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2.0 out of 5 stars
Basic "Shakira", Jul 30 2003
Shakira's rousing Latin music, belly-dancing and pleasant personality have snagged the attention of the American public. Alas, now she has her own fan-oriented biography -- a rather vague background outline, peppered with career information and talk of how great she is."Woman" follows Shakira from her childhood as a bright, talented child to a burgeoning singing sensation in her native Columbia, then finding instant stardom in the US. Her religion, her family, her boyfriends, and her insights into life (such as when a bag of her songs was stolen) are gone into, but not in-depth. Few biographies of actors or singers who are still alive are any good. However, "Woman" is lacking even among the quickie celebrity biographies. Ximena Diego, a Spanish-language entertainment editor, shoots for a professional look at Shakira, and succeeds in outlining her career, her CDs, her career ups-and-downs, and the festivals and concerts she played at. Unfortunately, there isn't much more to the biography than that. Ximena Diego is a fan of Shakira's, and it shows. We're told frequently how talented, how sweet, how wonderful Shakira is. Why do we need to be told at all? The most frustrating thing is that while Diego has clearly done her research, she fails to balance out Shakira's personal interactions with her professional life. There's hardly anything about her friends or non-music accomplishments. Die-hard Shakira completists may want this, or people who are just finding out about her. But for those who want something of substance about the "woman full of grace," wait for the next book.
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