I think this book definitely wins an award of "most deceiving summary" & "most misleading false advertising".

The book jacket lures you in with statements like, "tried to murder her sister" and "extraordinarily bizarre childhood". Being the lover of memoirs and human's life stories that I am, these lines had me interested enough to pick up the book.

What a mistake. Her and her sister had, if anything, slightly elevated rivalry that many sibling endure and her childhood was incredibly mundane. Her parents were hard-working middle-class Welsh who were stiff and lacked compassion [perspective of author, not of mine]. She claims many times throughout the book that her mother was "oppressive" and that she "wished they'd have chopped her head off" during her mother's surgery. Really, the book is an account of a selfish teenager with an extreme lack of morals, feelings for others and took no responsibility for any of her mistakes. [She so lightly regards her abortions, infidelity, etc]. I found myself much more interested in looking of the geographies & pronunciation of the Welsh cities where her family culminated than reading about her childhood.

The pros were: her lovely and refreshing account of what it was like to see a washing machine at age 4 [truly the highlight of the book and a testament to the quality her writing could be..]. She saw many amazing bands [Rolling Stones, Beatles, etc] and was crafty enough to make and produce her own clothing; something I admire.

Lastly, I found her writing style to be bland. She wasn't able to paint pictures with her words or even keep track of her story in a chronological sense. All around, a largely disappointing read. I should add that I'd never heard of Janet Street-Porter before picking up this book and it's my understanding she has quite the following, although I'm still unsure what her claim to fame is. ( )

This account takes us through Street-Porter's childhood to her late teens/early twenties. The tone of the book very much fit with her personality (as seen on tv), her voice very clear. It was funny and at times abrasive and unsympathetic: she seems to pull few punches in her personal as well as her public life.

I'd be interested to read more about her, find out whether she has softened at all in her attitude to her family (or anything at all!) over the years.

Sometimes it read a bit like a list of famous/talented people she has met, but I guess it's part of her life that would look like name-dropping however she wrote it, so barefacedly is as good a way as any! ( )