false 3426208 1416587624 9781416587620 493 222 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3426208.Life_with_My_Sister_Madonna 1441363 Christopher Ciccone 504 225 1 1 false Sun Aug 31 09:28:56 -0700 2008 Sun Aug 31 09:52:38 -0700 2008
In her brother's blah-titled and poorly written memoir, "Life with My Sister Madonna," the Material Mum comes off as spoiled, demanding, cold, neurotic, stingy, and self-centered. And I ask, "Is this surprising to anyone, even to her fans?"

Christopher Ciccone's account is neither enlightening or juicy. Ciccone isn't insightful enough and is perhaps too close to her to analyze his sister's complexities. And while some of the stories concerning Madonna and other celebrities may be new to readers, they aren't exactly earth-shattering. Her diva-antics are pretty much what you'd expect from the Queen of Pop.

You get the feeling Ciccone's holding back a lot of the real dirt not so much because Madonna's family and he doesn't want to hurt her but because he's hoping she'll still hire him for one of her projects again.

Ultimately, too much is spent on his life and what he's going through as if we cared. His portrait of Madonna is sketchy at best and a lot of her milestones are skimmed over (especially her pregnancy to her first child, Lourdes) in favor of how he decorated Madonna's homes.

This book becomes nothing more than (surprise, surprise) a brother cashing in on his sister's celebrity.

That being said, I devoured it in like two days.


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