994-post-Liz Phair, mid-Courtney Love, just shy of Alanis Morissette. After seven years of slogging it out in the Boston music scene, Jen Tr...more
Hardcover, 368 pages
Published
February 1st 2006
by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
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I don't have a whole lot of good to say about this book. I liked learning about how musicians actually make money (or more often don't) once they're signed to a record label. I liked how Aimee Mann flitted through the narrative like some alt-rock wraith, searching for a label to call home & offering pithy statements about bassists with issues and going straight to the studio from the airport. So that's where the star comes from.
I did not like the despicable things Trynin did, like making out...more
I did not like the despicable things Trynin did, like making out...more
Here’s the thing with rock and roll memoirs (at least this is the thing I’m getting after reading, well, two) stories about playing crowded, smoky clubs all the sound the same after you hear about three of them. Doesn’t matter where the club is, who the band is, or what year it is. Sometimes something quirky happens, but even then it’s not enough to break up the monotony.
That would be my main complaint about Jen Trynin’s Everything I’m Cracked Up to Be, which weighs in at a wrist-straining 350+...more
That would be my main complaint about Jen Trynin’s Everything I’m Cracked Up to Be, which weighs in at a wrist-straining 350+...more
Here Today, Gone Tomorrow, Ass Kicked by Sleazettes, 26 Feb 2006
4.75 stars
"I think that the part about getting up in front of people and playing my own thing - in great part, it was always uncomfortable. And I think that really came across sometimes in my shows and my presentation of myself, because, you know, when I started doing this a million years ago when I was a kid, I honestly never pictured myself being a performer. I always thought I would be a songwriter, and I would give my music to...more
Funny. Sharp. Restless.
Trynin's the kind of girl that would drive you crazy but keep you entertained forever. She has a manic energy that comes through in her writing and story telling. The book is nicely written as a description of what it’s like to be yourself and not be yourself all at the same time and to consistently feel like you’re in the wrong place but not be able to figure out why since it really seems that this is exactly where you should be.
It's interesting to contemplate how “hitt...more
Trynin's the kind of girl that would drive you crazy but keep you entertained forever. She has a manic energy that comes through in her writing and story telling. The book is nicely written as a description of what it’s like to be yourself and not be yourself all at the same time and to consistently feel like you’re in the wrong place but not be able to figure out why since it really seems that this is exactly where you should be.
It's interesting to contemplate how “hitt...more
On the one hand, I wanted to edit it, and was annoyed by several elements in the storytelling, but on the other hand, I tore through it and always wanted more, even though I knew exactly what was going to happen (I lived through the 90s). I loved "Better Than Nothing" when it came out, and I came of age in the era of fAlanis Morisette, so I loved reading this first-hand account Trynin's experience in the rock world during this particular pop culture moment. There was way too much repetition in t...more
Feb 05, 2009
Bookmarks Magazine
added it
It's been over a decade since Jen Trynin's first album hit the shelves__and maybe time, as well as getting her story down on paper__has healed some wounds. For all the ups and downs of her flirtation with stardom, she shows neither bitterness nor excessive self-regard. In direct, insightful prose she weaves a tale of manipulation, betrayal, and the power of fame's allure. Critics are as charmed by her debut book as they were with her first album. Let's hope, for Trynin's sake, that acclaim isn't
...more
Nov 23, 2008
Ciara
rated it
2 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
washed up wannabe rock stars, harvard bookstore employees, jennifer trynin's would-be students
man, was this book ever a total letdown. it caught my eye on the bookstores "new arrivals" shelf because, you know, i have a weakness for books about rock stars & stuff, even though i know from 29 years of experience reading these books that they ALWAYS suck, they're NEVER good, they are ALWAYS wildly disappointing. but for once, the logical part of my brain whirred into action & said, "ciara, books about rock stars always suck. & this is a book about a woman who TRIED to be a rock s...more
"I quit piano, get a guitar, and start writing songs. I pretend I'm a real singer, like Joni Mitchell--beautiful, fearless, sauntering through strange cities, tossing love affairs over my shoulder like salt."
