Biographies and Autobiographies are not my favorite genre of books, but I do make exceptions for certain political figures, royalty, and a handful of legendary divas like Marlene Dietrich, Jean Harlow, Tullulah Bankhead, and Marilyn Monroe. And then there is Madonna. In spite of the fact that I am an upper-middle-class, aging, housewife with grown children and grandchildren, I have always had a fascination with Madonna. It all started on Thanksgiving Day of 1984 when I attended a family dinner at my sister's house and my 13 year old niece came to the dinner table wearing a "Madonna" outfit, complete with fishnet stockings, a rag in her long hair, and fingerless mesh gloves. I thought, "Who is this Madonna my niece is imitating?" and assumed she was just the latest teeny-bopper craze and would merely be another passing phase in the evolution of Rock and Roll. As years passed, Madonna became a chameleon, re-inventing herself over and over, always one step ahead of the media and the hoards of commercial pop entertainers. Today at 50 years old, Madonna "has sold an estimated 200 million albums world wide, and she is listed in the Guiness Book of World Records as the female singer with the highest annual earnings.

I am not a Madonna fan. I do not listen to her music, much preferring jazz, the blues, classical, and 60's and 70's oldies. But curiosity got the best of me. I wanted to know more about her life and what better source than her favorite brother. So I bought the book.

Christopher Ciccone does share many intimate details of Madonna' s childhood family life in Rochester, Michigan. And since he followed her to New York and participated in the journey of her rising fame, he can authentically give a first hand account of many aspects of Madonna's life as she struggled to become the star she is today. She was the center of Christopher's life. He idolized Madonna. So he tells all, and from that perspective the book was not a disappointment.

But, in 1995 they had their first disagreement. And as years passed Madonna became increasingly critical of Christopher's dependence on her, his spending habits (paying off an ex-lover with most of his life savings), his drug habit (cocaine), and his irresponsible lifestyle. Today they barely speak to each other. Christopher Ciccone should be ashamed of himself for writing this book; a whining plea for sympathy because Madonna was "cold-hearted, judgmental, cheap, and paranoid about being used". He accuses her of abandoning him and leaving him destitute after "using him" for 10 years to achieve fame. I just don't understand what Christopher expected to accomplish by writing this book. I guess it was his revenge (for Madonna being the successful one), exposing the world to their personal family business. When I read the final page and closed the book, I was filled wth sadness. The world has no need to know about Christopher's petty sibling rivalry. It robbed Madonna of her privacy and stripped Christopher of his pride and dignity. So sad! ( )

I picked this up because one of my favourite gossip websites, LaineyGossip.com, said it was a juicy read. And it is! The author is Madonna's brother, and by all accounts, was a close confidant and alter ego to Madonna from her rise as a popstar to Kabbalah earth mom. Apparently, they've had a somewhat recent fallout (he writes his side of that story), and whether you think it's repellent or not, he wrote this very dishy biography.

For me, if someone is going to write a "tell-all" biography, it better have lots of dirty details. I hate it when you think you are going to get the inside scoop, but instead you get a few choice stories, but then a lot of factual dreck. I don't know what that says about me, but if I wanted a biography with a lot of quotes or facts, then I would have picked one of those up! However, this book really does give you the view of an insider, someone who is privy to the intimate details of a famous person's life. And it doesn't hold back.

The only commentary I have about the content is that Ciccone does not talk about Madonna's process to create her music. No matter what else Madonna has done, she has always co-written her music and wants to be taken seriously as an artist. I'm not sure if this absence is because Ciccone has no clue how she makes her music or if music is of no interest to him. He goes on and on about the costumes, the dancing, the production of the shows - but this is where his job and interest lay.

I'm not going to describe what Ciccone talks about in this book, because a reader isn't going to pick it up based on such a summary. I'll just say that this biography delivers on its promise, and if you're interested in inside details in Madonna's life, then it's a great guilty read. ( )

a very good read and insight into the life of a Diva.

This was a great read, i didn't realize Madonna was such a bitch ( )

God, Christopher Ciccone is whiny. And catty. There is really no new information about Madonna in this book, it’s just Christopher whining about how she’s mistreated him all these years. Basically, every time he works for her, she rips him off (doesn’t pay him fairly, replaces him at the last minute, etc.) You know what – then quit working for her! Christopher can’t do that though because he has no formal training to do ANYTHING. Madonna lets him dance in her videos, design her houses, dress her for her tours, art direct her tours and gets her friends to give him gallery shows, even though he’s never formally trained do any of that. And all he does is bitch about how horrible it is to work for her. I’m not a huge Madonna fan; I just read this book because I like reading about the entertainment business and stars in general. But there was nothing new here - almost nothing about Madonna’s childhood, no insights into her personality. I really don’t think Madonna and Christopher were ever that close, even though they spent a lot of time together, because he relates virtual nothing about Madonna’s personal life. Or else he was never paying attention what was going on in it because he’s just as self-absorbed as she is. ( )