Customer Reviews

Life with My Sister Madonna

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I wasn't gonna buy this 'cause Madonna was furious about this book so out of respect for her i didn't want to but i just couldn't resist!!! It was a really good read but if you are a big Madonna fan and you are willing to believe what Chris has written about his sister, then her "Nice" personality that she is showing to the world is basically shattered! Me personally I didn't take this book seriously. Brothers and Sisters always fight and always will. This book is kinda a testament of that. This book does however really get across the point of just how much having a mother die at such a young age can really affect the kids. Great read!!!

I do agree with some of the other reviews, this book doesn't really give you too much insight on Madonna's character but it is written by her brother which does give a different perspective. So for that reason, I think it's a great book. I couldn't put it down. I was shocked to read about how poorly Christopher was treated by her. Even the stories he told about "big name" people, I still can't believe some of the things I read. I definitely enjoyed it...I think you should give it a go!

Life with My Sister Madonna, by Christopher Ciccone, is a revealing look into the life of Madonna, the "global icon". It is also about Christopher, their relationship, family, friends and fans.

The book begins with a prologue that takes place in London in 1993 and portrays the good times between brother and sister. Christopher explains that Madonna is an insomniac: "unbridled desire for fame and fortune, you see, is incompatible with sleep."

Madonna is portrayed as someone with both a massive ego and riddled with insecurities. She was very nervous about performing for the 1991 Academy Awards, because it was in front of established actors, "whose respect she desperately wanted to win."

Those who worked for her--including Christopher--knew to praise her during and after performances and movie premiers--no matter how poorly she acted, no matter what. When Madonna hired a new person to dress her between performances, for example, Christopher told him to keep quiet, except when Madonna asked, How do I look?" The reply: "Wonderful Madonna, wonderful."

Ciccone writes that Madonna wanted to be a great movie star: "I wish her well, but secretly believe that the only part that she is truly capable of playing is that of herself, Madonna, a part that she has created and curated."

Ouch.

The first chapter begins with their childhood in Rochester, Michigan. Tragically, their mother died when Christopher was 3 years old and Madonna, 5. The father remarries and there are 8 children.

The children are expected to do daily chores and are punished for transgressions; all save Madonna. Christopher writes that she rarely had to do chores and was virtually never punished. He wrote that Joan, his step mom, even seemed a bit afraid of Madonna.

Turns out, Madonna looks like their mother and is dad's favorite.

The book progresses though their lives. In high school, Madonna secretly took ballet classes and got Christopher involved as well. He explains that it was not for his company--which he desperately wanted; rather, the instructor, who Madonna adored, needed a male dancer.

Christopher believes that the disputes between brother and sister come with the addition of Guy Richie into Madonna's life. Richie is portrayed a homophobic jerk and it is obvious that there is no love between the author and Richie.

Ciccone writes that in 2001, Madonna: "treats me as if I am nothing other than a serf paid to decorate her house." He writes about how cheap Madonna is, especially in light of how much money she makes. In 2001, Richie and Madonnas worth were said to be worth $260 million. And Madonna had the highest female annual income in Britain of $43.8 million dollars. Ciccone writes that Madonna perpetually underpaid him, disputed payments and blackmailed Christopher over money. For example, he would not get paid unless he took Kabbalah classes with her.

No matter how badly Madonna treated her brother, he always came back for more, incapable of stopping himself. Madonna's power, so the book indicates, strong from childhood, only got stronger as she aged--making her a powerful, successful magnet that nobody--not even her brother--could resist.

A compelling read.

By the author of the award winning book, Harmonious Environment: Beautify, Detoxify and Energize Your Life, Your Home and Your Planet.

There's a very true saying that you can choose your friends, but you cannot choose your family. If you could, most modern celebrities would have no family.

And it might as well be the title for "Life With My Sister Madonna," written by the pop singer's brother Christopher Ciccone. While it starts off vaguely interesting, Ciccone's book eventually devolves into a justifiable but long-winded rant about his sister's flaws, which grows more tedious and bland with each passing page. Even dozens of celebrity cameos can't make it interesting.

Christopher and Madonna were raised in a large Italian-American household of siblings and half-siblings, and both became interested in dance at the same time. But while Christopher's interest veered off into painting and design, his sister rapidly became a punky pop singer who used sexuality and shock tactics to get herself publicity. But with fame came a worldview that was increasingly selfcentric.