"--airquoting low-budge, hip, and video, continuing his diatribe in an air-quoting frenzy, bouncing his fingers around words like precious, passionate, arty, money, until it seems like the only words Phillippe actually means are the ones like the or and or yeah--"
"--airquoting low-budge, hip, and video, continuing his diatribe in an air-quoting frenzy, bouncing his fingers around words like precious, passionate, arty, money, until it seems like the only words Phillippe actually means are the ones like the or and or yeah--"
Gun Shy Trigger Happy is one of my favorite albums, and let's face it, "Better Than Nothing" is a friggin' fantastic song. But Jen Trynin is a far better song writer than she is a prose writer. Somehow she manages to make the lead character in a memoir -- herself -- largely unlikeable and hard to root for. Everyone around her is treating her like a star, but she keeps finding ways to be miserable. As much as I admire her guitar skills and love love LOVE her songs ("Everything" is one of my all-t...more
An interesting view into the music world. Very enlightening to learn what artists really make off album sales (it's roughly $0.00). The band drama and antics were entertaining as well. Four stars if you are reading it on the beach or on a long plane ride (nice pace, engaging enough), but only three stars if you're sitting on your couch reading it (because you probably have better things you could be doing).
Jen Trynin found herself in the middle of a huge bidding war after playing for years in the Boston music scene. She wanted to take it further than the Sunday through Wednesday coffee house, chick singer songwriter scene. So she plugged in got two guys on bass and drums to help her rock out and put out an indie CD and toured the dives while being wined and dined by the major labels.
I enjoyed this journey of a rock star -- from her couch to the top and back again. It was entertaining, if not terribly enlightening. The most instructive parts were the numbers game played by the music business (file sharing is far from their only problem!), but that may not be news to other readers. Loved the descriptions of the video shoots too.
I loved Jen Trynin's music back when I was in college, and was excited to read this account of her up and (sadly) very much down music biz experience. And yet the book is not a downer--it's an emotional, realistic portrait of what a normal person would go through in the face of rocketing stardom that feels like catharsis for the author. Throughout, Trynin comes across as intelligent, honest, self-aware, and, above all, real. She does an exemplary job of creating engaging characters and, although...more
You might remember Jen(nifer) Trynin from her semi-hit song "Better Than Nothing" in the mid-90s ("Maybe we could talk in the shower, I bet we'd be gone in an hour...[chorus:] I'm feelin' gooooood, I'm feelin' goooood, I'm feelin' goooooood right now") This book is about her beginnings as an open mic veteran in the Boston music scene who got noticed and then became the object of the largest bidding war in history for her first--and ultimately, only--major label contract. It was fascinating to le...more
An always honest, sometimes absurd, true story of a musician who missed superstardom by that much. Trynin was a talented, witty, clever songwriter and is all of the above as an author.
I, for one, still have her CDs in heavy rotation nearly two decades later, even if the rest of you people didn't buy them. Harrumph.
I, for one, still have her CDs in heavy rotation nearly two decades later, even if the rest of you people didn't buy them. Harrumph.
A hard, fascinating look into an artist's struggle within the industry. Sad and yet humane and with hope. Recalls a time when Music actually meant something.
I found the writing quite dry, and honestly, I didn't find the book that interesting. Moving on.
Good book about an artist on the verge of going breaking out.
Interesting and honest portrayal of life in the music biz.
Not perfect, but definitely fascinating.
Gives a very frank view of life of an up and coming musician in the 90's. Alanis can suck it!
Great memoir about life on a major label!
MY AUTOBIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR CHOICE
I love rock music, so I couldn't help but be hooked by the idea of a book that described someones roller coaster ride on the pop music machine. One day it's "you're the greatest", the next it's "who the heck are you". In her telling it's somewhat repetitive, but Trynin keeps her perspective and sense of humour throughout.
Interesting as a description of a failed pop career for those into that topic. Not so successful as pure story, as the end was apparent from the beginning. Lots of dialog, which she must have made up (no one remembers all that, especially with booze involved).
This book is not unlike "killing Bono" in its theme. I loved this book. Don;t read it if you don't care for profanity. This book is Rock n Roll.. about a scene that used to be Rock and Roll. :)
What happens to one hit wonders? Well, they are people who go on to live normal lives for the most part. A well written story of what happens when it suddenly stops happening.
Jun 06, 2007
Jennifer
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Anybody who was a fan of the Boston Local Music Scene in the 90s
Shelves:
greatreads
Great telling of the rise and fall (?) of on of Boston's best known local musicians who tasted national fame. Great read! Makes one question the dream of making it big in rock and roll.
Bizzare... because I know many of the people in this novel. Great novel for musicians and non-musicians who would like a deeper look into the inside track of "making it".
True story of almost being one of the "it" rockstars of the 90s. If Jen Trynin's music was as good as her writing, I should probably be listening to her CDs.
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Aug 18, 2011 12:23pm
Aug 18, 2011 01:03pm