Reckless: My Life as a Pretender

Sometimes, I wonder why I bother reading biographies of celebrities, in the midst of the variety of books I like to satisfy my literary palate with.  It pretty much has the same pattern:  discovering the talent at a young age; humble, frugal beginnings; a quick rise to stardom, with drugs and alcohol to accompany that part of the journey--and then a quick fall.  Then, for the rest of the book, the biographer, or the celebrity if it's an autobiography, makes every attempt possible to redeem themselves, hoping they can redeem themselves.

That, however, is not how Reckless: My Life as a Pretender is formatted.  

Lead singer Chrissie Hynde tells about her journey in how she became the lead singer of the Pretenders.  She never considered singing, only listening for hours on end to her favorite records, the Rolling Stones, Velvet Underground--her list is endless.  You would have to have been around that time to know the names of some of these bands.  Therefore, most of the ones she listed are those I had never heard of and couldn't even come close to listening.  Of course, she couldn't write about this without going into great detail about how she used drugs and alcohol excessively.  That, and not having the least amount of direction in her life back then, would set her on an unstable course in her life, one living arrangement and one job to another.  The devil in the details at its best.

Nonetheless, I gave Hynde the benefit of the doubt and kept reading.  That she was well into her 20s before she ever considered being in a band, it held promise for something different, therefore something inspiring.  Based on what little I knew about the Pretenders--just a few songs I have passively listened to since about 1983--I thought this book would somehow turn around.  I thought that when she met Pete (drummer), Jimmy (guitarist), and Martin (bassist), her life would actually have direction.  I hate to say this, but it didn't.

What I gathered from the text was Chrissy's instability continued, moving from one place to another, meeting people, both male and female alike, most of whom hurt her in some way, and even living with them, only for her to have to move for various reasons.  By this time, I am past page 200 of the 310-page book.  Her text is inconsistent with the subject at hand.  The book was closing in on 100 pages left before Hynde mentioned anything about the Pretenders.

Like a few biographies I have read, like Slash's or one of KISS', there are lots of times when they talk about how they came up with hit songs.  If any of you are looking for how the Pretenders came up with timeless hits like "Middle of the Road," "Brass in Pockets," and "Don't Get Me Wrong," you will not find that.  In fact, there were times when those phrases came up in dialogue or circumstances. It only had me, the reader, in the dark.  "Brass in Pockets" happens to be my favorite by them.  I would have liked to have known how she came up with the title, the lyrics, how the guitarist came up with the melody, or how they shot the video.

The last several pages end on a depressing note.  Jimmy's and Pete's deaths, both within a year of each other.  She even spoke of her wedding day and her subsequent entrance into motherhood with such morbidity.

For the first time ever in my life, I read a biography of someone I didn't specifically dislike, just never considered being really into.  Therefore, the impact the content in this book made on me was not that great.  And it will stay that way.  Furthermore, I am glad I never went to a Pretenders concert.  Based on how Hynde described their shows, she didn't like fans very much.  Hello?  If it hadn't been for the fans, they would not have the shows they wanted so badly to have.

The arrangement for this autobiography is much like the one for the movie Walk the Line.  All it is is about Johnny Cash when he was on drugs and married to Vivian.  When I saw it, I thought:  why not have some part where he and June were married and appeared regularly on the Billy Graham show? Or his time with the Highway Men?  With this in mind, I wanted to know what things were like after Hynde had her two children, what the Pretenders were like from 1983 on, what she's doing now, etc.

If anything good can come out of reading this book, and writing this review, it is that I have taken the liberty of concisely expressing what I thought about this book.  I can do so.  According to Hynde, she never reads reviews.  Therefore, I assume her eyes will not happen upon this post.  But if she does, please know that I want only the best for her in her life.

I think I've written enough about this.  If you'll excuse me, I will crank up some KISS--a band who, without a doubt, appreciates their fans.