As Madonna's star rose, Christopher stayed close as her dresser and designer, all throughout her disastrous marriage to Sean Penn, several tours, and up until shortly before the birth of her first child. But Madonna's selfish demands, unreasonable behavior and relationship with second hubby Guy Richie put a wedge between the siblings at last.

The basic message of "Life With My Sister Madonna" is that Madonna is a manipulative, control-freaky, fame-hungry diva who would use anything (including her mother's grave) to get attention, and would stiff and ignore her family whenever it suits her mood.

Well, like we didn't know that already.

In fact, nothing much in this supposedly intimate tell-all is shocking, because virtually all of what is inside has been reported a dozen times before. Lesbian flings, using and dropping people, the "Daddy Chair" for a conveniently-timed conception, her abusive first marriage and many other stories have been reported in books and tabloid media. And despite having been there for it all, Ciccone adds little to them.

There are a few that haven't made the news -- the gay jokes at her wedding, her refusal to pay her brother for his work, her harassing his psychiatrist -- but most of the time Ciccone just gives his personal impressions of people like Madonna's yes-lackey Ingrid Casares. More often we get to hear about Ciccone's not-terribly-interesting love life, artistic pursuits, and how he came out to his family.

And unfortunately Ciccone's writing doesn't improve matters. It starts off tolerably, but takes a sharp nose-dive when Ciccone becomes Madonna's dresser (basically he mopped the sweat off her body and told her how awesome she was), and preens a lot about how invaluable he was to Madonna. By the time Ritchie appears, it's degenerated into a gooey dribble of celebrity name-dropping and complaints, composed in a vaguely stoned manner.

In fact, the most interesting part of the entire book is Ciccone's meetings with various stars such as Warren Beatty, Dolly Parton and Gwyneth Paltrow. Yet even then, there's the underlying feeling that he's telling us to demonstrate, "See? These people are nice, and my sister isn't!"

Which is rather funny, because Ciccone doesn't come across very well himself -- he seems rather brittle and doormattish, allowing a thousand nasty things his sister does to slide because... well, because she's Madonna and she's a star. It's hard to muster much sympathy for someone who allows himself to be ill-treated from day one, merely because his sister is famous.

"Life with My Sister Madonna" is pretty much a long, boring nightmare of divatastic proportions. It promises to be juicy, but after the first bite it dries into a mummy.

Just let me start by saying I'm a HUGE Madonna fan, so my review has nothing to do with a dislike of her.

This book is just lousy. You would think that a book written by Madonna's closest brother would offer a lot more insight into her character, career, etc., but it doesn't. The only thing you may learn is that she is more of a controlling (rhymes with) witch than you thought. He is intolerably self-important, and paints himself as a victim of his cruel sister's ambitions. Also, he elaborates on the stupidest things (for example, makes no mention of the MTV Britney incident, but describes in detail both Madonna's and his own outfits for some press conference. Who cares?). My guess is, he is broke and needed to make a quick buck from suckers like me.

If you must read this - borrow it from the library or a friend with poor taste.

An interesting trashy read, but the author clearly hates Madonna's guts... he takes potshots at her on every page! Yet he keeps talking about how much he loves her and wants to be there for her! There are also zingers against a number of other celebs.

I am not too surprised about what I read about Madonna. She's self centered, a diva, stubborn, critical, as well as driven, talented and intelligent. The book was interesting especially coming from a close family member. I found some stories repetative. Overall it is pretty good book if you like or are a fan of Madonna. her brother Christoper (co-author) talked alittle too much about himself though. He seemed a bit whiney - allot of feel sorry for me because my sister didn't treat me well.

I always liked Madonna and her music so
I was interested in this book right off the bat.
I personally thought it was fun to read and the
pages turned themselves. If you like Madonna and
are curious about this book you won`t be disappointed.

Love Love this book.I think she is an awesome entertainer, fashionista, and business woman. I was totally entralled with Madonna in the early 80's but was only 10 yrs old, so I can thoughrouly remember every moment christopher mentions (tv appearances, concerts, etc) but now I know the behind the scenes details. Im pretty sure Madonna agreed to everything in that book, i was not surprised by any of it.

This book is quite a page-turner if you are looking for dirt but I found the author's complete lack of self-respect and dignity to be rather annoying throughout. He complains incessantly about how he is treated by Madonna but he never makes any attempt to escape her treatment (for example, by training for a real career he could do without her help). Still a fun tell-all account.