Ani Difranco: Righteous Babe

by Raffaele Quirino

Reflects on Ani DiFranco's life from her childhood to the present, revealing her roles as a singer, songwriter, and businesswoman, and discusses her music style.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Music

168 pages, Paperback

First published February 24, 2000

Reviews

[Kate · Rating 1 out of 5]

For someone who seems to like Ani Difranco, Quirinos seems to spend the entire book committing the number one sin in Ani-music: comparing her to Kate Bush and Tori Amos.

That, coupled with the fact the book is poorly written... this nearly unreadable book has been one of the worst I've ever trudged through.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Typos galore! Factual errors as well. Not very well written.

[Jinni Pike · Rating 2 out of 5]

Essentially a critical essay of the first 10 years of Ani DiFranco's career, this is not the type of book I'd typically pick up. However, a friend bought it for me knowing I love Ani and I assume not knowing that it was published in 2000 so was pretty outdated. I felt like I owed the sweet gesture a read and it was short and quick so I was able to sneak it in before the end of the year and count it towards that book challenge number. 12 whole books for 2024, baby!

Anyways, this book was pretty repetitive but it was a nice glimpse into Ani's career and reputation a couple years before I discovered her and became a huge fan. And it was a good appetizer to the first book I'm reading of 2025: Ani's memoir No Walls and the Recurring Dream.

[Amy D.P. · Rating 1 out of 5]

A poorly written book. Yes, there are some interesting facts in here, the subject herself is fascinating, but the content is poorly executed. The structure is weak, the author often repeats himself, and there is nothing in this book that cannot be read in more in-depth articles from magazines. Included are album cover pictures (that can be seen in color on amazon), and a few other pictures and early press releases which can all can found in better quality on the internet. At the end of the book is a review of every song Ani has made until the point of print for this book. I'm not sure I full agree with it all. The very end the author concludes with a "what I have learned" section. Overall, just a poorly written text with no depth about the subject. I'm happy this was a quick read so I did not waste too much of my life reading this.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book for the lyrics. I'm notorious for writing/marking up a book... but this one was bad. Alot of lyrics/poems/thoughts that keep me wanting more... or kept me thinking about my life. Ani is a great inspiration.

"Smile Pretty and Watch Your Back"

[Holly Diem · Rating 3 out of 5]

don't expect to be reading much about Ani's personal life, it is more about her music, how she has come to each record she has produced. kinda a let down. I love Ani, but this really wasn't what I expected.

[Crecia]

love this app! I never even knew this book existed

[Tim Petersik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not very well written, but Ani is so fascinating that I enjoyed this biography anyway.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

This kind of read like an essay on Ani.