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Take It Like a Man: The Autobiography of Boy George

by Boy George, Spencer Bright

Overview
Editorial Reviews
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Overview

A Grammy Award for "Karma Chameleon" sealed Boy George's pop-icon status as the avant-garde star in Hasidic hat and quasi-religious robes, whose beguiling melodies and impertinent one-liners seduced an unsuspecting public. "Sex? I'd rather have a cup of tea," he said, teasing the world about his sexual leanings. But after reaching the pinnacle of success, his life took a devastating turn. Culture Club, George's pioneering band, went into eclipse, his hushed-up relationship with drummer Jon Moss fell apart, and Boy George found a new and dangerous obsession - drugs - ending up with a heroin addiction. In this electrifying autobiography Boy George tells the whole truth for the first time, and does so with total candor and irrepressible wit. Take It Like a Man is the story of the crazy highs and desperate lows; the family struggles; friends and lovers - gay, straight, and transvestite; the obsessive media infatuation; as well as the agony, shame and despair of drug withdrawal.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

The British pop band Culture Club produced a string of mid-1980s hits like ``Do You Really Want to Hurt Me'' and ``Karma Chameleon,'' but the provocative, campy persona of frontman Boy George always attracted more attention than the band's music itself. Characterized by his droll wit, elaborate makeup and bizarre, gender-bending dress, Boy George took pop-star iconography to new heights of outlandishness and was a worldwide media darling until his drug habit all but destroyed his career. In this highly entertaining autobiography, the singer details with wit and pathos his working-class childhood as the self-dubbed ``pink sheep'' of a large suburban family, his teenage fascination with and emulation of glam-rock icons like David Bowie and Marc Bolan, his years as a London punk scenester, his jet-setting life as a pop celebrity and his painful descent into and recovery from heroin addiction. At times rambling and disjointed, this is nevertheless a compelling portrait of an individual who, by publicly celebrating his kinks and quirks, parlayed his alienation from mainstream British culture into a highly successful career. Bright is a London-based journalist. Photos not seen by PW. Author tour. (Oct.)

Mike Tribby

Tell-all memoirs by gay or bi stars used to gloss over their sexuality, but Boy George O'Dowd's book forsakes such pretense, presenting him as he is, pancake makeup and all. Comfortably chatty and full of witty observations and characterizations, it is the engaging chronicle of a gentle soul, aware from an early age of what his preferences were and that he was born to perform. Boy George recalls memorizing the words to every song he heard, regardless of musical style, and singing and dancing along with the records. He recalls a lonely childhood as a known "poof," the "pink sheep of the family." His is the story of a talented working-class lad who attained a blinding flash of fame that the media dubbed Boy George Mania, only to fall into drug addiction and personal upheaval. His sweet nature shines out, however, in a narrative that visits most of the usual road-to-fame pitstops but details them in original and insightful ways. This is that rare thing, a rock bio that may appeal to other readers besides its subject's fans.