Reckless: My Life as a Pretender

Hynde, Chrissie

3.49

4,508 ratings by Goodreads

9780147521668: Reckless: My Life as a Pretender

ISBN 10: 0147521661 ISBN 13: 9780147521668

Publisher: Random House Audio, 2015

From Chrissie Hynde, one of rock’s most iconic, alluring, kick-ass, and (let’s face it) sexy women, a brilliant, no-holds-barred memoir of a rock life lived to the hilt.

Chrissie Hynde, the songwriter and frontwoman of The Pretenders in its various incarnations, has for thirty-five years been one of the most admired and adored and imitated figures in rock. This long-awaited memoir tells her life story in full and utterly fascinating detail, from her all-American Ohio fifties childhood to her classic baby-boomer seduction by the rock of the sixties to her sojourn in the crucible of punk that was seventies London to her instant emergence with her band, The Pretenders, in 1980 into stardom as a frontwoman and songwriter. She brings a fantastic eye for detail, a withering and sardonic sense of humor, and a fearless and sometimes naked emotional honesty to her memoir, and every line, every word of it is unmistakably hers. It is sure to be recognized as a classic of rock literature—and, man, is it fun to listen to.

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Review:

An Amazon Best Book of September 2015: With her new memoir, Chrissie Hynde makes one point abundantly clear: She, and no one else, could have been Chrissie Hynde. It’s hard to imagine how anyone else could so consistently find oneself time and again in the eye of the cultural storm: In just over 300 pages, Reckless charges through her life with, ahem, reckless abandon, taking us from her Northern Ohio upbringing through the demise of the first, combustible incarnation of her iconic band, The Pretenders. Against a tapestry of the urban decay of her hometown of Akron, Hynde walks a fine line between fan and groupie, effortlessly ingratiating herself with the day’s rock & roll royalty, including David Bowie, Iggy Pop, and Rod Stewart. As a somewhat shiftless student, she finds herself witness to the tragedy at Kent State University that changed the country and the course of an unpopular war. In London at its punk zenith, Hynde rubs elbows with Johnny Rotten and Joe Strummer while looking for the band that would transform her songs into one of the most stunning debuts in rock history. Permeated with sex, drugs, and rock & roll--and sprinkled with sly hints about which experiences became what iconic songs—Hynde’s tell-all is as audacious, raw, and thrilling as her lyrics.-- Jon Foro

About the Author:

Chrissie Hynde is a singer, songwriter, and guitarist, best known as the lead singer of the enduring rock band The Pretenders. Hynde released nine studio albums with The Pretenders, beginning with 1980’s Pretenders, which Rolling Stone called the #13 Best Debut Album of All Time. Most recently, she released her first solo album, Stockholm, in 2014. She lives in London.

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